European Karate Federation

The European Karate Federation (EKF) is the governing body of competitive karate in more than 50 countries across Europe.[2] 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.[3] Since 1966, it has organized the European Karate Championships. Additionally, it now organizes Junior, Cadet, and Under-21 Championships.

European Karate Federation
AbbreviationEKF
Formation1963[1]
Legal statusFederation
HeadquartersMadrid
Location
Region served
Europe
Membership
52 Affiliated Countries (Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegoniva, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Kosovo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Wales)
Official language
English is the official language. If any question in respect to the sport or technique of Karate, it will be referred to the original Japanese text.
President
Antonio Espinós of Spain
WebsiteEuropean Karate Federation

History

On 31 March 1961, a karate teacher named Jacques Delcourt was elected President of the French Karate Federation (which was a member of the French Judo Federation). In 1963, he invited the six other federations in Europe to come to France for the first international karate event in history. Of the six federations - which hailed from Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Spain - only Great Britain and Belgium accepted the invitation.[4]

On 15 December 1963, the French, British, and Belgian federations gathered in Paris for the first European Karate Congress. They sought to improve and organize karate tournaments between their respective countries. The European Karate Union (Union Européenne de Karaté) was officially founded on this day.[5]

Martial artists from the three countries utilized varying styles of karate, and unifying the different styles proved difficult for the separate federations. Consequently, the delegates decided to unify the refereeing.[6][7][8][9]

On 24 May 1964, a governance structure for the EKU was established at the Second European Karate Congress. Jacques Delcourt was elected the first president, a position he held until 1988. At the Third Congress, on 21 November 1965, the delegates - now representing ten countries - adopted a constitutional structure, and standardized rules for instruction and rankings. They also scheduled the first European Karate Championships, to be held in Paris in May 1966.[10][11][12]

The first Championship drew approximately 300 spectators and was broadcast live on television. The event drew criticism for being too violent, as multiple participants received facial injuries. The EKU Council offered differing opinions about the causes of the injuries, ranging from excessive rule violations to disparities in skills and conditioning. The issue of excess injuries was addressed at the EKU's first referee seminar, held in Rome in 1967.

In 1993, the EKU changed its name to the European Karate Federation. Since 1997, Spain's Antonio Espinos has served as President. (He has also been the President of the World Karate Federation since 1998).[13]

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References
  1. "EKF Statutes Art. 1, Sec. 1" (PDF). Wkf-web.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  2. Black Belt. December 2003. p. 31. Retrieved 30 November 2014 – via Internet Archive. Karate Union of Great Britain.
  3. Arriaza, Berat Jakupi. "Chapter 16: Karate". In Kordi, Ramin; Maffulli, Nicola; Wroble, Randall R.; et al. (eds.). Combat Sports Medicine. p. 288. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  4. Arriaza, Rafael. "Chapter 16: Karate ka". In Kordi, Ramin; Maffulli, Nicola; Wroble, Randall R.; et al. (eds.). Combat Sports Medicine. p. 288. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  5. "Chronik des deutschen Karateverbandes". Chronik-karate.de. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  6. Arriaza, Rafael. "Chapter 16: Karate". In Kordi, Ramin; Maffulli, Nicola; Wroble, Randall R.; et al. (eds.). Combat Sports Medicine. p. 288. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  7. "Sports Shorts". Apnewsarchive.com. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. AAU Rebuilds Karate. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  9. Black Belt. December 2002. p. 40. Retrieved 8 November 2014 – via Internet Archive. jacques delcourt 1966 european karate.
  10. "HISTORY OF KARATE". Kkhd.hr. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  11. Black Belt. December 2003. p. 30. Retrieved 21 December 2014 – via Internet Archive. european karate congress.
  12. "WORLD KARATE FEDERATION - WKF History". Wkf-web.net. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  13. "World Karate Federation President Antonio Espinos Discusses the Olympic Dream - Japan Real Time - WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. 2015-09-26. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
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