The 12th edition of the competition Viking Cup was held the 31st of March and the 1st of April in Skövde, Sweden. It was a great weekend in true martial arts spirit with friendly atmosphere outside the ring but with tough and impressive fights in the rings.

400 competitors from 17 different countries fought for the medals. The participants from the following countries took part in Viking Cup 2012:

During the competition there were 342 matches in pattern and 433 matches in sparring, so a lot of action! In the pattern event there were great skills from the youngest competitors in beginner for miniors to the Top Level A Senior with participants with 4-6th degree. As a true Taekwon-Do enthusiast it was great to see and I took time to lean back and watch some matches with goose bumps on my skin.

The matches in the sparring event were of very high standard. In all divisions the pool-system was used, so you were guaranteed more than just one fight. In the black belt division it was even more intense as the pool matches was two rounds. This was much appreciated both among competitors and coaches.

We as organizers are very strict concerning the safety during the competition and therefore also careful to have a skilled medical team working during the all Viking Cup competitions. Usually we write a lot about the competitor and umpires but this time we would like to take the opportunity to introduce and thank our Viking Medical Team:

• Doctor Edward Lecaros: Chief Surgeon
• Doctor Telmo Ramos: Chief Orthopaedist
• Doctor Hans-Henrik Falmer: Chief Anaesthetics and Ambulance Doctor
• Nurse Ulf Sahlén: Specialist Emergency Treatment
• Nurse Angelica Ericsson: Assistant Nurse

At the end of the competition there was a final gala with the sparring finals in Top Level Senior (black belts). Finals can sometimes be a little bit more expectant than other fights but this wasn’t the case this time as there were many athletes wanting to show their skills to get a spot in the upcoming European Championship.

After the awarding ceremony all participants went to get something to eat. And later during the Sunday evening many of the participants gathered at the Viking Cup Party which took place at O’Learys Sport Bar and Bowling.

We are very satisfied with Viking Cup 2012 and have also got much positive feed-back from the participants. Right now we are starting with the preparations for Viking Cup 2013 so... Welcome to Sweden again in the end of March 2013.

Master Swavek Dydiszko
Head of Organizing Committee
Viking Cup International
www.viking-cup.se