Sir.Chew Choo Soot

Budokan Karate

BUDOKAN is a major international style of Karate having presence in every nook and corner of the world. The word BUDO-Kan means Martial arts-School. This unique style of Karate was conceived by the founder of this style Mr. Chew Choo Soot. Having undergone training for decades in various disciplines of martial arts as well as the oriental weapons of china, Mr. Chew Choo Soot wanted to incorporate all those techniques in an unique karate style. He started teaching a small group of students in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia in 1967 under the name of Budokan.  Soon, this style attracted members from all over the world and Mr. Chew had to travel continuously around the world to impart training to those who wanted to embrace this new style of Karate. In no time the new International body which he formed " Karate Budokan International " became so famous, it had more than 3000 affiliated centres all around the world with millions of members getting trained in karate under the name of Budokan. In 1978 Budokan entered India also and due to Grand Master's efforts and his approach of imparting personal training to all the members, the Budokan caught on like a wild fire and soon lakhs of karatekas were practising Budokan Karate in the dojos of India. In 1980 the First Budokan All India-International  Championship was held in Hyderabad which witnessed thousands of participants and for the first time in India a truly international martial arts extravaganza.  He wanted this Council to continue the task of managing the Budokan style even after his death. Sadly, Mr. Chew Choo Soot fell ill by paralytic attack in 1995 and breathed his last on 18th July 1997 in Malaysia.

About the Institute

The Indian Institute of Martial Arts-IIMA was founded by Kyoshi. Prof.Dr.Dibendu Nag.(N.D) in 1991 at Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata, West Bengal State, India, with just five members. Now it has become a vast Martial Arts Organization with thousands of young people learning the art of self defence under it. It has produced more than 1000 Black Belts and its members have bagged numerous medals in regional, state, national and International Karate championships.

In order to give more practical approach to self defence, the Chief Instructor has formulated a dynamic method of teaching, which includes practical self defence techniques and chosen techniques from other martial arts like Aikido, Judo, Jiu Jitsu etc. Seniors are also taught the Oriental weapons such as Nanchaku, Sai, Chinese broad sword, Tonfa, Double dragon stick, Kwanto etc. The Institute has earned its reputation by maintaining a very high standard at the grading test for promotion to senior belts.

The Institute is affiliated to All India Budokan Karate Federation, which was founded by Grand Master Chew Choo Soot. Budokan is a style of Karate started by Grand Master Chew Choo Soot in 1966 in Malaysia, which soon became famous worldwide with more than 2000 affiliated centres world wide. After his death, the AIBKF is managing the activities of Budokan in India. The All India Budokan Karate Federation is a member of World Union of Karate Do Federations (WUKF), which is a large international organisation with member federation in all the continents. Mr C. Hanumantha Rao, President of AIBKF is also the Chairman for Asian Region in WUKF.

The Institute  offers a variety of other programmes in addition to Karate training.  A State Level Inter Dojo Karate Championship is organized at different parts of the state every year around October/November hosted by the branch Dojo at that place in which all the members of the Institute take part. A state level or All India level tournament is also held every year, in which Karate students of different styles participate. Students are encouraged to take part in the tournaments organized at other places and the annual  Budokan All India  Championship organized by AIBKF.

A conference is organized every year, where students from different branches meet each other and show their talents in a one or two day event. In addition, there are also other activities such as advanced training camps for seniors, Judo training at the beach, picnics and get-togethers. So, if you have the will to excel, we have a number of opportunities for you.

World Union of Karate  Federations

The World Union of Karate-Do Federations was originally founded in 1970. The name of 'WUKO' was abandoned in the early 1990's when WUKO and the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF) were to amalgamate as the World Karate Federation (WKF). The unification did not occur and the WKF was essentially the former WUKO group.

The existing international karate organizations are either pure style federations or multi-style groups which accept only one federation per country. Therefore many federations and associations are left outside of the international karate world.

The World Karate Confederation (WKC) was founded by a small group of karate enthusiasts on 4th May 1996 in Frankfurt/M, Germany.

Originally the WKC offered an important option for such groups in which all the different styles and federations can join a World body and fraternity, without having to compromise their style or size. In order that there are opportunities for all, the WKC accepted more than one federation or association per country.

The WKC grew from strength to strength. More than 1500 karate-ka from around the world attended the Junior World Championships and Children's World Cup in Germany in October 2004.

Sadly, a small fraction of the WKC attempted to hijack the organization in April 2005. They held an illegal election and, in their eyes, replaced the legal executive committee. This resulted in the WKC separating into two factions.

At the 5th WKC World Karate Championships, in Fortaleza, Brazil in July 2005, the legal and rightful WKC voted to change their name to the World Union of Karate-Do Federations (WUKO), thus giving new life to the organization abandoned in the nineties.

In the new organization WUKO ran more than 3.5 years, more than 150 federation requesting affiliation. Based on modern way of competition organization, a flexible management focused on the request of the affiliated members, with a continuous improvement system that allows corrections depending of the specifics of the competitors in geographical region, of religion or material conditions, the Executive Committee elected in Fortaleza gave a proof of professionalism, more and more federations joining the organization.
Unfortunately the Executive Committee discovered that the Honorary President and founder member, Mr. Carlo Henke registered the mark WUKO in his name and not in the name of the organization of more than 150 members.

At the Congress in Lido di Jesolo, WUKO President asked him in front of the participants to transfer WUKO mark to the organization, but Mr. Henke refused it promising a discussion at the next elective Congress in June 2009, at Odessa, Ukraine.
In 30th of November 2008 President Osvaldo Messias de Oliveira received a letter from the Trade Mark Office forbidding the use of WUKO mark and logo starting from 2nd of December.
Mr. Carlo Henke made a new WUKO web page, “elect” himself as new president and start to send letters to all the affiliated members asking new affiliation to “his WUKO”.

This crisis situation determined the members of Executive Committee to meet urgently and changed the name WUKO in WUKF – World Union of Karate-Do Federation, a measure to continue the legal run of organization till the Congress in Odessa. In June, in the programmed Congress the affiliated members will discuss and take democratically all the necessary decisions for the good working of the organization. The name is new but the organization is the same, all the affiliated members of the former WUKO sent letters of support (except FESIK), all the WUKO events will be organized like they were programmed before, the life of the organization will go on.

For more details, log on to www.wukf-karate.org

World Union Karate Federation