Budo Begins Where Sport Ends My sensei used to say, “Any time a martial art is turned into a sport, you weaken it.” I first heard those words more than forty-five years ago, early in my Kyokushin training, and they’ve stayed with me ever since. He didn’t mean that competition is bad, only that we…
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Osu: The Heart of Kyokushin
If you spend any time in a Kyokushin dojo, you’ll hear the word Osu constantly. We say it when we bow, when we acknowledge instruction, when we greet each other, and sometimes when we’re just trying to will ourselves through a hard training session. It’s part of the rhythm of dojo life. Most students in…
Kyokushin doesn’t punch to the face???
“Kyokushin doesn’t punch to the face.” What? Really? I’ve heard or read this about Kyokushin many times over the years and I always shake my head. That was not the experience I had coming up. It certainly wasn’t something anyone would have been saying if they visited our dojo in Orlando back in the 80’s…
Reflections on Tournament Fighting
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…
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…