Astana to host Asian Kyokushin-kan Karate Championship

ASTANA. KAZINFORM "The capital of Kazakhstan will play a host to the Asian Open Championship of Kyokushin-kan Karate on June 16-17," president of the National Kyokushin-kan Karate Federation Omarkhan Oxikbayev told a press conference. 

The event will be held at Daulet sports complex as part of celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Astana city. Sportsmen of 12 years old and over will compete in two disciplines, namely, kumite and kata in 37 weight categories.

It will bring together 250 sportsmen from 12 countries such as Iran, Iraq, India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Japan, Mongolia, and Turkmenistan.

The event is organized by the Kazakh Culture and Sports Ministry, Astana city administration and National Kyokushin-kan Karate Federation.

Kyokushin (極真) is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Korean-Japanese Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達 Ōyama Masutatsu).
Kyokushin is Japanese for "the ultimate truth." It is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training. Its full contact style had international appeal.