ATLANTA -- Rebel yells gave way to kiai (fighting shouts) when over 1,000 karate enthusiasts from five continents gathered in Atlanta recently for the Okinawa Karate-do World Championships.

Organized by the Okinawa Karate-do Rengokai, this marked the first time the championship was held outside Japan.

Participants came from places as diverse as Slovakia and Sri Lanka, Panama and Palestine, Brazil and Bulgaria. Nine came from Liberia, nearly 200 from Latin America and 90 from Japan.

Heading the Japan delegation was Hanshi 10th dan Shugoro Nakazato, 83, president of the Okinawa Shorinryu Shorinkan Karate-do Association. In 1996, Nakazato was invited to bring a group to give karate demonstrations at the Atlanta Summer Olympics.

The warm response and big turnout led to another demonstration trip in 1999, and ultimately to the selection of Atlanta as the site of the first overseas world tournament.

A highlight of the tournament was two days of master classes taught by 10 of the biggest names in Okinawan karate. Rarely have so many high-ranking teachers from all of the major schools of Okinawan karate come together under the same roof to teach.

Among those giving classes were Nakazato; Hanshi 10th dan Ryuko Tomoyose, Uechi-ryu; Hanshi 10th dan Meitatsu Yagi, Goju-ryu; Hanshi 9th dan Morio Higaonna, Goju-ryu; Hanshi 9th dan Zenpo Shimabukuro, Shorin-ryu Seibukan; and Hanshi 9th dan Kotaro Iha, Ryukyu kobudo.

"Winning two gold medals was great," said Monika Visnovska of Slovakia, who took one for kata and one for kumite, "but watching all these masters give classes was really the most memorable aspect of the tournament."

Visnovska, 24, feared she wouldn't make the Atlanta event because her visa didn't come through until the last minute. Several people in other countries who registered to attend never made it because their visas weren't processed in time.

In all, contestants from 18 countries vied for medals in 134 divisions, including both kata and kumite.

The U.S., with the most people registered (449), took the most medals: 51 gold, 61 silver and 53 bronze. Canada, with 66 participants, took 12 gold, 15 silver and 10 bronze.

Brazil, with 76 contestants, took 15 gold, six silver and five bronze, while Japan, with 54 contestants, took 12 gold, eight silver, and nine bronze.

Japanese who took home gold medals included Kiyoshi Yogi for kobudo sai and kata Uechi/Shohei-ryu in the seniors category and Kenta Higa, age 11, who captured gold medals for kata Goju-ryu and kumite in a junior category.

Results for all 134 divisions are on the web at www.karate-do.org. The four-day event concluded with demonstrations of traditional Okinawan culture that brought both cheers and rebel yells from the crowded bleachers.

A group of dancers wearing colorful bingata kimonos performed folk dances to the strains of Okinawan music.

Finally, five top-ranking sensei gave martial arts demonstrations, one at a time. The crowd fell silent as they watched an extraordinary display of karate and kobudo, the likes of which most people never in their life are lucky enough to see performed live.