The Asian Karate Championships are the highest level of competition for sport karate in Asia. The competition is held in a different country every two years organized by the Asian Karate Federation (AKF) under the supervision of World Karate Federation (WKF), the largest international governing body of sport karate with over 180 member countries. The federation was formed in 1973 as the APUKO (Asian Pacific Union of Karatedo Organizations). It was renamed AUKO (Asian Union of Karatedo Organizations) in 1992 after the World Karate-Do Organizations (WUKO) was accepted by the IOC. In 1999, in conjunction with the World Federation of Karate-Do Organizations (WUKO) renamed the World Karate Federation (WKF), the federation was renamed the AKF (Asian Karatedo Federation). 