Sensei Dhammika Ariyaratne, a Sri Lankan living in New Zealand and the Director and Chief Instructor of the New Zealand Karate Academy, was recently appointed to the World Karate Federation’s Referee Inspection Commission — as the representative for the Oceania region.
With that appointment, he also served as the head of the Referees Commission for 14 countries in the Oceania region.
This unique and privileged position, appointed by the World Karate Federation, is considered the highest karate referee position held by a New Zealander and a South Asian.
Sensei Dhammika is one of the most senior and highly qualified judges ever held by a Sri Lankan as a karate referee. He represented Sri Lanka internationally from 1994 to 2008 as a karate player, official and referee.
Since 2009, he has represented New Zealand as a karate referee at over 50 World Karate Championships, Oceania Championships, Pacific Tournaments and Commonwealth Games.
Sensei Dhammika’s journey as a judge:
1988 – Appointment as Sri Lanka Karate Referee
1999–2005 – Secretary of the Judges Council of the Sri Lanka Karate Do Federation
2009 – New Zealand judge appointment
2010 – Appointment as an Oceania judge
2016 – Present – Secretary of the New Zealand Karate Referees Council
2022 – Member of the Commonwealth Karate Referees Commission
2023 – Present – Member of the Oceania Referee Commission
2025 – Appointed as Chief Judge of the Oceania Judges Commission.
2025 – Received appointment as a member of the World Karate Referees Commission.
These special privileges and appointments can be considered as Sensei Dhammika Ariyaratne writing a new page in the history of karate in New Zealand and South Asia.
Sensei Dhammika Guru will go down in history as the first person from our region to hold this privileged position.
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