Draft:Funakoshi Gichin Cup


Funakoshi Gichin Cup
Competition details
DisciplineKarate
OrganiserJapan Karate Association
History
First edition1975
Final edition2024

The Funakoshi Gichin Cup (usually referred to as the Shoto Cup or the World Cup) is a major international karate tournament organized by the Japan Karate Association (JKA) roughly every three years. Formerly the Shoto World Cup, it is considered to be the successor of the IAKF World Championiships, first held in 1975. The tournament is named after Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan karate, and features elite karatekas from around the globe competing in kata (forms) and kumite (sparring).

History

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WUKO and 1972 Controversy

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In 1970, Ryoichi Sasakawa (at the time president of the Federation of All Japan Karatedo Organization) travelled to Paris to meet Jacques Delcourt, who had formed the European Karate Union five years earlier, in an effort to standardize and regulate international karate competition. The result was the creation of the World Union of Karate-do Organizations (WUKO), which would later become the World Karate Federation (WKF) in 1998.[1] The first WUKO World Karate Championship was held later that year in Tokyo, Japan, with delegations from thirty-three nations.[2]

The 1972 WUKO World Karate Championship held in Paris was riddled with controversy. Three countries withdrew in protest of apartheid, because WUKO had allowed South Africa to compete. In the middle of the tournament, the teams from the United States and Japan walked out due to complaints with officiating, and were later followed by five other countries.[3] Masatoshi Nakayama, who was Chief Referee for the tournament, Hirokazu Kanazawa, Masahiko Tanaka, Takeshi Oishi and other Japanese athletes and officials were banned from any future events hosted by WUKO.[4]

IAKF World Championships

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The All American Karate Federation (AAKF), founded by Hidetaka Nishiyama in 1961 after arriving in the United States, had become one of the most influential karate organizations in the country after being called on by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to select the American team for the 1972 WUKO World Karate Championships. However, fearing Nishiyama's rising influence and his goal of usurping the AAU's position as the American representative in WUKO, AAU president David Rivenes severed all ties to Nishiyama.[5]

In response, Nishiyama formed the International Amateur Karate Federation (IAKF) in 1974 and was subsequently named executive director.[6]

In the wake of Nakayama's expulsion from WUKO, the JKA aligned itself with the IAKF, with most of the national representatives made up of the JKA branches in the respective countries.[5][7] With the support of the JKA, the 1975 IAKF World Karate Championship was held in Los Angeles, United States. Over three hundred officials and participants represented twenty-eight countries in front of a crowd of under 6500. Nakayama once again was Chief Judge.[8] Masahiko Tanaka, who won the All Japan that year, took home the gold for men's kumite.[9]





References

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  1. ^ "History | WUKO Blog" (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2024-11-05.
  2. ^ "WUKO Holds Technical Congress". Black Belt. 22 (6): 13–15. June 1984.
  3. ^ "The Forgotten World Karate Champion". Black Belt. 12 (2). Feb 1974.
  4. ^ "Japanese Players, Officials Punished for Walking Out of World Tournament". Black Belt. 10 (11). Nov 1972.
  5. ^ a b "The Battle for Olympic Karate Recognition: WUKO vs. IAKF". Black Belt. 26 (2): 54–58. Feb 1988.
  6. ^ "article-nishbio – E/B Productions Homepage". karatevid.com. Retrieved 2024-11-11.
  7. ^ General, Filed under; JKA; Shotokan; Traditional (2019-04-12). "Hidetaka Nishiyama". Finding Karate. Retrieved 2024-11-10.
  8. ^ "1975 World Karate-do Championships". Black Belt. 14 (2): 71–73. Feb 1976.
  9. ^ "Shobu Europe | JKA World Championship Results". shobueurope. Retrieved 2024-11-10.