World Karate mourns the death of Konstantinos Kassis

Αφιέρωσε τη ζωή του στην συγκεκριμένη πολεμική τέχνη και είχε ένα σταθερό και αδυσώπητο πάθος για το αθλητικό κομμάτι της, το οποίο μοιραζόταν με τον κόσμο, αφού κατέκτησε όλες τις πτυχές της τέχνης, ως αγωνιζόμενος, εκπαιδευτής, διαιτητής και επίσημος.
Ο Con Kassis έπαιξε καθοριστικό ρόλο στην ανάπτυξη του Καράτε στην Ωκεανία και είχε αρκετές και υψηλές θέσεις στην λήψη των αποφάσεων στην Ομοσπονδία Καράτε Ωκεανίας (OKF).

Εργάσθηκε επίσης πολύ σκληρά για την ένταξη του Καράτε σαν επίσημο άθλημα στους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες του 2020 στο Τόκυο.

O Πρόεδρος της Παγκόσμιας Ομοσπονδίας Καράτε Αntonio Espinós είπε:
“Ο θάνατος του Con Kassis είναι μια τεράστια απώλεια για την WKF και ολόκληρη την οικογένεια του Καράτε.
Η εξαιρετική συνεισφορά του στην πρόοδο του Καράτε ήταν απαράμιλλη, τόσο πολύ, που ήταν ένας από τους βασικούς
παράγοντες που έκαναν το καράτε την προχωρημένη και θεαματική πολεμική τέχνη που είναι σήμερα.
Επιπλέον, ήταν ένας αγαπημένος φίλος για πολλούς από εμάς.
Ήταν ευγενικός, στοργικός και ένας υπέροχος άνθρωπος διαχρονικά.
Εκπροσώπησε τέλεια τις πολλές αξίες του αθλήματός μας και θα μας λείψει πραγματικά”.

Karate Master Con Kassis (Konstantinos Kassis) passed away on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 after a long illness.
Master Kassis held the rank of 8th Dan “Shihan” in Shito-ryu and was a well-known personality of Karate throughout the world.

He was very important and his expertise in Karate was essential to the World Karate Federation (W.K.F.).
He was also Chairman of the Technical Committee of the World Karate Federation (WKF) and a member of Sports and Rules and Ranking Commissions, while in the past he had been a member and later on 2010, he got the position of Chairman of WKF Referee Committee.

It is worth noting that in the history of World Karate Federation since its establishment, he was the first non-Japanese to obtain the position of President of the Technical Committee as well as the only one so far to have served as a President of both the Referee Committee and the Technical Committee of World Karate Federation (WKF).

Born in Greece, specifically in Ioannina, Con Kassis moved to Australia when he was 4 years old and started practicing Karate at 15.
But he always kept in touch with his birthplace, which he visited often, while in the last 17 years his relationship with Greece became closer because of the special relationship he had with his personal student George Pelekis.

In 1982, Con began teaching and in 1987 he was introduced to Kenei Mabuni, an event that changed his life forever.
Master Mabuni (10th Dan) decided to take Con as his personal student. Under his guidance, Con’s understanding of Karate began to mature significantly.

At the age of 35, he became the World Karate Federation’s youngest Kata Judge at a time when only 25 officials in the world held this status, the highest possible for competition Karate. His passion for teaching grew immensely, and his achievements were to continue. He had produced countless state, national, and international champions in competition, and had become one of the most respected Karate teachers, not only in Australia, but around the world.

He had served as Vice President of the World Shito-ryu Karate-do Federation (WSKF) and recently held the position of Counselor in the above Federation.

He devoted his life in the particular martial art and had a stable and relentless passion for its competition part, that he shared with the world, since he had mastered all the aspects of the art, as a competitor, instructor, referee and official.
Con Kassis played a decisive role in the development of Karate in Oceania and held several high decision making positions in the Oceania Karate Federation (OKF).

He also worked very hard for the accession of Karate as an official sport in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

WKF President Antonio Espinos said:
“Con Kassis’s passing is a tremendous loss for the WKF and the whole Karate family. His outstanding contribution to the progress of Karate has been unparalleled; so much so, that he is one of the key actors in making Karate the advanced and spectacular discipline that is today. Moreover, he was a dear friend to many of us.
He was kind, caring, and a wonderful human being through and through.
He perfectly represented the many values of our sport, and he will be truly missed”.