Private photo: Maksyn gets a gold medal in EM in Shotokan karate.
By Johanne Elina Nielsen & Cornelius Dohn
Marksyn Hortsev is a 17-year old Ukrainian refugee with a passion for Shotokan karate. Despite the challenges he has faced he has found a great camaraderie and friendships within his karte club that has become an important part of his life.
“I don’t have a lot of friends in Denmark so it is great for me when i get to meet all my friends here at the Shoku karate club, it is really fun and I get to talk with and hang out with them, also most of them are danish so I get to rehearse my danish.”
Maksyn arrived in Denmark in 2022 with his morther Natalia Medvediava and his younger brother. The family had to flee when the war started. But Maksyns father is still in Ukraine as he is a soldier in the war, and Maksyn does miss his dad.
However Karate has been a big help for Maksyn.
“Karate is helping very much when you are forced on karate you are not thinking about all kinds of political things, when you are training karate I have to do this it is now it is happening there is action.”
Makzym won a gold medal in Shoku style karate d. 26 April for Denmark in EM in the under 20 kategori. Even though he had to fight against ukraine in the final which Maksym thought felt a little weird, he still felt like it was really cool when he stood on the podium and got a medal and the danish national anthem was playing.