AKATO's 50th Anniversary Celebrations in Dallas features Colin Wee Seminar

The American Karate and Tae Kwon Do Organization (AKATO) will celebrate its 50th anniversary on March 28, 2026, marking half a century of leadership, and community in the martial arts. As part of this milestone event in Dallas, author and martial arts instructor Colin Wee has been invited to teach a featured seminar, an honour that reflects his long-standing connection to AKATO and his contributions to the promotion of traditional martial arts.

Ahead of the anniversary celebration, Master Wee will lead a special seminar on March 26 at the North Texas Karate Alliance, hosted by Grandmaster Stephen Starnes. This session will focus on locking and takedown techniques, offering practitioners a deep dive into practical, historically grounded applications.

Across both events, Master Wee will present material drawn from a decade of research on Okinawan kata Bassai and Jion and integrate that with Grandmaster Keith Yates' Nam Seo Hyung. His work focuses on the turbulent era when the Ryukyu Kingdom was dismantled and its martial traditions were forced to adapt.

This historical lens provides a powerful counterpoint to this event: just as AKATO marks its 50th year, the broader karate world reflects on the century since Funakoshi began gaining traction in Japan following the Great Kantō Earthquake. The parallel invites practitioners to consider how arts evolve, survive, and find new meaning across generations.

"AKATO's 50th anniversary is an extraordinary milestone," says Master Wee. "To stand on the shoulders of pioneers like Funakoshi and Itosu, and to share this work with the AKATO community is an immense privilege. Their system was created in a time of immense change, and it's meaningful to bring that history forward to modern practitioners."

The March 28 celebration will conclude with a banquet honouring AKATO's legacy, its instructors, and its students.

Those wishing to attend the seminars or support the anniversary events can find details and registration information at www.akato.org.

Joong Do Kwan
PO Box 623
Nedlands, WA 6909

Joong Do Kwan and Breaking Through.world are platforms dedicated to promoting traditional martial arts. Explore the depth of traditonal training, and plunge into the innovative JDK Method. Discover a wealth of valuable resources, practical insights, and transformative teachings that will enrich your life's journey.

This release was published on openPR.