Moscow has played host to the first ever Russian Martial Arts Cup. Four different karate disciplines found their national champions at what is hoped to become a mainstay in the country's martial arts calendar.
There is a familiar question amongst karate followers: which discipline is the most efficient? Everyone has their own opinion on the matter, but the Russian Martial Arts Union has gone about attempting to answer the query.
Moscow hosted Russia's maiden cup of martial arts, with four karate federations holding their championships on one mat on one day.
The idea of creating a single large tournament for several karate categories has been around for a while. However, there have been stumbling blocks on each occasion, meaning it couldn't be held.
Fifty-seven federations which make up the Russian martial arts union explained the delay. Every federation has its own structure and its own competition schedule. To become a part of one big thing, one has to sacrifice something. As such, the delay in forming the competition was a case of bureaucracy.
Regardless, the event has now come to fruition, giving the fighters a chance to appear in front of a bigger audience.
The winner in the shotokan discipline, Aleksandr Gizenko, is positive about the event overall.
“It's a big thing. This tournament helps martial arts to increase its popularity, you can see it here. People can watch not only their favourite sport, but discover some new ones. And the organization of it has been very good,” he said.
With a number of encouraging opinions about the Russian cup, the organizers have deemed the first ever event a success. In addition, the chance of it becoming annual is almost certainly an added bonus to the fans.