World Karate Federation
Encyclopedia
The World Karate Federation, or WKF, was formed in 1990 from former WUKO (World Union of Karate-Do Organizations
) members and is the largest international governing body of sport karate
with over 130 member countries. It is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee
and has more than ten million members. The WKF organizes the Junior and Senior Karate World Championships
, which are each held every other year. The President of the WKF is Antonio Espinos, and the headquarters are located in Madrid, Spain.
was introduced into Europe
around the 1950s by Japanese
masters, mainly from the Japan Karate Association
(JKA). In 1961, Jacques Delcourt was appointed President of French Karate, which was at that stage an associated member of the Judo Federation. In 1963 he invited the six other known European federations (Italy
, Great Britain
, Belgium
, Germany
, Switzerland
and Spain
) to come to France for the first-ever international karate event, and Great Britain and Belgium accepted the invitation.
In December of that year, six of the seven federations gathered in Paris, in what was to be the first European Karate Congress, with the aim of improving and organising karate tournaments between their countries. It was noted that the unification of the different karate styles was impossible, and so they decided to unify the refereeing.
By 1965 the European Karate Union was created, with Jacques Delcourt was voted in as President. The following year the first European Karate Championships were held, in Paris. The event drew roughly three hundred spectators and was shown on live TV; however, it drew criticisms for being too violent as there were many face injuries. The EKU council had differing opinions about the source of the injuries, with opinions ranging from excessive rules violations to lack of conditioning and blocking skill. This problem was addressed in some part at the first referee course, held in Rome
. Here, the refereeing rules were harmonised using the JKA rules as a basis.
In 1970, the International Karate Union (IKU) was formed by Jacques Delcourt in an effort to organise karate at world level. Upon hearing this, Ryoichi Sasakawa, President of the Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization
(FAJKO), traveled to France to discuss the creation of an international governing body. The IKU was quickly disbanded and a new organisation was formed between the EKU and the Japanese federation, and was called WUKO (World Union of Karate-do Organizations).
WUKO tried to unify with the International Traditional Karate Federation
(ITKF) in 1990 to form the WKF; however, this attempt failed and the WUKO group left to form the WKF on their own.
WKF Karate World Championships
World Union of Karate-Do Organizations
World Union of Karate-do Organizations , was originally founded in 1970. The name of WUKO was abandoned in the early 1990s when WUKO and the International Traditional Karate Federation were to amalgamate as the World Karate Federation...
) members and is the largest international governing body of sport karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
with over 130 member countries. It is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
and has more than ten million members. The WKF organizes the Junior and Senior Karate World Championships
Karate World Championships
The WKF Karate World Championships also known as the World Karate Championships; are the highest level of competition for Karate. The competition is held in a different Country every two years. The most recent events include Madrid in 2002; Monterrey in 2004; Tampere in 2006; Tokyo in 2008, and...
, which are each held every other year. The President of the WKF is Antonio Espinos, and the headquarters are located in Madrid, Spain.
History
KarateKarate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
was introduced into Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
around the 1950s by Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
masters, mainly from the Japan Karate Association
Japan Karate Association
Japan Karate Association is one of the most influential Shotokan karate organizations in the world...
(JKA). In 1961, Jacques Delcourt was appointed President of French Karate, which was at that stage an associated member of the Judo Federation. In 1963 he invited the six other known European federations (Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) to come to France for the first-ever international karate event, and Great Britain and Belgium accepted the invitation.
In December of that year, six of the seven federations gathered in Paris, in what was to be the first European Karate Congress, with the aim of improving and organising karate tournaments between their countries. It was noted that the unification of the different karate styles was impossible, and so they decided to unify the refereeing.
By 1965 the European Karate Union was created, with Jacques Delcourt was voted in as President. The following year the first European Karate Championships were held, in Paris. The event drew roughly three hundred spectators and was shown on live TV; however, it drew criticisms for being too violent as there were many face injuries. The EKU council had differing opinions about the source of the injuries, with opinions ranging from excessive rules violations to lack of conditioning and blocking skill. This problem was addressed in some part at the first referee course, held in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. Here, the refereeing rules were harmonised using the JKA rules as a basis.
In 1970, the International Karate Union (IKU) was formed by Jacques Delcourt in an effort to organise karate at world level. Upon hearing this, Ryoichi Sasakawa, President of the Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization
Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization
The Japan Karate Federation is the national body for Karate in Japan. It was originally called the Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organizations and is affiliated with the World Karate Federation ....
(FAJKO), traveled to France to discuss the creation of an international governing body. The IKU was quickly disbanded and a new organisation was formed between the EKU and the Japanese federation, and was called WUKO (World Union of Karate-do Organizations).
WUKO tried to unify with the International Traditional Karate Federation
International Traditional Karate Federation
The International Traditional Karate Federation is the international governing body for Traditional Karate...
(ITKF) in 1990 to form the WKF; however, this attempt failed and the WUKO group left to form the WKF on their own.
Kata
- IndividualIndividualAn individual is a person or any specific object or thing in a collection. Individuality is the state or quality of being an individual; a person separate from other persons and possessing his or her own needs, goals, and desires. Being self expressive...
kataKarate kataKata is a Japanese word describing detailed patterns of movements practiced either solo or in pairs....
- Men and Women - TeamTeamA team comprises a group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team...
kataKarate kataKata is a Japanese word describing detailed patterns of movements practiced either solo or in pairs....
(synchronized) - Men and Women
- team kata with bunkaiBunkai, literally meaning "analysis" or "disassembly", is a term used in Japanese martial arts referring to the application of fighting techniques extracted from the moves of a "form" ....
WKF Karate World ChampionshipsKarate World ChampionshipsThe WKF Karate World Championships also known as the World Karate Championships; are the highest level of competition for Karate. The competition is held in a different Country every two years. The most recent events include Madrid in 2002; Monterrey in 2004; Tampere in 2006; Tokyo in 2008, and...
| Year | Host City | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Tōkyō Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... |
|
| 1972 | Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... |
|
| 1975 | Long Beach, California Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257... |
|
| 1977 | Tōkyō Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... |
|
| 1980 | Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... |
|
| 1982 | Taipei Taipei Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean... |
|
| 1984 | Maastricht Maastricht Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border... |
|
| 1986 | Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... |
|
| 1988 | Cairo Cairo Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life... |
|
| 1990 | Mexico City Mexico City Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole... |
|
| 1992 | Granada Granada Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea... |
|
| 1994 | Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu , formerly known as Jesselton, is the capital of Sabah state in East Malaysia. It is also the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea. The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park lies on one side and Mount... |
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| 1996 | Sun City Sun City, North West Sun City is a luxury casino and resort, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located about two hours' drive from Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg. The complex borders the Pilanesberg Game Reserve.- History :... |
|
| 1998 | Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th... |
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| 2000 | Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... |
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| 2002 | Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... |
|
| 2004 | Monterrey Monterrey Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the... |
|
| 2006 | Tampere Tampere Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in... |
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| 2008 | Tōkyō Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... |
|
| 2010 | Belgrade Belgrade Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe... |
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| 2012 | Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region... |
Recognized Karate Federations
- European Karate FederationEuropean Karate FederationThe European Karate Federation is the governing body of sport karate of more than 50 countries in Europe. The EKF was founded in 1963 and is composed of the National Karate Federations of most European Nations and is recognised by it as its only representative in Europe,member of World Karate...
- Asian Karatedo Federation
- African Karate Federation - Karate South AfricaKarate South AfricaThe Karate South Africa is the governing body of sport karate in South Africa. The KSA was formed in June 2005 after the previous body was disbanded by the then Minister of Sport. The new body came into being under the supervision of the South African Sports Council...
- Oceanian Karate Federation
- Panamerican Karate FederationPanamerican Karate FederationThe Panamerican Karate Federation is the governing body of sport karate of about 37 countries of national karate federation in Panamerica. The PKF was founded in 1975 with original name PUKO with 13 countries founder the PUKO in Long Beach, California, USA, and in 1995 it officially change the...