by 
The 23rd National Karate Championships will be held on July 7 to the 9 at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby. This follows the success of the PNG Open Karate Tournament held during the Easter Weekendlast month.
The Open Tournament allowed participation by other martial art codes. However, the Championships will only be for karate clubs affiliated with the Papua New Guinea Karate Federation (PNGKF).
According to The National, President of the PNGKF, Carl Mari, has stated the participation of clubs from Bougainville, Central, Eastern Highlands, East New Britain (ENB), East Sepik, Jiwaka, Madang, Manus, Morobe, New Ireland, West New Britain (WNB) and host, National Capital District (NCD).
Mari has also urged the provinces to use the championships to prepare their squads for the PNG Grassroots Games in November. He said all the events to be competed in the games will be held including full contact and point scoring kumite, kata (forms), kobudo (weapons) and tameshiwari (board breaking).
The championships will have categories in both men’s and women’s divisions. They are:
- Senior division (18 years and older),
- U21 (18 – 20 years old),
- Juniors (16 – 17 years old),
- Cadets (14 – 15 years old) and,
- Children (9 – 13 years old).
The PNGKF will also conduct technical seminars on coaching, refereeing and judging a couple of weeks before the championship.
Related articles
- Open Karate Titles Held in Lae (pngwarrior.com)
- Karate Prepares for PNG Open (pngwarrior.com)
- Karate Not on the Decline (pngwarrior.com)
- New NCD Karate Association Formed (pngwarrior.com)
