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…
Tag: Knockdown
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…
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…
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…