The Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Congress was held on Wednesday in Astana (Kazakhstan) to set the roadmap for the sport in the continent and to celebrate the increasing impact of Karate in Asia. 

The Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Congress was held on Wednesday in Astana (Kazakhstan) to set the roadmap for the sport in the continent and to celebrate the increasing impact of Karate in Asia. 

The event took place in Astana coinciding with the celebration in the Kazakh city of the 2017 AKF Senior, Cadet, Junior & U21 Karate Championships and had the attendance of WKF President Antonio Espinós. 

The AKF President and WKF 2nd Vice President Kuang-Huei Chang chaired the meeting that brought together representatives of the continental organisation which is formed by 42 Asian national federations. 

Among the many items on the agenda, the AKF Congress decided on the new logo of the organisation and agreed on changing the official name of the association from Asian Karatedo Federation to Asian Karate Federation. The issues regarding the category of Male Individual Kumite -55 Kg in AKF Championships programme were also addressed and clarified, while the hosts of the upcoming AKF events were established.

The AKF Congress determined that the 2018 AKF Senior Championship will be held in Jordan while Okinawa in Japan will be the venue of the 2018 AKF Cadet, Junior & U21 Championships. The Senior Championships of 2019 and 2020 will be celebrated in Uzbekistan and Indonesia, respectively. 

The future AKF events and the competition calendar for the next year were also discussed at the meeting.  

“Events as this AKF Congress and the AKF Championships help us to underline Karate’s continued progress around the world. Our efforts to ensure that the sport is receiving outstanding positive global perception are reaching even greater levels in major continental events such as the AKF Championships. I want to thank continental and national federations for showing great solidarity and for sharing our expectations of a bright future for the sport,” declared WKF President Antonio Espinós.