I competed in my first karate tournament in 1981. I was a white belt in the beginner’s division, and I drew a yellow belt for my very first fight. Only later did I learn he’d been a boxer before taking up karate! He might have been a beginner in rank, but he was no beginner…
Author: Bill Stewart
Bill Stewart holds a 3rd Dan in Kyokushin Karate and has trained since 1980. He is the founder of Texas Kyokushin Karate in Bryan, Texas. He manages the USA-IFK website and writes for it regularly. His blog shares stories and lessons from a lifetime in the art, offering reflections that will be familiar to other long-time practitioners. Bill serves on the IFK International Media Committee and chairs the USA-IFK Media Committee. He also created the Kyokushinkai Karate Facebook group, which has grown to more than 93,000 members, making it one of the largest online communities of Kyokushin karateka in the world.
We Win or We Learn
Kyokushin competition lessons from the 33rd American International Karate Championships. At the judges’ meeting before the tournament, Shihan Jerry Poe said something that stuck with me: “I like to say, we win or we learn. There are no losers” It’s a simple line, but I think it captures the spirit of Kyokushin competition perfectly. We…
The Only Secret is Sweat
Mas Oyama said, “The only secret is sweat.” It’s a simple statement, but one I feel goes right to the heart of what Kyokushin is about. It’s a quote my friend Shihan Cameron Quinn mentions from time to time on his YouTube channel. I thought about this last week while I was working with my…
Lessons From My Sensei
Martial Art vs Sport “Any time you turn a martial art into a sport, you weaken it.” My sensei said that often, and after forty-five years, those words still shape the way I think about training. What was his point? Pretty simple really. In the real world, rulesets don’t apply. There’s no referee there to…
What Decades in Kyokushin Taught Me About Rank
There’s nothing inherently wrong with rank in Kyokushin. It serves as a practical way to gauge progress, set goals, and organize students and competition divisions. But in the end, the belt is just something you wear around your waist to hold your gi closed. What truly matters is the knowledge gained through training, the spirit…
The Lesson Behind the Belt: What Cameron Quinn’s Budo Karate of Mas Oyama Teaches About Perseverance
“A black belt is a white belt who never gave up.” A black belt is a white belt who never gave up is a line that most martial artists have probably seen somewhere. Most likely as part of a meme on social media. It’s an idea that seems universal. The original source can (and in…
Is Kyokushin Kinder and Gentler now?
A video posted in Kyokushinkai Karate, one of my groups on Facebook recently generated a bit of controversy. According to the OP, the video was a fight from an IFK Kyokushin Junior Championships. Some of the comments were very critical of the fighter who won. Although possibly they responded without taking the time to realize…
What martial arts go well with Kyokushin Karate?
“I have not permitted myself to be ignorant of any martial art that exists. Why? Such ignorance is a disgrace to someone who follows the path of the martial arts.”- Mas. Oyama Sosai Mas Oyama applies a standing arm bar, an example of how Kyokushin’s foundations can connect seamlessly with grappling principles found in other…
Mas. Oyama – Judo and BJJ
Kyokushin is more than just a striking art. Mas Oyama demonstrates the integration of Judo techniques within Kyokushin Karate. I’m quite active on social media as many of you reading this know. One platform I occasionally post to is Reddit. Someone asked a question there for people’s thoughts about how Mas. Oyama, in his prime,…
We will train our hearts and bodies…
“Karate is not a game. It is not a sport. It is not even a system of self-defense. Karate is half physical exercise and half spiritual. The karateist who has given the necessary years of exercise and meditation is a tranquil person. He is unafraid. He can even be calm in a burning building.” -…