Para-Karate is the WKF category that comprises karate for people with disabilities.
Para-Karate was first launched at the 2012 World Karate Championships. The first-ever Para-Karate World Championships was held in Bremen, Germany, in 2014 along with the 2014 Senior World Championships.
Kata, in Japanese, means ‘form’. From the scope of karate, kata is the full repository of innumerable karate moves and techniques in their truest form, meant to be practiced as they are. While some are used in kumite bouts, not all are or can be.
Kata must be realistic in fighting terms and display concentration, power, and potential impact in its techniques. It must demonstrate strength, power, and speed — as well as grace, rhythm, and balance.
Karate kata is performed on an 8×8 meter non-slip mat with the competitors, who are seeded ahead of the event, to wear a white karategi.
In 2020, Virtus and WKF signed a memorandum of understanding to work collaboratively to grow karate for athletes with an intellectual impairment.
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Virtus is the brand name of the International Sports Federation for athletes with intellectual impairment and is a founding member of the International Paralympic Committee. Registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in the UK (1173901)