Karate Combat (KC) is a brand which promotes the first

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

full-contact A contact sport is any sport where physical contact between competitors, or their environment, is an integral part of the game. For example, gridiron football. Contact may come about as the result of intentional or incidental actions by the playe ...

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

league, hosting worldwide events since April 2018. The private company is headquartered in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

and was founded by Robert Bryan. Karate Combat is owned by the Sensei Foundation, a Cayman Islands Foundation Company and its affiliates. The brand also encompasses sports equipment, a worldwide Dojo network and mobile apps for viewers. Karate Combat was founded in order to promote karate as a sport and martial art to the new generation of sports fans. Contestants compete in a seasonal championship in which the winner is awarded a golden belt. They consist of karateka from various styles of karate like

Kyokushin is a style of karate originating in Japan. It is a full-contact style of stand-up fighting and is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline, and hard training. Kyokushin Kaikan is the martial arts organization founded in 1964 ...

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" thro ...

Shitō-ryū is a form of karate that was founded in 1934 by . Shitō-ryū is synthesis of the Okinawan Shuri-te and Naha-te schools of karate and today is considered one of the four main styles of the art. History Kenwa Mabuni (Mabuni Kenwa 摩文� ...

, and

Wadō-ryū is one of the four major karate styles and was founded by Hironori Ōtsuka (1892–1982). Ōtsuka was a Menkyo, Menkyo Kaiden licensed Shindō Yōshin-ryū practitioner of Tatsusaburo Nakayama and a student of Yōshin-ryū prior to meeting the O ...

. Contestants from other martial arts disciplines like

Kenpō is the name of several martial arts. This term is often informally transliterated as "kempo", as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization, but failing to use a macron to indicate the long vowel In linguistics, vowel length is ...

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

Wushu Wushu may refer to: Martial arts * Chinese martial arts, the various martial arts of China * Wushu (sport) Wushu () (), or kung fu, is a competitive Chinese martial art. It integrates concepts and forms from various traditional and modern ...

, and

Tang Soo Do Tang Soo Do (; ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean martial art based on karate which can include fighting principles from taekkyeon, subak, as well as northern Chinese martial arts. From its beginnings in 1944 to today, Tang Soo Do is used by ...

have also participated. The contestants are expected to abide by karate-do etiquette and specific tournament rules. The organization puts emphasis on innovation and technology with the use of video game-style analytics of fighter's biometrics, nutrition and DNA-based data in real-time. Fights regularly feature CGI environments created with the

Unreal Engine Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter video game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of ...

as reported by

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

. Marketing and promotion include appearances of

Bas Rutten Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (; born 24 February 1965) is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. As a kickboxer, he fought 16 times, winning the first 14 matches by knockout, 13 in the first round ...

Georges St-Pierre Georges St-Pierre (; born May 19, 1981), also known by his initials GSP, is a Canadian former professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. St-Pierre was a two-divi ...

Lyoto Machida is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, as well as a UFC Middleweight Championship title challenger. He mos ...

and Stephen Thompson, who have all served as league ambassadors, as well as

Danny Trejo Danny Trejo (, ; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor. Known for his Danny Trejo filmography, large body of work as a character actor, films in which he has appeared in have grossed over $3.7 billion worldwide. A native of Los Angeles, Tr ...

and

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (; transliterated as Hafthor in English; born 26 November 1988) is an Icelandic professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person t ...

. In 2020, rights to Karate Combat have been acquired by

beIN SPORTS beIN Sports ( ) is a Qatari multinational network of sports channels owned and operated by the media group beIN. The network has played a major role in the increased commercialization of Qatari sports. Its chairman is Nasser Al-Khelaifi, and its ...

. The media group broadcasts the Karate Combat seasons in 37 countries.

Rules

Fighting takes place in a 6,5m x 6,5m (21'4" x 21'4") square combat pit surrounded by 45° angled walls. A match consists of 3 rounds each lasting 3 minutes with the possibility of 2 additional rounds for championship fights. Scoring uses a 10-point must system and is based on aggression and effectiveness of attacks. Three judges evaluate each fight from a position around the combat pit. Scoring cards are omitted in case of a knock-out. Equipment consists of 4oz gloves, mouthpieces, groin protectors for male contestants, karate belts and officially designed long karate trousers with national emblems or flags. Wrestling, submissions, elbows are not permitted. A grounded opponent may use upkicks while the standing opponent may use ground punches. After 5 seconds any grounded opponent will be brought back to a standing position by the referee.

Weight divisions and classifications

Pit Submission Series

In January 2024, Karate Combat announced that they would begin staging professional grappling matches in the pit prior to their karate fights, under the name of "Pit Submission Series." The first fight under the Pit Submission Series took place on January 26, 2024.

Current championships

Championship history

Heavyweight Championship

::''Weight limit: None ''

Middleweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 185lb ''

Welterweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 165lb ''

Lightweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 150lb''

Bantamweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 135lb ''

Women's Bantamweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 135lb ''

Women's Strawweight Championship

::''Weight limit: 120lb ''

Karate Combat records

Events

Overview

Karate Combat events feature male and female karateka from a roster of over 100 professional fighters. The first five events were held in front of an invite-only audience. Later events incorporate CGI effects and original music in order to achieve a modern appearance and appeal to a younger demographic. Event locations favor optimal camera angles and cinematic scenery over a big live-audience. Thus locations like the 102nd floor of the One World Trade Center were chosen hosting a selected audience with black-tie dress code. The events attracted the notice of American television and newspaper. Recordings of all events can be accessed for free via the official website. Past events have also been streamed via

UFC Fight Pass UFC Fight Pass is an American subscription-based video streaming service owned by the UFC's parent company, TKO Group Holdings, that launched in December 2013. History Fight Pass showcases live and on-demand mixed martial arts, submission grap ...

Seasons

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

KC35

KC36

KC37

KC38

KC39

KC40

KC41

KC42

KC43

KC Kickback 1

KC44

KC Kickback 2

KC45

KC46

KC47

KC48

References

External links

* {{Kickboxing organizations
Fighting Games
2018 establishments in New York City BeIN Sports Full contact karate Karate competitions in the United States Karate organizations Kickboxing organizations Sports leagues in the United States Sports organizations established in 2018