People from as far away as India came to Pittsburgh last weekend for the Isshinryu World Karate Association's world championship tournament.

Isshinryu is a style of karate developed on Okinawa. The most popular forms of karate taught in the United States are Korean.

"The Korean styles tend to use high kicks for their effectiveness," said Irv Guyett, a psychologist who was one of the organizers of the tournament. "The Okinawan style was designed to be a very close-in style to penetrate the armor of the [Japanese] samurai [who ruled Okinawa]. It uses both arms and legs, but places more emphasis on the punch."

The Isshinryu World Karate Association has 40,000 members worldwide. Its world championship tournaments are held every two years. This year's tournament was sponsored by the Isshinryu Karate Academy of Pittsburgh, Green Tree.

About 370 people, of whom nearly 300 were competitors, attended the tournament at the Pittsburgh Hilton. They represented 40 clubs, mostly from northeastern and midwestern United States. Competitors ranged in age from 6 to 70.

J.B. Gitanjali, 36, and her son, Aryan Bhattacharjee, 7, came to Pittsburgh from Chennai in southern India for the tournament.

"We've been doing this for 21/2 years," said Ms. Gitanjali, who owns a publishing firm. "For me, it was a lifelong dream, something I always wanted to do, but didn't have time to do when I was a child. I wanted my son to learn because it develops poise and that helps academics. Karate is meditation in action."

Wayne Stewart, 46, a police officer from Oakhurst, N.J., came to the tournament with his daughters, Gabriella, 14, and Christina, 12, both of whom have been studying karate for seven years.

"Before we had them, my wife and I decided that we would force the kids to do two things: learn to swim and learn karate," Mr. Stewart said. "It's a lifestyle commitment, something you'll keep with you all your life. Every penny we've spent has been well worth it."

For his daughters, karate isn't a chore.

"I like pressing your limits," Christina said. "You get to meet new people."

Keely Hutton, 36, from Rochester, N.Y., came to the tournament with her sons Aidan, 8, and Colin, 5. Aidan has been studying karate for three years, Colin for a year, and mom for two years.

"We got Aidan in because we thought it would be nice to defend himself," Ms. Hutton said. "Then it became a family thing. It's not about winning. It's about how to work past making a mistake."

"It's fun," said Lawrence Randolph, 9, from Indianapolis. "It's made me more confident."

"I started to learn how to fight," said Herk Weihrauch, 45, from Middlesex Township, a clinical chemist for Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. "I keep it up because I enjoy the people I work out with."

"A friend got me interested," said Bob O'Neill, 32, a software developer from McCandless. "I'll keep doing it as long as it's fun. It's still fun."

"We were delighted both with the number of people who came to the tournament in these tough economic times, and with the support from the Hilton," Mr. Guyett said. The tournaments handed out trophies in 80 divisions, including sparring matches and demonstrations of form, both empty hand and with weapons.

The hosts spent $6,000 on the trophies, but they'd have cost about $20,000 if the host committee hadn't assembled them, Mr. Guyett said.

"People really work for a good year to be competitive," he said. "We wanted them to have nice trophies."

A dozen members of the Pittsburgh club won awards. They were Ryan Lancaster and Sam Trehy in the 7-11 age group; Nicole Merrick, Jaime Bambraugh and Bobby White among 13-year-olds, and adults John Young, Marty Dugan, Leon Cherney, Josh Mehl, Justin Filey, Tom Thorpe and the Rev. Larry Krause.