The World Karate Federation (WKF) is the largest international governing body of

sport karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian ...

with 198 member countries. It was formed in 1990, is the only karate organization recognised by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

and has more than ten million members. The WKF organizes the Junior and Senior

Karate World Championships 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. Championshi ...

, which are each held every other year. The President of the WKF is Antonio Espinos, and the headquarters are located in Madrid, Spain. All the styles are officially recognised by the WKF.

History

Karate (; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fuj ...

was introduced into

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

around the 1950s by Japanese masters, mainly from the Japan Karate Association (JKA). In 1961, Jacques Delcourt was appointed President of

French Karate Federation The French Karate Federation (''Fédération Française de Karaté'') is the largest association for karate in France and a member as well as the official representative for this sport in the French National Olympic and Sports Committee. Interna ...

, which was at that stage an associated member of the French Judo Federation. In 1963 he invited the six other known European federations (

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) 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 Jacques Delcourt (August 21, 1928 – November 11, 2011) was a prominent Sports administrator who was instrumental in creating the European Karate Union which later became the European Karate Federation and this in turn inspired the creat ...

voted in as President. The following year the first European Karate Championships were held, in Paris. In 1970, the International Karate Union (IKU) was formed by

in an effort to organise karate at the world level. Upon hearing this, Ryoichi Sasakawa, President of the

Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization The Japan Karate Federation (JKF), a.k.a. Japan Karatedo Federation, is a national governing body of sport karate in Japan. The JKF is officially affiliated with the Japan Olympic Association (JOC), World Karate Federation (WKF), Japan Sports A ...

(FAJKO), which later changed its name to the

Japan Karate Federation The Japan Karate Federation (JKF), a.k.a. Japan Karatedo Federation, is a national governing body of sport karate in Japan. The JKF is officially affiliated with the Japan Olympic Association (JOC), World Karate Federation (WKF), Japan Sports Ass ...

(JKF), travelled 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 the World Union of Karate-do Organizations (WUKO).Evans, J. K. (1988): "The battle for Olympic Karate recognition: WUKO vs. IAKF." ''Black Belt'', 26(2):54–58. In 1985 the World Union of Karate-do Organizations was officially recognised by the

as the official board for karate. The integration of several new organizations during the 1990s saw WUKO membership increase to 150 National Federations. Therefore, a new name that would more accurately reflect the size and scope of the organization was needed. The name of the first International organization representing sport Karate was thus changed to World Karate Federation (WKF) on December 20, 1992. The significant growth of WKF resulted in a consolidated organisation that fully represented the sport of Karate at the international level. This legitimacy was confirmed in 1999 when the IOC officially recognised the World Karate Federation as the sole governing body for the sport of Karate in the world. In August 2016 it was announced

would be in the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Members

As of now, the global membership of World Karate Federation stands at 198 national federation members, spanning five continents.

Continental federations

African Karate Federation The African Karate Federation (french: Union des Fédérations Africaines de Karaté (UFAK), en, Union of African Karate Federations) is the continental governing body of the sport karate in Africa. The UFAK is a non-governmental continental o ...

(UFAK) ::49 national member federations *

Asian Karate Federation 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 ...

(AKF) ::44 national member federations *

European Karate Federation 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 contine ...

(EKF) ::54 national member federations *

Panamerican Karate Federation The Panamerican Karate Federation (PKF) is the governing body of sport karate of about 37 countries of national karate federation in the Americas. The PKF was founded in 1975 with original name PUKO (Panamerican Union of Karate Organization) with ...

(PKF) ::39 national member federations *

Oceanian Karate Federation Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as ...

(OKF) ::12 national member federations

National federations

Competition and events

Kumite

Individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own need ...

kumite Kumite ( ja, 組手, literally "grappling hands") is one of the three main sections of karate training, along with kata and kihon. Kumite is the part of karate in which a person trains against an adversary. Kumite can be used to develop a par ...

- Men's -60 kg, -67 kg, -75 kg, -84 kg and +84 kg Weight *

- Women's -50 kg, -55 kg, -61 kg, -68 kg and +68 kg Weight *

Team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

- Men and Women

Kata

kata ''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements made to be practised alone. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practise ...

- Men and Women *

(synchronized) - Men and Women :team kata with bunkai

Para-Karate

* Athletes with Visual Impairments - Men and Women * Athletes with Intellectual Impairments - Men and Women * Wheelchair User - Men and Women

Partner organizations

Koyamada International Foundation Koyamada International Foundation, commonly referred to as KIF or KIF Global, is an international non-governmental organization, with its mission to improve quality of people's life by empowering global youth and women to reach their full potent ...

(KIF) -

Gender-based violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification. Types of gender-related violence include: * Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply a ...

(GBV) program

References

External links

Official website

Official WKF YouTube channel

WKF Karate Records
{{Authority control Karate in Spain Karate organizations Organisations based in Madrid

Sport in Madrid Sports governing bodies in Spain Sports organizations established in 1970