Who runs the Cup
The organizers
The Kobushi Cup has been run by the same small group of instructors from Kobushi Dojo Doral for more than three decades. No promoter, no federation office: three people, a volunteer staff and a gym full of families every February.
Tournament Director · Founder
Kyoshi Carlos Quintero
8th Dan, Karate-Do Shito-Ryu
Born in Guáraque, Mérida, Venezuela in 1962, Carlos Quintero began karate at thirteen and moved to Caracas in 1979 to train under master Shoko Sato. He became national champion of Venezuela six times, represented his country at the Pan-American Games and competed in four World Karate Championship tournaments.
He moved to the United States in 1988 and opened his own dojo, going undefeated at state and regional level and taking three consecutive USA National Championship titles in 1992, 1993 and 1994. In 2004 he coached the Florida Kumite Team to gold at the USA-NKF National Championships. He founded Kobushi Dojo Doral in 2002 and remains head coach of its competition team.
On 25 October 2025 he was installed as the first Kyoshi of Karate-Do Shito-Ryu Keishin Kyokai. He sits on the USA Karate Federation Referee Committee and presides over rank promotions and advanced instructor training in South Florida, the same standard he applies to the Cup's officiating.
Career
- 1975Begins Karate-Do in Venezuela at thirteen.
- 1980sSix-time national champion of Venezuela. Competes at the Pan-American Games and four World Karate Championships.
- 1992–94Three consecutive USA National Championship titles.
- 2002Founds Kobushi Dojo Doral, the Cup's host school.
- 2004Coaches the Florida Kumite Team to gold at the USA-NKF National Championships.
- 2025Installed as the first Kyoshi of Karate-Do Shito-Ryu Keishin Kyokai.
Organizer
Shihan Alberto Perez
6th Dan, Karate-Do Shito-Ryu
Shihan Alberto Perez is co-founder and senior instructor of Kobushi Dojo Doral, and has organized the Kobushi Cup alongside Kyoshi Quintero since the school opened its doors in Doral.
His work at the dojo is with students of every age and level, from the four-year-olds to adult black belts, which is also how he approaches the Cup: a tournament that has to work as well for a child stepping onto the tatami for the first time as it does for a national-level competitor.
Organizer · Technology & User Experience
Sensei Gonzalo Figueroa
2nd Dan, Karate-Do Shito-Ryu
Sensei Gonzalo Figueroa is an instructor at Kobushi Dojo Doral and a Judge C certified official with the National Karate Federation in both Kata and Kumite, so he works the Cup from inside the ring as well as behind it.
He handles the tournament's website, registration links and everything a competitor or parent touches before they arrive: the schedule, the division rules, the directions to the venue. If the information you needed was easy to find, that was the intent.
Host school
Kobushi Dojo Doral
The Kobushi Cup is organized and hosted by Kobushi Dojo Doral, a Shito-Ryu school founded in 2002 and affiliated with Karate-Do Shito-Ryu Keishin Kyokai. The dojo teaches children from age four and adults of every level, in English and Spanish.
7835 NW 107th Ave #05, Doral, FL 33178 · 305.299.2632