Kyokushin kaikan

Kyokushin Kaikan
Focus Striking
Hardness Full-contact; Competitions include kicks to the head, but not hand strikes to the head
Country of origin Japan Japan
Creator Masutatsu Oyama (Choi Yeong-Eui)
Famous practitioners Terutomo Yamazaki, Georges St. Pierre, Andy Hug, Bas Rutten, Dolph Lundgren, Glaube Feitosa, Francisco Filho, Bobby Lowe, Hajime Kazumi, Flemming Jensen, Mariusz Pudzianowski, Tiger Schulmann, Shokei Matsui, Semmy Schilt, Ewerton Teixeira, Glen Murphy, Ryo Chonan, Andrews Nakahara, Katsunori Kikuno, Sean Connery
Parenthood Various, mainly Goju Ryu, also including Shotokan, Daito Ryu.

Kyokushin kaikan (極真会館?) is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Korean-Japanese karate master, Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達 Ōyama Masutatsu?) who was born under the name Choi Young-Eui (최영의). Kyokushinkai is Japanese for "the society of the ultimate truth." Kyokushin rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training. Its full contact style has had international appeal (practitioners have over the last 40+ years numbered more than 12 million[1][2][3]).

Kyokushin has influenced many of the " Full-Contact" schools of karate, emphasizing realistic combat, physical toughness, and practicality in its training curriculum. The Knockdown karate competition system pioneered by kyokushin has been adopted by many different karate styles and organizations. Other martial arts organizations have "spun off" from Kyokushin over the years, with some adding additions, such as grappling techniques, but continuing with the same philosophy of realistic and practical training methodals.

Contents

History

Origin

The following is a brief overview of the early life of Masutatsu "Mas" Oyama.

The founder of Kyokushin, Masutatsu Oyama,he was born Choi Yong-i on 27 July 1923 in Gimje, Korea[4], during the long period of Japanese occupation. Owing to the popularity of some recent movies, the name "Choi Bae Dal" is sometimes used to refer to Oyama. 'Bae Dal' is the Korean pronunciation of his Japanese name 'Masutatsu', which can also be pronounce 'baitatsu'. However Oyama himself never used this name and its use is a more recent introduction.

As a young child, Oyama enjoyed fighting and watching others fight. In 1938, he emigrated to Japan and studied Okinawan Karate under Gichin Funakoshi, eventually gaining 2nd dan. Later, Oyama also trained under Yoshida Kotaro, a famous Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu/Yanagi-ryu Aiki-jujutsu master, from whom he received his menkyo kaiden - an older form of grade, a scroll signifying mastery, from Kotaro. This scroll is still on display at the Honbu dojo in Tokyo.

Also, upon the advice of his mentor and a member of the National Diet, Matsuhei Mori, around this time the young master took his Japanese name, Masutatsu Oyama, the name he would use for the rest of his life. After World War II, Oyama began his training in Goju Ryu karate under a Korean master in Japan, So Nei Chu, who ran a dojo in Tokyo with the famous goju teacher Gogen Yamaguchi. He would finally attain 8th Dan in Goju Ryu Karate. Another influence from the Goju school was Masahiko Kimura, although also an assistant karate instructor at the karate dojo Oyama trained at, Kimura was primarily a famous champion of judo who defeated Hélio Gracie of Brazilian Jiujitsu fame. Kimura encouraged Oyama to take up judo so that he would have an understanding of the art's ground techniques. Kimura introduced Oyama to the Sone Dojo in Nakano, Tokyo, where he trained regularly for four years, eventually gaining his 4th Dan.

It was after this time that Oyama first retreated into the mountains for one of his well-known solitary training periods, yamagomori. He completed two such retreats for a total of almost three years of solitary training in accord with the ascetic traditions of many of the great warriors of Japan through the centuries. During this period of isolated training, Oyama engaged in intense shugyo, or spiritual discipline.

In the early 1950s, Oyama traveled to the USA visiting 32 states.

Founder of Kyokushin Karate, Masutatsu Oyama.

In 1953, Oyama resigned from Goju ryu and opened his own independent karate dojo, named "Oyama Dojo" in Tokyo, but continued to travel around Japan and the world giving martial arts demonstrations, including bare-hand challenges. His first 'Oyama dojo' was a vacant lot in Mejiro, Tokyo. In 1956, Oyama moved the dojo into the ballet studio attached to Rikkyo University. Oyama's own curriculum soon developed a reputation as a tough, intense, hard-hitting, and practical style which he named "Kyokushin" in a ceremony in 1957. As the reputation of the dojo grew, students were attracted to come to train there from Japan and beyond and numbers grew.

In 1964, Oyama moved the dojo into a building he refurbished not far from the ballet studio at Rikkyo. Oyama also formally founded the "International Karate Organization Kyokushinkaikan" (commonly abbreviated to IKO or IKOK), to organize the many schools that were by then teaching the Kyokushin style. This dojo at 3-3-9 Nishi-Ikebukuro, in the Toshima area of Tokyo, remains the world headquarters of the Kyokushinkaikan to this day, although there are a number of breakaways that claim authority but are not recognized legally in Japan. All enquiries regarding Mas Oyama's Kyokushin Karate should be directed to this Honbu.

1964 to 1994

After formally establishing the Kyokushinkaikan, Oyama directed the organization through a period of expansion. Oyama hand-picked instructors who displayed ability in marketing the style and gaining new members. Oyama would choose an instructor to open styles in another town or city in Japan. The instructor would move to that town and usually demonstrate his karate skills in public places, such as at the civic gymnasium, the local police gym (where many judo students would practice), a local park, or conduct martial arts demonstrations at local festivals or school events. In this way, the instructor would soon gain students for his new dojo. After that, word of mouth would spread through the local area until the dojo had a dedicated core of students. Oyama also sent instructors to other countries such as the Netherlands (Kenji Kurosaki), Australia (Shigeo Kato), the United States of America (Tadashi Nakamura, Shigeru Oyama and Yasuhiko Oyama, Miyuki Miura) and Brazil (Seiji Isobe) to spread Kyokushin in the same way. In addition, numerous students began to travel to Japan to train with Oyama, consequently returning to their country to spread the art. In 1969, Oyama staged the first 'All Japan Full Contact Championships' which took Japan by storm and Terutomo Yamazaki became the first champion. Also in 1975, the First Open Full Contact World Karate Championships were held in Tokyo. World Championships have been held at four-yearly intervals since, although under the current confusion of self-proclaimed representative organizations, there are up to five so-called "world championships" a year, a situation which no longer makes any sense. Especially to the fighters who, in the past, knew who the Kyokushin world champion was at any time. Now we have a situation where there are Kyokushin "world" champions who won their title in obscure tournaments that are not at all representative of Mas Oyama's Kyokushin Karate.

Divided organization since 1995

Upon Oyama's death, several self-made groups broke away from the International Karate Organization (IKO) Honbu, primarily due to personal conflicts over who should succeed Oyama as Chairman. As a supposed will was proven to be invalid in the family Court of Tokyo in 1994, any claim to that will indicating the true intention of Oyama was nullified. Before his death, Oyama named no one as his successor although many now claim to be the rightful leader of his organization.

The only organization that remains loyal to Oyama's original Kyokushin Honbu Dojo (school) and Oyama's family (who inherited Oyama's intellectual property) is the IKO Kyokushinkaikan based at the original dojo of Oyama, identified as the IKO Sosai (see [1]).

Kyokushin Today

Existing as a single organization under the leadership of the founder, Mas Oyama, the Kyokushin organization was damaged, perhaps beyond repair, by the numerous bogus breakaway groups who left the IKO after the Master's passing. Each claim their own authority as representing the original Honbu, although legally the only organization recognized in Japan as having authority to use the intellectual property of Mas Oyama and Kyokushin Karate is the original IKO organization still based at Oyama's original dojo. Many of these groups use identical names or minor variations thereof. As a result there is much confusion and political (and legal) rivalry between the groups, exacerbated by the ongoing claims by the breakaway groups that they are legitimate, despite legal direction to cease.

Oyama's widow died in June 2006 after a long illness. According to the Japanese legal system the Custodian of Oyama's intellectual property and legacy is the youngest of his daughters, Kikuko (also known as Kuristina) who now oversees the management of original IKO Honbu, although not directly involved in karate teaching.

Dojo Kun (Training Hall Oath)

The Dojo kun is recited at the end of each training session. Students must learn the dojo kun and have a full understanding of its customs. The training oath is as follows:
1. We will train our hearts and bodies for a firm and unshaking spirit.
2. We will pursue the true meaning of the martial way so that in time our senses are alert.
3. With true vigour we will seek to cultivate a spirit of self denial
4. We will observe the rules of courtesy respect our superiors and refrain from violence.
5. We will follow our religious principles and never forget the true virtue of humility
6. We will look up towards wisdom and strength not seeking other desires
7. All our lives through the discipline of karate we will seek to fulfil the true meaning of the Kyokushin way[5]

The Kanji and its Meaning in Kyokushin

Kanji is the representation (using Chinese characters) of the word Kyokushinkai, which is the name of the ryu or style. Translated, "kyoku" means "ultimate", "shin" means "truth" or "reality" and kai means "to join" or " to associate". In essence Kyokushinkai, roughly translated, means "Ultimate Truth"[6]. This concept has less to do with the Western meaning of truth; rather it is more in keeping with the bushido concept of discovering the nature of one's true character when tried [7]. One of the goals of kyokushin is to strengthen and improve character by challenging oneself through rigorous training.

Techniques and Training

Kyokushin training consists of three main elements: technique, forms, and sparring. These are sometimes referred to as the three "K's" after the Japanese words for them: kihon (basics), kata (forms), and kumite (sparring).

Technique (waza)

The Kyokushin system is based on traditional karate like Shotokan and Goju-ryu, but incorporates many elements of combat sports like boxing, Muay Thai and kickboxing in kumite. Many techniques used in Kyokushin Karate are not found in other styles of karate.

In Kyokushin the instructor and his students all must take part in hard sparring to prepare them for full contact fighting. Unlike some forms of karate, Kyokushin places high emphasis on full contact fighting which is sometimes done without any gloves or protective equipment. This apparent violence is tempered because bare-handed punches to the head are not allowed. This reduces the risk of both immediate and long-term head injury. Whilst knees and kicks to the head and face are allowed, owing to the nature of these techniques, injuries are rare and those that cause long-term brain damage, common in boxing, are virtually non-existent. This makes the Kyokushin style of training very popular amongst professionals.

In the earliest Kyokushin tournaments and training sessions bare knuckle strikes to the face were allowed but resulted in many injuries, thus students were forced to withdraw from training. Oyama believed that wearing protective gloves would detract from the realism that the style emphasizes. Therefore, it was decided that hand and elbow strikes to the head and neck would no longer be allowed in training and competition. Furthermore, many governments don't allow bare knuckle strikes to the head in sanctioned martial arts competitions. The vast majority of Kyokushin organizations and "offshoot" styles today still follow this philosophy.

Technically, Kyokushin is a point and circle style, incorporating a successful blend of the linear techniques of the powerful Shotokan karate and the more circular movements of Goju-ryu with its strong Chinese influence. Shotokan and Goju-ryu were the two styles of karate Oyama studied before creating Kyokushin's style. However, Oyama studied Shotokan for only a couple of years before he switched to Goju-ryu where he got his advanced training under his primary mentor, So Nei Chu. These influences are reflected in Kyokushin where the training and kata for early ranks closely resembles Shotokan but gradually becomes closer to the circular techniques and strategies of Goju-ryu the higher one advances in the system.

Kata

Kata is a form of ritualized self-training in which patterned or memorized movements are done in order to practice a form of combat maneuvering. According to a highly-regarded Kyokushin text, "The Budo Karate of Mas Oyama" [8] by Cameron Quinn, long time interpreter to Oyama, the kata of Kyokushin find their origins as follows:

Northern

The northern kata stems from the Shuri-te tradition of karate, and are drawn from Shotokan karate which Oyama learned while training under Gichin Funakoshi. Some areas now phase out the prefix "sono" in the kata names.

The Taikyoku kata was originally created by Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Shotokan karate.

The 5 Pinan katas, known in some other styles as Heian, was originally created, in 1904, by Anko Ito-su, a master of Shuri-te and Shorin ryu (a combination of the shuri-te and tomari-te traditions of karate). He was a teacher to Gichin Funakoshi. Pinan (pronounced /pin-ann/) literally translates as Peace and Harmony.

Unique

These three kata were created by Oyama to further develop kicking skills and follow the same embu-sen (performance line) as the original Taikyoku kata. Sokugi Taikyoku (pronounced /sock-gee, ty-key-yok/) literally means Kicking Taikyoku. Taikyoku translates as Grand Ultimate View.

Southern

The southern kata stems from the Naha-te tradition of karate, and are drawn from Goju Ryu karate, which Oyama learned while training under So Nei Chu and Gogen Yamaguchi.. Two exceptions are "Tsuki no kata" which originates from Seigokan goju ryu where it was created by Seigo Tada under the name "Kihon tsuki no kata", and the Kata "Yantsu" which originates with Motobu-ha Shito ryu, where it is callen "Hansan" or "Ansan".

Tensho and Gekisai was originally created by Chojun Miyagi, founder of Goju Ryu karate.

Unique

The kata Garyu is not taken from traditional Okinawan karate but was created by Oyama and named after his pen name, which is the Japanese pronunciation of the characters 臥龍, the name of the village (Il Loong) in Korea where he was born.

Ura Kata

Several kata are also done in "ura", which essentially means all turns are done spinning around. The URA, or 'reverse' kata were developed by Oyama as an aid to developing balance and skill in circular techniques against multiple opponents.

Sparring (kumite)

Sparring, also called kumite, is used to train the application of the various techniques within a fighting situation. Sparring is usually an important part of training in most Kyokushin organizations, especially at the upper levels with experienced students.

In most Kyokushin organizations, hand and elbow strikes to the head or neck are prohibited. However, kicks to the head, knee strikes, punches to the upper body, and kicks to the inner and outer leg are permitted. In some Kyokushin organizations, especially outside of a tournament environment, gloves and shin protectors are worn. Children often wear head gear to lessen the impact of any kicks to the head. Speed and control are instrumental in sparring and in a training environment it is not the intention of either practitioner to injure his opponent as much as it is to successfully execute the proper strike. Tournament fighting under knockdown karate rules is significantly different as the objective is to down an opponent. Full-contact sparring in Kyokushin is considered the ultimate test of strength, endurance, and spirit.

Self defense

Also known as Goshin-jutsu, the specific self defense techniques of the style draw much of their techniques and tactics from Mas Oyama's study of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu under Yoshida Kotaro. These techniques were never built into the formal grading system, and as kyokushin grew increasingly sport oriented, the self defense training started to fall into obscurity. Today it is only practiced in a limited number of dojos.

Culture

Grading

Kyokushin Karate Belt Order
White MUKYU  
Orange 10 & 9 KYU  
Blue 8 & 7 KYU  
Yellow 6 & 5 KYU  
Green 4 & 3 KYU  
Brown 2 & 1 KYU  
Black All DAN grades  

Colored belts have their origin in Judo, as does the training 'gi', or more correctly in Japanese, 'dōgi' or 'Keikogi'. In Kyokushin the order of the belts varies in some breakaway groups, but according to the Honbu of Oyama, the kyu ranks and belt colors are as follows:

Each colored belt had two levels, the second being represented by a stripe at the ends of the belt. The white belt however, does not represent any level and is only meant to hold the 'gi' in place. As such, the white belt is used by practitioners who are not yet graded. The belt system under Mas Oyama followed this order since the 1960s with the exception of the yellow (red) belt, which was incorporated only in the last year of his life, replacing the earlier used white belt with one and two red stripes for the same kyu grades.

Whilst some groups also use red belts for high dan grades, it is not the norm and Oyama himself did not follow this practice in his dojo or organization, always wearing a wholly black belt himself.

There are many ideas of how the belt colors in the martial arts came to be, some more romantic than others. One quaint tale says that students of a karate school would be given a white belt. The students' belts would gradually become stained darker from use and eventually a person who was of a high standard and who had trained for a long time would then have a black/brown/dirt colored belt. This is an inspiring way to encourage students to train harder, and might have its basis in truth since martial arts practitioners as a general rule don't wash their belts after training. However, no evidence exists of this, so there is no hard and fast rule according to the Japanese and romantic notions of the belt containing the training spirit and hard toil of years of training are generally invented in the West. The tradition of only sparingly washing the belt is more likely based on the more practical reason that belts tend to lose their color if washed too often.

Perhaps the most widely read and respected interpretation of the fundamental psychological requirements of each level is found in the book, The Budo Karate of Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, written by former interpreter to Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, Cameron Quinn. Kyokushin karate has a belt grading system similar to other martial arts. The requirements of each level vary from country to country, some far stricter and more demanding than others. For example, in some countries in Europe, the grading for each level requires the student to complete the entire requirements for each level up to the rank being tested. So the student attempting first degree black belt will do all the Orange belt requirements, THEN all the blue belt requirements (including repeating the orange belt requirements) and so on. The free fighting (kumite) requirements for first degree black belt also ranges from ten rounds to forty rounds, depending on the region, usually at a very high level of contact and with no protective gear other than a groin guard and mouth guard. It is not so much the number of fights but the intensity of the effort that defines the grading. Some areas don't even have formal gradings per se, instead presenting the student with their new rank in training after the instructor feels that he/she has reached that level and is capable of all the requirements.

The belt assigned to each student upon commencing training is a white belt. With each successful grading attempt the student is awarded a kyu ranking, and either a stripe on his current belt or a new belt colour altogether. Grading, or promotion tests, include calisthenic and aerobic training, kihon (basics), ido geiko (moving basics), goshinjitsu (self defence), sanbon and ippon kumite (three and one step sparring), kata (prescribed series of movements/forms, sometimes described as a form of moving meditation), tameshiwari (board, tile or brick breaking) and kumite (contact free fighting). Achieving a 1st dan black belt, or shodan, can take anywhere from four but often six to ten years of training. A belt may be awarded only by a teacher after a grading, some lower grades, e.g., yellow stripe or yellow, can be assessed in a local dojo by an instructor, after 2 or 3 grades, you will have to wait until a "grading" usually only performed approximately 4 times a year or at martial arts camps where there are shodan and above gradings, and 50 man kumite also are performed on rare occasions. At the highest ranks (6th dan and above) tests are performed by international committee, or, as is more common in the post-Mas Oyama era, presented honorarily. Nobody can achieve a 10th degree black belt for this was a special honor created only for the Sosai (Oyama).

Each belt has a different number of fights required for the rank sparring for grading starts at white belt. Of all aspects, it is the strong and spirited contact kumite that most defines the Kyokushin style, and it is this aspect that has always brought the style the most respect. The one thing that usually defined the Kyokushin black belt was the spirit, strength and courage of the kumite.

The number of rounds required may increase or decrease after Shodan, again depending on the region. 40 rounds of hard contact sparring is required as part of a grading or as part of a special training requirement, is no easy feat and involves non-stop fighting of one and a half hours or more. It is a test of fortitude as well as skill.

Competition and Tournaments

Tournament competition is an important part of Kyokushin, and most Kyokushin organizations sponsor local, national, and international competitions. Kyokushin tournaments are held throughout the year on every continent in the world, but the largest are held in Japan where they are televised on Japanese television and draw crowds of thousands. Tournaments are organized as either weight category or open tournaments. The Kyokushin World Tournaments are known as the Karate Olympics.

Kyokushin culture believes that accepting a "challenge" represents a Kyokushin practitioner's commitment to the principles of the art. One way to participate in a challenge, in which a Kyokushin student tests his/her courage and desire to defeat one's adversary, is through tournament competition.

Most Kyokushin tournaments follow "knockdown karate" rules in which points are awarded for knocking one's opponent to the floor with kicks, punches, or sweeps. Grabbing and throwing are generally not allowed in Kyokushin tournaments. When they are, they are legal only if performed in less than a second. Hooks are usually legal if performed for a 'split second.' Arm or hand strikes to the head, face, neck or spine are usually not permitted, but kicks to the head are allowed. If, however, the opponent turns his back while the opponent is throwing a technique, there is no penalty. Outside of Japan straight kicks to the front of the knee are usually disallowed. Knock-outs do sometimes occur and minor to moderate injuries are common, but serious injuries are rare. The most common injuries are concussions, broken clavicles, and fractured limbs and sternums. Many Kyokushin tournaments follow an "open" format that allows competitors from any martial arts style, not just Kyokushin, to enter and compete.

Many Kyokushin practitioners tend to express concerns about influence of "Japan knockdown" rules on martial art students . The rules were designed with purpose of maintaining relatively low level of injuries by greatly reducing amount of strikes into competitor's head (only kicks into the head should happen, and they are not exactly common given proper guard). They, however, resulted in highly specialized and barely relevant style of sparring, which is often seen during modern Kyokushin championships, particularly outside of Japan. Specifically, both opponents tend to maintain high upright stance with little or no guard for the head/neck area, make little or no movement and throw a continuous stream of punches into opponent's mid-section and kicks into thigh/knee area. Since many Kyokushin dojos encourage their students to compete, they tend to ingrain this fairly artificial method of combat, while abandoning realistic framework of Kyokushin. The impact of Kyokushin rules upon martial art students has been criticized for a long time, yet there is little indication of possible changes on a worldwide scale, as resorting to protective gear is considered to be against spirit of Kyokushin, and imposing restrictions on contact hardness may result in just a variation of Shotokan competitions. The amount of Kyokushin "spin-off" schools that try to overcome the situation is still growing.

Multi-man Sparring

In addition to the number of rounds of kumite as mentioned above in the Grading section, a special tradition of Kyokushin has been the 50- and 100-man kumite. The 100-man kumite was designed as a special test for advanced practitioners of the art. In these extreme examples of kumite, the subject of the test fights 50 to 100 opponents (depending on the test) in rapid succession, usually two-minute bouts separated by one-minute rest periods. The subject has to "win" (i.e., not get knocked-out) in at least 50-percent of the bouts in order to be deemed as passing the test. One example of someone who successfully completed the 100-man fight is Miyuki Miura. Reportedly, only 17 people have successfully completed the 100-man fight. There is a trend these days of dojos and organizations around the world to run their own 100-Man Kumite in their own country with their own students as opponents. Only 100-man kumite tests conducted by Honbu are recognized and recorded. Masutatsu Oyama is reported to have completed a 300-man fight over 3 days. See Sosai or Masutatsu Oyama.[9][10]

Influence on other Styles and sports

Kyokushin in its many factions and organizations has had, and still has, a big influence on many other styles, and the knockdown karate competition format is now used by a large number of styles. As a group, the styles that use the knockdown karate rules are called knockdown styles, or knockdown karate styles. Most other karate styles that originated in Kyokushin, such as Ashihara Karate, Budokaido, godokai, Enshin Karate, Seidō juku, Musokai, Shidōkan and Seidokaikan are also knockdown styles and use slight variations of the competition rules.

A few other styles such as Kansuiryu Karate and Byakuren are also knockdown karate styles, but originated independently of Kyokushin, having simply adopted the competition format.

Some styles originating in Kyokushin such as Jushindo, and Daido Juku and its derivative, Japanese Zendokai(Kudo, as opposed to Judo or Karate), has also been strongly influenced by Kyokushin technique and traditions, but has chosen to abandon traditional Knockdown karate sparring for more Mixed martial arts influenced competition rules.

Other styles, such as Kokondo, are strongly derived from Kyokushin, albeit with removal from the knock-down format, focusing on real-life fighting, but steering away from tournaments and competitions.

Many Kickboxing gyms has been influenced by kyokushin. Japanese kickboxing has been influenced by Kyokushin or by other Knockdown karate styles ever since the foundation of the sport in Japan, when many of the pioneers originated from Kyokushin. Over the years, Kickboxing has been seen as a natural progression for kyokushin competiors and many of Japans top Kickboxers has had a Kyokushin or knockdown karate origin In recent years, Influences from Kyokushin and knockdown karate can be seen in the K-1 kickboxing tournament that originated out of the Seidokaikan karate organization -which is a offshoot from Kyokushin. Outside of Japan, many Dutch kickboxing and muay-thai gyms carry strong influences from kyokushin karate through their background connections (both directly to kyokushin and indirectly through Japanese kickboxing) to the art.

Kyokushin and Knockdown karate are also the basis of Gloved karate or Glove karate. Glove karate is recent meld between knockdown rules and kickboxing popular in Japan and used in many sport karate organizations like Shinkaratedo renmei [11], and All-Japan glove karate federation[12] . Essentially this is the Knockdown karate format, but wearing boxing gloves and allowing punches to the head.

In popular culture

Videogames

The movesets of Ryu and Ken from Capcom's Street Fighter franchise are based on Shotokan, the parent style of Kyokushin; Ryu is said to be based on Yoshiji Soeno, a student of Mas Oyama. In Namco's Tekken series, Jin Kazama is said to travel to Brisbane, Australia to learn karate [13]. At the time of Tekken's creation, Cameron Quinn [14] - a well-known instructor of Kyokushin Karate, Mas Oyama's interpreter, and the author of The Budo Karate of Mas Oyama - was teaching students such as Garry O'Neill and Walter Schnaubelt at his well-known Kyokushin dojo in the city of Brisbane.

Jin uses the art of Kyokushin Karate in Tekken 4, Tekken 5, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Tekken 6, and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion; he can be seen practicing Yantsu and Pinan Sono Yon Kata in various demonstration modes in the Tekken series. Some of Paul Phoenix's moves are derived from Kyokushin Karate. Kadonashi Shotaro and his students from Namco's Urban Reign use the art of Kyokushinkai. Hitomi from Tecmo's Dead or Alive series uses the art of Kyokushin Karate in Dead or Alive 3 and Dead or Alive 4; she can be seen practicing the kata Pinan Sono Yon in various demonstration modes in Dead or Alive 3 and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball. While Hitomi's style of karate is never explicitly stated in-game, the ending credits of Dead or Alive 3 indicate the only karate martial arts consultant for the game is a practitioner of Kyokushinkai.

Solara from Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is said to practice Kyokushin.

Kyokugenryu Karate is a fictional martial art from SNK Playmore's Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, and King of Fighters series. Kyokugenryu (lit. "the extreme style"), which is practiced by Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, Yuri Sakazaki, Takuma Sakazaki and Marco Rodriguez/Khushnood Butt, is heavily based on Kyokushin Karate.

Karate Master Knock Down Blow a recent game from Crian Soft that is heavy Kyokushin based.

Movies

A trilogy of films starring Sonny Chiba and directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi were produced in Japan between 1975 and 1977: Champion of Death, Karate Bearfighter and Karate for Life. Chiba plays Master Oyama who also appears in two of the films.

The James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice", starring Sean Connery, was filmed largely in Japan and featured a karate demonstration by a number of well-known Kyokushin students, including Shigeo Kato (who introduced Kyokushin to Australia and was the original teacher of Shokei Matsui) and the well-known Akio Fujihira who was one of the three fighters who took up the Muay Thai challenge in 1964 and who fought in the ring for many years under the name of Noboru Osawa.

Fighter in the Wind (Korean: 바람의 파이터) is a 2004 South Korean film. It is based on the same title Korean Comic book "Fighter in the Wind" by Hak-gi Bang which is a fictionalised account of karate competitor Choi Yeung-Eui (최영의) who went to Japan during World War II to become a fighter pilot but found a very different path instead. He changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達) and went across the country, defeating martial artists one after another. This film concentrates on the period when he is still young, and developing his famous karate style, Kyokushin. It is very loosely based on Oyama's life and by using Oyama's name and the name of Kyokushin it in fact is quite misleading. However, it has served to introduce Oyama to many Koreans who previously had not heard of him before.

TV

Kyokushin was featured on Fight Quest on Discovery Channel as the Japanese Martial Arts Style. Kyokushin was the style of karate featured in an episode of Human Weapon.

Notable practitioners

See also

Dr.Ramji makwana shirai kan kyokushinkai (india)

References

  1. ↑ Northwest Kyokushinkai Karate - Ellensburg
  2. ↑ Juku Kan Kyokushin Karate - History
  3. ↑ Kyokushin Karate Green Mountain Dojo
  4. ↑ Sosai Masutatsu Oyama - Sosai's History
  5. ↑ Oyama, M.(1975). This is Karate. London: Ward Lock Limited.
  6. ↑ http://www.uskyokushin.com/symbols.htm
  7. ↑ Groenwold, A. M. (2002) Karate the Japanese Way Canada: Trafford Publishing.
  8. ↑ Budo Karate of Mas Oyama
  9. ↑ Australian Kyokushin
  10. ↑ Budo Karate of Mas Oyama
  11. ↑ Shinkaratedo Renmei
  12. ↑ All Japan Glove Karate Federation
  13. ↑ Jin Kazama
  14. ↑ budokarate.com
  15. ↑ Meetings of Shihan Adnan Tarsha with Sosai Masutatsu Oyama
  16. ↑ Fogan, Sara. "Man of Action", Black Belt Magazine, (undated)
  17. ↑ Pollard, Edward. "Karate to the Core: Exclusive Interview With Top UFC Contender Georges St. Pierre," Black Belt Magazine, (undated), (trained by Jean Couture)
  18. ↑ The first ever to win 7 Danish national full contact karate tournament in a row in all weight classes

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