Written by the World Karate Federation in Okinawa
Last weekend (August 30-31) Japan organised for the first time in its history a WKF Karate 1 Premier League and decided to host it in the birthplace of Karate, Okinawa.
The Karate 1 WKF Premier League is the prime league event in the world of Karate. Together with the WKF Karate1 World Cup (WWC) it is a series of world class Karate competitions recognized and supported by the World Karate Federation. Its aim is to bring together the best Karate competitors in the world in a series of open championships of unprecedented scale and quality.
The whole Karate family has thus been expecting the Japanese Premier League Open for a long time, and has been more than keen to explore the roots of our Martial art at this occasion. Okinawa is mostly considered in the karate world as an essential step for a long-term increase and planning a trip to the birthplace of Karate is often a lifelong project for karatekas from all over the world, who wants to discover the roots and mysteries of the martial art, in a sporting and cultural quest.
As a proof of the high expectations, over 300 participants registered; a record for a first Karate 1 edition. Even more significant is that athletes from 68 nations have taken part of the competition and, for most of them, discovered the country of karate for the first time.
According to WKF President Antonio Espinós, "this Premier League in Okinawa is the opportunity to recognize the immense contribution of the Japan Karate Federation to the World Karate Federation and to the sport and martial art of Karate. This event goes far beyond the sporting aspect, the symbol of the current unity of karate within the World Karate Federation. The enthusiasm shown by people before and during the competition demonstrates that our efforts in recent years to develop relations between the WKF member countries have been successful and that the links between different nations in the WKF karate are very tight".
Additionally, this Karate 1 Premier League event in Okinawa came only two months before the World Senior Championships in Bremen, Germany, and therefore represented an important competition for many national teams, represented by some of their best competitors. A high level of karate has been reached during all the competition that took place at the Budokan Okinawa Prefectural Hall of Martial Arts. For more information on the event and results, please see: http://wkf.net/karate1-okinawa-2014.php
Written by the World Karate Federation in Okinawa
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