Karate (空手), also karate-do, is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts under the influence of Chinese martial arts. While modern karate is primarily a striking art that uses punches and kicks, traditional karate also employs throwing and joint locking techniques. A karate practitioner is called a karate-ka (空手家).
The Japan Karate Federation (JKF), a.k.a. Japan Karatedo Federation, is a national governing body of the sport karate in Japan. The JKF is officially affiliated with the Japan Olympic Association (JOC), World Karate Federation (WKF), Japan Sports Association (JSA), and Japanese Budō Association (JBA). The styles recognized by the JKF are Wadō-ryū, Shotokan, Shito-ryu, and Goju-ryu. Its headquarter is located in Tokyo, Japan.
The International Traditional Karate Federation or ITKF is the international governing body for Traditional Karate. This organisation was founded by Hidetaka Nishiyama. In the early 1990s, Nishiyama's refusal to align his ITKF organization with the World Union of Karate-Do Organizations (WUKO) caused the International Olympic Committee to suspend its recognition of WUKO as amateur karate's international governing body. According to the IOC decision 101 from 1993 the ITKF and WUKO had been due to merge and form a unified karate organization under the IOC suggested name of WKF. The IOC further indicated its intention to recognize the merged WKF should ITKF and WUKO successfully fulfill the IOC 101 decision guidelines, but this did not eventuate. The WUKO eventually became the World Union of Karate-Do Federations in late 2008.
The Karate World Championships, also known as the World Karate Championships, are the highest level of competition for karate organized by the World Karate Federation (WKF). The competition is held in a different city every two years. Championships in the 2000s included Madrid in 2002, Monterrey in 2004, Tampere in 2006, Tokyo in 2008, and Belgrade in 2010. The competition was initially riddled with controversy regarding karate styles and the ruleset.
The Trinidad and Tobago Karate Union (TTKU) is the National Governing Body for the sport of Karate in Trinidad and Tobago. The TTKU is affiliated to the World Karate Federation (WKF) which is the only world karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
The Asian Karate Federation (AKF) is the governing body of sport karate of about 44 countries of karatedo federation in Asia. The AKF is a non-profit organization and performs its activities on an amateur basis in compliance with the principles set forth in the Olympic Charter, duly recognized by the World Karate Federation, the largest international governing body of sport karate with over 198 member countries. It is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than fifty million members. The AKF organizes the Asian Karatedo Championships, the Junior and Senior AKF Championships in every two years in between the Olympic and Asian Games and participates in WKF World Karate Championships. The Current President of the Asian Karate Federation (AKF) is Major Gen Nasser Al Sayed Abdulrazak Alrazooqi of UAE and Mr. Kuong Im Che of Macau, China serves as the Secretary General.
The European Karate Federation (EKF) is the governing body of competitive karate in more than 50 countries across Europe. The EKF's stated goal is to promote, organize, regulate, and popularize the sport of karate. It is one of the five continental federations recognized by the World Karate Federation.
USA National Karate-do Federation is the national governing body (NGB) of karate for the United States Olympic Committee and as such is the official Member National Association (MNA) of the World Karate Federation (WKF) in the United States.
The 1976 European Karate Championships were held in Tehran from 5–7 May 1976 and were the 11th championship in the series. The event was organized by the European Karate Union.
Karate at the 2020 Summer Olympics was an event held in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. It was the debut appearance of karate at the Summer Olympics. Karate was one of four optional sports added to the Olympic program specifically for 2020, rather than as a permanent sport. After it was announced not to be included in 2024, in August 2022 it was announced that karate had made the shortlist for inclusion in the 2028 Games, although it was ultimately not selected.
Antonio Espinós Ortueta, is the current President of the World Karate Federation (WKF) and of the European Karate Federation (EKF). Former member of the Spanish Karate National Team and former President of the Spanish Karate Federation, Mr. Espinós has headed the WKF since 1998 and the EKF since 1997. He is regarded as a major force behind the inclusion of karate in the programme of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Jovana Preković is a Serbian former karateka competing in kumite -61 kg division. She is a two-time world champion in the women's kumite 61 kg event and the 2020 Olympic champion, in karate's lone appearance in Olympic Games program.
Karin Prinsloo is a South African karateka, gold medal winner of the 6th World Games (2001) in the under 60 kg Kumite category and Karate instructor formerly based in Durban, South Africa, now living in Perth, Australia. She is listed among the top Karate competitors of all time.
Merve Çoban is a Turkish karateka. She won the bronze medal in the 61 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She is also a gold medalist and a two-time silver medalist in the women's kumite 61 kg event at the European Karate Championships.
Yin Xiaoyan is a Chinese karateka. She won the silver medal in the women's 61 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. At the 2018 World Karate Championships in Madrid, Spain, she won the silver medal in the women's kumite 61 kg event.
Ken Nishimura is a Japanese karateka. He won the gold medal in the men's kumite 75 kg event at the 2019 Asian Karate Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He represented Japan at the 2020 Summer Olympics in karate. He competed in the men's 75 kg event where he did not advance to compete in the semifinals.
Vinícius Figueira is a Brazilian karateka. He won the silver medal in the men's kumite 67 kg event at the 2018 World Karate Championships held in Madrid, Spain.
Darkhan Assadilov is a Kazakhstani karateka. He won one of the bronze medals in the men's 67 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. In 2010, he won the gold medal in the men's kumite 60 kg event at the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China.
Giana Mohamed Farouk Lotfy is an Egyptian karateka. She won one of the bronze medals in the women's 61 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She is a two-time gold medalist in the women's kumite 61 kg event at the World Karate Championships. She is also a gold medalist in her event at the African Games, the Islamic Solidarity Games and the Mediterranean Games.
Noah Bitsch is a German karateka. He has won medals at both the World Karate Championships and European Karate Championships with his best individual result being bronze at the 2014 World Karate Championships and silver at the 2015 European Karate Championships. He has also won medals in the men's team kumite event at several editions of both competitions. In 2013, he also won the silver medal in his event at the 2013 World Games held in Cali, Colombia.
