The World Karate Federation (WKF) is an international governing body of sport karate with 198 member countries. It is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than a hundred million members. The WKF organizes their Junior and Senior Karate World Championships, which are each held every other year. The President of the WKF is Antonio Espinós, and the headquarters are located in Madrid, Spain.
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👉 World Karate Federation in the context of Karate World Championships
The Karate World Championships, also known as the WKF 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.
In 1980, women were first allowed to compete in the championships.
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World Karate Federation in the context of Karate at the Summer Olympics
Karate 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 it would not 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.
The karate competitions at the 2020 Olympics featured eight events. Two karate disciplines were featured: kumite was the sparring discipline and had three weight classes each for men and women; kata was the solo form discipline, and had one event each for men and women. Competitors chose the kata to demonstrate from 102 kata that were recognized by the World Karate Federation. Competitors were not allowed to demonstrate the same kata twice during the tournament. Each event had 10 competitors.
View the full Wikipedia page for Karate at the Summer Olympics