Date: 11/01/2004

It was history in the making by two in Chicago, Illinois over Halloween weekend (October 29-30, 2004). The AKA Grand Nationals celebrated its 40th year running while the new World Sport Karate Federation (WSKF) completed its first full season in existence with its finals competition. The combination of two tournaments in one, along with the first WSKF finals posed some interesting logistical issues for promoter John Sharkey and his staff. Friday night competition was a little shaky as the scorekeepers and judges became familiar with the WSKF seeding but once things were figured out, the Saturday competition ran smoothly and was finished by 4pm.