The Black Belt Magazine World Sport Karate Rankings

The Official Black Belt Magazine World Sport Karate Rankings have been created by a committee with the consideration of major leagues including but not limited to the ISKA, WAKO, NASKA, and WKC. In the adult sparring divisions, pay-per-view events like Virtual Fight Tour are also considered. These rankings do not impact seeding in any of the aforementioned leagues, and are intended to highlight amazing athletes and generate positive sport karate discussion.

Most Recent Update - January 22, 2023

Due to a large number of high-caliber martial artists changing divisions in 2023, the rankings committee decided to effectively begin the year with a clean slate. Only athletes who competed at the AKA Warrior Cup are featured in this update, with very few exceptions due to injury or other extenuating circumstances, and the results from Chicago were weighed very heavily. Inactive athletes have been removed from the rankings entirely. As the year progresses, the results from other major NASKA events, as well as the leagues mentioned above, will be considered and the rankings will be updated accordingly. Although the active rankings are beginning with a relatively fresh start, the defending ISKA world champions are still recognized at the top of the list as a result of the prestige of the U.S. Open Night of Champions and partnerships between the ISKA and Black Belt Magazine. This update also features the addition of senior women's point fighting rankings for the first time.

Previous Update - October 26, 2022

This rankings update follows several major sport karate events including the AmeriKick Internationals, WKC World Championships, Bristol Open, and the Diamond Nationals. There are no significant updates to the structure of the rankings. The committee weighted their assessment based on a combination of level of competition at events, the recency of events, consistency of performance over a longer time span, and head-to-head matchups. The recognized junior point fighters consist of the grand championship and open weight winners from the Diamond Nationals, the most recent major event predating this update.

The Defending U.S. Open ISKA World Champions:

Men's Weapons

Women's Weapons

Men's CMX Forms

Women's CMX Forms

Men's Traditional Forms

Women's Traditional Forms

Men's Lightweight Fighting

Men's Heavyweight Fighting

Men's Open Weight Fighting

Women's Fighting

Junior Boys' CMX Weapons

Junior Girls' CMX Weapons

Junior Traditional Weapons

Junior Traditional Forms

Junior Boys' CMX Forms

Junior Girls' CMX Forms

Youth Boys' Weapons

Youth Girls' Weapons

Youth Boys' Forms

Youth Girls' Forms

Senior Men's Weapons

Senior Men's Forms

Senior Men's Fighting

Senior Women's Forms & Weapons

Synchronized Weapons

Synchronized Forms

Team Demonstration

Men's Team Fighting

Active World Black Belt Rankings

Men's CMX Weapons

Esteban Tremblay
Rashad Eugene
Dawson Holt
Ben Jones
Jake Presley

Men's Traditional Weapons

Jake Presley
Dawson Holt
Samuel Diaz III
Esteban Tremblay
Alec Jahanvash

Women's CMX Weapons

Haley Glass
Sara Campbell
Kaitlyn Vong
Anna Beth Hedgepeth
Eden Williams