"Get ready for professional karate.
Karate Combat announced Wednesday the launch of a new professional combat sports league.
The first live event, Karate Combat: Inception, will air April 26 from Miami Beach, followed by an all USA vs. Iran fight card in Dubai. The private pre-season event, Karate Combat: Genesis, took place in Budapest, Hungary. Events will occur all over the world.
It's the first professional league to display biometric, nutrition, training and DNA-based data in real time to give fans insight into a fighter. In addition to the data, fighters will compete in a slope-sided pit for cage-free views.
It's full contact with rules developed by experts and top fighters. Each contest will be three rounds of three minutes, with offensive techniques scored more highly than counter-strikes.
“Karate is back! Approximately 50 million Americans have participated in Karate at some point in their lives with an even greater worldwide following, yet no professional league exists,” Karate Combat CEO Michael DePietro said in a release. “To date nobody has harnessed the beauty of this ancient sport for 21st-century fans and mass media appeal.”
Here's the trailer for the new league.
The league has signed over 100 fighters from 30 countries, including the United States' Elhadji Ndour, Morocco's Achraf Ouchen, the Dominican Republic's Dionicio Gustavo, France's Davy Dona and Azerbaijan's Rafael Aghayev, who is a 2020 Olympic front-runner.
Karate will make its debut appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. "
Karate Combat was founded to elevate and promote the sport of karate worldwide by creating the first professional, full-contact league.The league consists of over 100 of the top Karateka in the world representing 30 countries. Developed by martial arts experts and top competitors, the fighting offers full-contact action in the Karate Combat Pit, using rules and rewards calibrated to encourage continuous action.A premier brand, Karate Combat operates a professional full-contact karate league, sports equipment business, and a worldwide Dojo network. The firm is headquartered in New York with satellite offices in Calabasas and BudapestKarate Combat viewers can access league content through the World’s Gateway to Karate, Karate.com, its branded iOS and Android mobile apps and IP-connected screens worldwide.
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Karate Combat was founded to elevate and promote the sport of karate worldwide by creating the first professional, full-contact league.The league consists of over 100 of the top Karateka in the world representing 30 countries. Developed by martial arts experts and top competitors, the fighting offers full-contact action in the Karate Combat Pit, using rules and rewards calibrated to encourage continuous action.A premier brand, Karate Combat operates a professional full-contact karate league, sports equipment business, and a worldwide Dojo network. The firm is headquartered in New York with satellite offices in Calabasas and BudapestKarate Combat viewers can access league content through the World’s Gateway to Karate, Karate.com, its branded iOS and Android mobile apps and IP-connected screens worldwide.
Karate Combat Board
Michael DePietro
CEO / ChairmanMichael DePietro co-founded and currently serves as Chairman & CEO of Karate Combat. Michael has spent the majority of his career spearheading and financing entrepreneurial ventures both at startups and larger financial organizations. Michael was a Portfolio Manager at Ellington Management Group and BHR Capital where he built new investment strategies focused on structured products and esoteric financial institutions. Previously, Michael served as Head of US Non-Agency Trading at Morgan Stanley where he was responsible for building a multibillion dollar trading franchise. Michael founded a number of startup ventures, most notably, a technology company that was acquired during the tech boom. Michael began his career at JP Morgan & Co. after graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michael also holds an MBA concentrating in computational finance from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.
Jamie Roberts Seltzer
DirectorJamie Roberts Seltzer founded Skybuds (acquired by Lifebeam), a connected IoT hearables business. Prior, to Skybuds, Mr. Seltzer was at Saban Capital Group, a private investment firm specializing in the media, entertainment, and communications industries. Mr. Seltzer began his career at UBS after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Robert Bryan
COO / DirectorRobert Bryan co-founded and currently serves as COO of Karate Combat. Robert has spent the majority of his career investing in both public and private markets. Most recently, Robert founded and served as Interim CEO of MedSec which has established itself as the worldwide leader in cyber security. Prior to MedSec, Robert founded Metaval Capital after working at Cyrus Capital, Magnetar Capital, and BHR Capital. Robert oversaw investments in large public companies such as a top ten shareholding in Western Digital as well as smaller companies such as a controlling investment in Virgin America where he was instrumental in the airline’s initial funding. Robert began his career at Goldman Sachs after graduating summa cum laude with both a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Economics at The Wharton School.
Kim Hurwitz
CMO / DirectorKim Hurwitz joined Karate Combat in September 2017 as Chief Marketing Officer. Kim was previously Chief Content Officer for FOTV Media Networks Inc., a global digital platform she grew to 1,000 channels that featured the eponymous TV network she programmed with carriage via worldwide OTT, Dish Network (USA) and Sky (UK). She also led the company’s global partnership, distribution and syndication efforts during her tenure from 2010-2017. From 2000 to 2005 Kim was Director of Marketing for DIRECTV overseeing PPV and Advanced Products where she managed a $500mm annual P&L, returning to the national telecommunications giant as Senior Manager of Marketing from 2009 to 2010. Past positions include Vice President of Marketing, Publicity and Distribution for MWG Media, National Director of Affiliate Relations for the Tube Music Network, Regional Marketing and Advanced Products Manager for Adelphia/TCI and President/Co-Founder of the SoCal PPV Cable Group where she led 33 cable MSOs to industry-leading pay per view buy rates. The recipient of numerous marketing awards and a frequent industry panelist, Kim studied Theater Arts at the University of California, Los Angeles and possesses more than 20 years’ experience building and monetizing leading entertainment platforms and brands.
** - Karate Combat
-- By Charlotte Carroll..
