The WKO Board Meeting was held in Astana on June 29 (Thu.), 2017 as part of the series of events related to the 6th World Karate Championship in Weight Categories.
The recommended Dan promotions discussed and approved at the WKO Grading Committee Meeting held the same day, were brought up at the meeting, and also approved by the WKO Board. Recommended Dan promotions are discussed once a year (in principle), and for 6th Dan and higher, the long term contribution to the organization, and for 5th Dan and lower, the age, health, injury history, and past achievements of the candidate are examined carefully. This time, the open weight World Champions (there is a candidate who will be discussed at a later timing, in consideration of the age limit presented in the Grading Regulations) were considered for their significant contribution to the organization, and their promotions were approved based on the number of times they have won the open weight World Championship.
New Grade 8DAN
Furko Kalman (Hungary)
New Grade 7DAN
Hachem M. Makki (Lebanon)
Luis Torregrosa (Puerto Rico)
Hiroshi Nanri (Japan)
Peter Volke (Australia)
New Grade 6DAN
Eduardo Garcia (Uruguay)
Wolfgang Pech (Germany)
Shinichi Sotodate (Japan)
Allahverdi Rustamov (Azerbaijan)
New Grade 5DAN
Michel Wedel (Netherlands)
Pascal Rouxel (France)
Kim Lee Bong (Singapore)
Roony Boye (Aruba)
Sergey Bronistovskiy(Ukraine)
Norichika Tsukamoto (Japan)
New Grade 4DAN
Michiel Maria Van Vliet (Netherlands)
Werner Mutz (Germany)
Jose Ferrandiz (Spain)
Igor Piven (Ukraine)
Oleg Nagornyi (Ukraine)
Normann Kaiser (Liechtenstein)
Jean-Philippe Bazerque (Jean-Philippe Bazerque)
Veronika Szovetes (Hungary)
Kunihiro Suzuki (Japan)
Volodymyr Priadka (Ukraine)
New Grade 3DAN
Takayuki Tsukagoshi (Japan)
Csenge Szepesi (Hungary)
New Grade 2DAN
Tomio Iinuma (Japan)
Emi Shoguchi (Japan)
Honorary 1DAN
Koh Ai-Peng (Singapore)
Riki Yong (Singapore)