The 5th Russian Open Kyokushin-Kan Karate-Do Championship for adolescents and Kumite for juniors were held from December 13-14, 2008 at the Moscow Martial Arts Center. About 450 young athletes from 31 teams including 24 young karatekas from Japan took part in the competition. METROPOL Group sponsored the championship. At the opening ceremony, Mikhail Slipenchuk, President of the Kyokushin-Kan Karate-Do Federation of Russia, in gala fashion awarded Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov a 5th Dan Master’s Black Belt. It was a sign of respect and gratitude to Mayor Luzhkov from the International Organization of Kyokushin-Kan Karate-Do for his significant contribution to the development of the sport and in particular to the development of Kyokushin-Kan Karate-Do in Moscow.
“Yuri Mikhailovich has made a very large contribution to the development of our art. On behalf of the International Federation of Kyokushin-Kan Karate-Do I have been tasked with awarding him this honorific black belt,” he said.
Y.M.Luzhkov noted that the Moscow Martial Arts Center, the largest in Europe, is a unique athletic structure that is always open to both professional athletes and young amateurs.