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WIKF World Championship 2013

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 2:48 pm
by kato
WIKF World Championship in London 20-22. September 2013

App. 700 entries in kata, kumite, team fight and tanto dori (knife defence). It was the best arranged tournament I have ever been to. Very interesting for parents and supporters to see this kind of karate tournament with ”super finals” starting on 5 tatami simultaneously. Great job by Andy Michaledes who was in charge. Good referees, three of them had top WKF license.

Several world class competitors like Spyros Margaritopoulos from Greece (3 x WKF World Champion) who won the heavy weight category. Georgia had a very strong team (one of their fighters has won Paris Open three times). Belgium, England, France, Holland, Venezuela, Spain had also top international fighters, and other countries as well. Denmark has been dominating all style in the Nordic Area the past few years and became the best nation/most medals in kumite. I think Sweden won most medals in kata again.

Tom Scott won 5 gold
Tom Scott (USA) dominated and was the best male competitor. He won 5 gold medals: kata, senior -75 kg, open category, Suzuki Champions and team fight. Very impressing. His blog post about the tournament:
http://www.tomscottkarate.com/news-info ... mpionships

Sensei Millerson awarded 8th dan
Sensei William Millerson, 1st vice president World Karate Federation (WKF) and PKF president, is the chairman of WIKF. He was awarded 8th dan at the WIKF World Championships.

VIP dinner
Sensei Jon Wicks has worked very hard with the WIKF since Suzuki sensei became ill some years ago. He has got strong support from Suzuki sensei´s senior students all over the world, and all members of the technical committee - including Canda, Venezuela and USA - came to London so support his work. Friday evening there was a VIP dinner with the chief instructors from all the countries attending the championship. Very interesting to hear old stories from Wado veterans. Great fun.

Curacao 2017
The next WIKF World Championship will be in Curacao in four years. WIKF has been growing also in South America lately, and a World Championship in that area will make it easier for fighters in that region to attend. The next WIKF European Championships will be in Cyprus 2014 and Denmark 2015.

Pictures:
http://www.dephoto.biz/Search/Search.as ... llbw2Tby0Q