May 2026 Referee Update

Time to register for the National Championships and Team Trials in Spokane!

The National Championship is back in Spokane in July, and we are excited to be part of another great signature event. USA Karate referee instructors and coaches continue conducting courses to ensure referees and coaches participating in regional and sanctioned tournaments understand the USA Karate and WKF rules and that athletes are well prepared for the 2026 Nationals.

Registration and information for the National Championships are on the USA Karate website along with links to hotels and schedules, including the referee course. Important note: there are two mandatory sessions for all officials participating in the National Championships this year. A mandatory kata specific guideline session will be held in the venue on Wednesday, July 15, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. The mandatory referee briefing will be at 6:00 p.m. in the Centennial Hotel.

Officials with USA Karate Referee A and Referee B licenses must renew their licenses each year by attending the USA Karate Referee Course at one of the two signature events and participating as an official in the event. The course and exams to test for a kata and/or kumite license or upgrade will be conducted on Wednesday, July 15 at the Centennial Hotel.

Successful sanctioned regional referee courses were conducted recently in Colorado, Georgia, New York, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia. USA Karate officials, coaches, and athletes from across the USA also participated in the Rocky Mountain Championships, a sanctioned national qualifier tournament.

Usa Karate

Thank you to our USA Karate WKF officials, Senthil Thiyagarajan and Suresh Raman, for representing USA Karate at the Series A in Spain in April. 

Usa Karate

Several of our USA Karate WKF officials will be traveling to Manila for the Youth League in May: Fariba Madani, Cedric Barksdale, Jay Farrell, Chris Hodgin, and Senthil Thiyagarajan. We are very pleased that our international referee corps continues to grow; there are 15 USA Karate referees testing for new or upgraded licenses and participating in the PKF Championships in Brazil in May.

Save the date for the second Referee Training Camp, July 31 to August 2, 2026, to be held with the Q3 National Training Camp/PKF Jr. Training Camp in Denver, Colorado.

Thank you to all our officials for continuing to support USA Karate! We look forward to seeing everyone soon at the National Championships and Team Trials in July.