GLOBAL KYOKUSHIN BUDOKAI

The past, present and future of Kyokushin karate

My dear Friend,

Kyokushin karate first appeared among the variety of martial art forms 50 years ago, and its founder was forced to leave his creation behind 20 years ago.

The world has changed and developed rapidly in those 50, even in those 20 years, and it will continue to do so in the future.

There are many of us who grew up with Kyokushin karate, and we have gained the majority of our martial art experience from here. We have witnessed the glory of Kyokushin from the 70’s and now we are experiencing its decline in spite of the fact that many popular forms of martial art originate from Kyokushin karate.

Those who are most experienced in Kyokushin karate must strive to recognise the reason for this loss of popularity, because if the reason is found, then the right path can be found for the future.

All rigid, strict and traditionalistic ways are declining nowadays. But if we recognise that Oyama Sosai did no more and no less than developed the entirely new and revolutionary Power Karate from all the systems he had studied, then his followers must do the same. They must keep up with new demands and renew their discipline, unless they agree to let Kyokushin slowly fade away.

The first issue to look at is: which trends are the most populat currently?

The most popular trends are Thai Box, Kickbox, K1 and its branches likeBBJ, MMA and other self defence disciplines like Krav Maga, Defendo, Systema and so on. It seems that the more life-like methods are the winners these days. Also, traditional martial arts can only be mastered after a long time, and most learners want to progress fast. Abstract techniques limit this progress. In the market of self defence trends, clear and practically applicable methods are favoured.

The second issue to investigate is: what does Kyokushin lack in comparison with these more popular methods?

One of the most important factors is the lack of blows aimed at the opponent’s head. This makes the distance unrealistic, and strongly lacks the otherwise correct and necessary leg work in a fight. Excluding holds, throws and ground fighting offers no opportunity to learn contact fight, which is a further disadvantage. Presently Kyokushin lacks the theory and practice of all-round fighting. Goshin as self-defence was an integral part of Kyokushin. Master Oyama details Goshin among all of his vast experience almost exclusively in his book titled „Advanced Karate” yet later it was treated almost as non-existent. But many learners could be captivated simply by being introduced to Newaza and Goshin. And the knowledge of Goshin is only one step away from the „invisible knowledge”, the Kyusho; all the techniques and katas could be re-interpreted, and it would be much easier to defeat our opponents in a full-contact fight, if we knew their truly weak and defenseless points.

As long as we fail to admit that Kyokushin is not what we see today in the competitions, neither what we practise in the Dojo, and as long as we fail to bring back the original roots, we cannot hope to slow down and reverse the loss of popularity.

After these realisations comes the third and most difficult one: what is it that we ourselves know of these missing elements?

We must admit that we know nothing yet, or very little that can compete with Thai box, Kickbox, K-1, MMA, BJJ and other Goshin systems.

Now that we have admitted our shortcomings, the question is whether we want to acquire the missing knowledge, or we would rather assist to the slow demise of our beloved karate.

To quote the words of „Dojo Kun”: We must learn as long as we live.

The Global Kyokushin Budokai (GKB) recognises and follows this way, and recommends it to all those who hold Kyokushin karate dear.

The system consists of four pillars: Karate, Newaza, Goshin and Kyusho, which together aim to consolidate all martial art knowledge within one system, thus offering an opportunity for those who had found their hearts’ desire elsewhere so far. Let’s give the world what it wants. All we need to do is to learn what Kyokushin and its founder, Oyama Masutatsu possessed in the beginning. Our motto is: Back to the roots!

GKB is a centre of knowledge where we give and receive knowledge. We are happy to welcome everybody who wishes to share experience, and we are glad to share our experience with others who need it.

We know that today the workd of Kyokushin is divided into several branches, and we do not wish to prevent anybody from furthering their knowledge. Our organisation is completely open. Anyone may join without having to suspend memberships of other organisations, and should any person decide to become a dedicated follower and to agree with our aims, he or she may represent us in his or her home country. Should anyone wish to benefit from our knowledge, they may do so without any restriction, we will help all those who ask. We are a peaceful, non-political, brotherly organisation where all that matters is knowledge.