5th World University Karate Championship
New York City, USA - August 4th to 6th, 2006
Record Participation
With 42 countries present in New York, karate confirmed its status as a star sport at FISU
Karate has been part of our World University Championship programme for the last eight years. And there is no denying that in just four editions, this sport has demonstrated that it deserves every attention from FISU. From the very start, karate set its marks as a discipline bound for success. Participation was systematically at a very high level, in terms of both quantity and quality. The last edition that took place in Belgrade in 2004 was a very good example. With 34 countries represented by 187 men and 102 women, the organizers were delighted. We might add that karate, like judo, is a sport for more mature athletes, in which university students excel. In fact, they represent 80% of all participants! For the organization of the fifth edition of the World University Karate Championships, the town chosen was Brooklyn (New York), USA, and specifically the University of Long Island. The brand-new Sports Centre was an ideal spot for the tournament. We know that karate draws crowds, but the organizers hadn't expected such a spectacular result – 42 countries sent athletes to New York, confirming karate as a star sport at FISU.
FISU – WKF Agreements
In view of this systematic success, the management at FISU and the World Karate Federation (WKF) decided to better plan their common future by signing a collaboration agreement. Like the convention between FISU and the International Archery Federation, this agreement will mean that our university meets will fit better into the WKF calendar and the two federations will make a joint effort to better promote karate at university level. So the President of WKF, Mr. Antonio Espinos Ortueta and Mr. George Yerolimpos, his Secretary General, met our President Mr. George E. Killian and Mr. Sinisa Jasnic, FISU Assessor and President of our World Championships in New York. The WKF was gratified by the signature of this contract, and delighted with the success of our World University Championships in the increasingly popular sport of karate.
Excellent Performances
From a purely athletic standpoint, the New York edition taught us some things, in addition to the fact that this sport attracting more and more students. We clearly saw a redistribution of medals to a growing number of countries, which tends to show that "weak" countries no longer exist, or, at the very least, there are fewer and fewer of them. This is all for the best, and it will provide additional motivation for participants in future editions. Of course, the traditionally "strong" countries are still there – we saw excellent results from France, Japan, Serbia and Turkey, in both kata and kumite. The level attained in New York was nothing less than exceptional, and we owe this to the presence of a very large number of reputed karakas. Essentially all of the European and World champions took part in this WUC, as more and more of them make this event a must in their competition calendar. Special recognition goes to the umpires who spared no effort to be certain that the competition would go forward under the best possible conditions, which was not easy given the number of participants (323!).
Our cordial thanks to the Local Organizing Committee, as well, that managed the crowds and successfully adapted the timetables for the competition, transport and meals. Finally, we also want to thank the volunteers without whom, as we cannot repeat too often, this kind of competition would be simply impossible. At the close of the championship, the FISU flag passed from the hands of Mr. Tokey Hill, President of the New York Olympic Committee to Mr. Roczek, representing the Organizing Committee of the next edition to take place in Poland. So we have a date in 2008 in Wroclaw, for the sixth World University Karate Championship.
Organizing Committee
PO Box 83 Roslyn, NY 11576 USA Phone: ++(1.516) 750-0722 Fax: ++(1.516) 750-0701 e-mail: info@wukcny.org URL: http://www.wukcny.org/
FISU Technical Chairman
Events
Kata Individual: 1 competitor Kata Team: 3 competitors Kumite Individual: 1 competitor in each event Men -60kg, -65kg, -70kg, -75kg, -80kg, +80kg & open Women -53kg, -60kg, +60kg & open Kumite Team: Men:min. 5, max. 7 Women: min. 3, max. 4
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