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 have to understand it for what it is. There is value in testing yourself under pressure, no matter the ruleset. But we can’t forget that there is a difference between a combat sport and combat in real life.
In the real world, rulesets don’t apply. There is no referee to stop the fight. People grab you, tackle you, throw you, and try to take you to the ground. They punch, kick, knee, elbow, and sometimes headbutt you. The real question we should all ask ourselves is this: Does our training prepare us for that?
Competition Has Its Place
Don’t get me wrong, competition has its place. It provides a set of conditions that are difficult to replicate outside of a real fight. Competition is a form of pressure testing, placing you in a stressful situation that demands performance. Similar to a real fight, in knockdown a poor performance translates into pain. As my sensei used to say to us, “Pain can be a great teacher.”
Knockdown, like any contact sport, has its share of injuries, but it’s rare that someone ends up in the hospital. Not to be overly dramatic, but in the real world, people can be seriously injured or killed. We’ve likely all heard it said more than once, “In the real world, there is no second place.”
By design, knockdown is limited. No grabbing. No punches to the face. No ground fighting. It’s a unique test, but not a complete one. I’ve never seen knockdown as a pure measure of technique. How could it be, when so much is intentionally left off the table? To me, knockdown is a test of spirit.
I once heard Shihan Cameron Quinn explain it this way, and I’m paraphrasing:
- The technically superior fighter wins in the first round.
- If it goes to an extension, the better-conditioned fighter wins.
- If it goes to another extension, the fighter with the greater spirit wins.
Anyone who’s spent time at knockdown tournaments has seen this play out. When both fighters are equal in technique and conditioning, it often comes down to who refuses to give in, no matter how exhausted or battered they may be.
Sometimes, both fighters are technically strong, highly conditioned, and their fighting spirit is obvious to everyone watching. In those rare matches, the outcome can still come down to the judges. Sometimes the decision is clear and unanimous. Other times, the corner judges (fukushin) are split 2–2, and it’s the referee (shushin) who must break the tie.
Kyokushin Is Bigger Than Competition
We’ve all heard the criticism, “Kyokushin doesn’t punch to the face.” What those critics often forget is that knockdown is a sport.
My point isn’t to defend knockdown. It’s to remind people that knockdown is not the totality of Kyokushin, even if some treat it that way.
Most of us will never be champions, and that’s perfectly fine. Competition is just a method, a way to gain experience that’s hard to find elsewhere. It teaches you to face fear, fatigue, and uncertainty under pressure. But it is only one part of a much larger picture.
Some argue that competition creates bad habits, and they’re right if that’s all you ever train for. If you never explore techniques and scenarios outside the rules, you begin mistaking the rules for reality.
Keeping the Spirit of Budo Alive
It’s been more than thirty years since Sosai Mas Oyama passed away, and many people training today have no living memory of what Kyokushin felt like when he was still alive.
Those of us who do remember have a responsibility to carry that forward, to remind the next generation that Kyokushin was never just about tournaments or trophies. It was about becoming unbreakable in body, mind, and spirit.
Knockdown can help forge that spirit, but only if we remember what it’s really for.
Budo begins where sport ends.
Osu!
Connect with me:
Follow Kyokushin Karate Blog on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
Be sure to visit Kyokushinkai Karate, our Facebook group — one of the largest and most dedicated Kyokushin communities online.
Learn more about Bill Stewart and Texas Kyokushin Karate, where we continue the Kyokushin tradition in Texas.Connect with me:
Follow Kyokushin Karate Blog on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
Be sure to visit Kyokushinkai Karate, our Facebook group — one of the largest and most dedicated Kyokushin communities online.
