Marigliano City National Karate Competition - Maestro Guido Taricco Memorial

A day of karate in the heart of the Nola area

The Marigliano City National Karate Competition has become one of the most anticipated events on the competitive calendar in Central and Southern Italy. It takes place over a single, long spring day at the PalaNapolitano, the sports hall of the Municipality of Marigliano, in the province of Naples, Campania. Organized by the Ente Italia Karate (EIK), the competition gathers around 600 athletes and dozens of sports clubs from across the South and the center of the peninsula every year.

Those entering the sports hall find an atmosphere that is far from a local provincial meet: aligned tatami mats, scoreboards, judges in suits and ties, and stands packed with families and coaches. In the 2026 edition, the 38 registered sports clubs filled the facility until the end of the awards ceremony, on a day that concluded only in the late afternoon.

The Memorial dedicated to Maestro Guido Taricco

The competition is dedicated to the memory of Maestro Guido Taricco, a reference figure for karate in Campania and the first teacher of Sigismondo Esposito, the Marigliano-based master who is now the organizational heart of the event. Esposito, a student of Taricco since 1969 and a key figure in the spread of karate in Marigliano and Campania ever since, received awards for his long career during this very event. The memorial is therefore not just a title: it is the way a sports community tells its own genealogy, from master to student, and passes it on to the children stepping onto the tatami for the first time.

Kata and kumite: the featured specialties

The technical program is built around individual kata specialties (the form, the codified execution of techniques) and kumite (combat). The categories cover the entire range of ages and ranks:

• youth categories from 7-8 years, 9-10 years, and 11-12 years;
• mini-cadets, cadets, juniors;
• senior and veteran classes, up to over 45;
• subdivision by belt, from white and yellow up to green, brown, and black.

The preliminaries take place in parallel on multiple tatami mats throughout the morning; in the afternoon, the focus shifts to the finals and awards ceremonies, which close the day with the presentation of medals and trophies to the clubs.

A gateway to the Italian Championships

The sporting value of the event extends beyond the day itself: the Marigliano competition is valid for admission to the Italian Championships in Salsomaggiore and represents a selection stage for international commitments in the EIK circuit, in Romania and Great Britain. For many young karateka from the South, it is the test that opens—or closes—the competitive season, which explains the technical quality and the tension felt on the tatami.

Marigliano, a city that lives for sport

Marigliano, with about 30,000 inhabitants at the gates of the Nola area, is an agricultural and commercial center of the Campanian plain, a short distance from Nola, Acerra, and the regional capital of Naples. The PalaNapolitano is the city's main indoor facility and hosts team championships, youth tournaments, and martial arts events throughout the year. In terms of size and turnout, the karate competition is one of the events that fills the structure the most.

More than just competition

Every year, the organizers emphasize an educational dimension that goes beyond the result: respect, self-discipline, inner balance, and perseverance are the values that traditional karate places at the center, and which the Marigliano event aims to transmit, especially to the youngest. For the families accompanying the athletes, the competition also becomes an opportunity for different dojos to meet, get to know each other, compare working methods, and build the network that holds the Campanian karate movement together.