17th World Traditional Karate-Do Championship, Geneva

On October 24 to 25, 2014, the 17th World Traditional Karate-Do Championships took place in Geneva (Switzerland). In this prestigious event competed almost 300 outstanding karate practitioners, a superb collection of elite traditional karate athletes from 24 countries from all over the world. They represented the sates of: Armenia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the UK, Uruguay, the USA, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

The tournament was watched by enthusiasts of this martial art, who arrived in Geneva from different corners of the world. And they did have strong reasons to be glad as the bar for the final fights was set to the highest standards.

Alongside the main event one could also witness the Traditional Karate World Cup „Children for Peace”, where the youngest athletes came competing, representing traditional karate clubs from all over the world. The tournament was held on October 26, 2014 (Sunday) and was a part of the celebration of the 150. Years Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Switzerland and Japan. More than 300 children from 13 countries competed for World Cup’s medals. They represented the state of: Armenia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Uruguay, Uzbekistan and the UK. The competition proceeded at the very high technical level.

There were a special events that drew enormous attention from all the spectators, namely a special performance presented by dancers from Okinawa and karate demonstration performed together by athletes from Russia and Ukraine. Furthermore, in the World Cup event in Geneva a combined Arab-Jewish youth team from the Middle East provided a demonstration under the messages of dialog, coexistence and peace.

There were a lot of great emotions and huge applause coming from all the enthusiasts of the beautiful art of traditional karate.