Kyokushin
極真A full-contact style of karate developed by Masutatsu Oyama. Fighting is without gloves, kicks to the head are allowed, punches and elbows to the face are not.
Quick Facts
JapanCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Comparisons
Catalogs & Databases for Kyokushin
About Kyokushin
Kyokushin is a full-contact style of karate. Masutatsu Oyama (1923–1994), born in Korea as Choi Yeong-eui, learned from Gichin Funakoshi (Shotokan) and, in Goju-ryu, from Gogen Yamaguchi and So Nei-chu. He opened his first dojo in Tokyo in 1953, adopted the name Kyokushinkai, roughly the ultimate truth, in 1957 and in April 1964 founded the International Karate Organization (IKO) with its headquarters in Ikebukuro.
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Competition follows knockdown karate rules: without gloves, with a groin guard, and for women also with protectors for the breasts and shins. Punches and elbow strikes to the face and throat are prohibited, kicks to the head, knees and kicks to the legs are allowed. The rules do not permit grabbing, clinching and throws. A bout ends with an ippon for a knockdown, otherwise the judges decide, and in a tie extensions follow and, depending on the organisation, also a difference in weight or the number of boards broken (tameshiwari). Training consists of kihon, kata from the lines of Shuri-te and Naha-te (Taikyoku, Pinan, Sanchin, Tensho and others) and kumite. The examination for first dan in Kyokushin-kan requires ten bouts in a row (10-man kumite) or an equivalent. Kyokushin also has the 100-man kumite, a hundred bouts in a row, which according to sources only a few people have completed, including Oyama. After Oyama’s death in 1994, kyokushin split into a number of organisations (Shokei Matsui’s IKO, WKO Shinkyokushinkai, IKO-3, the Oyama family’s KWO and others), which hold their own world championships and have their own order of belts. The styles Ashihara and Enshin emerged from kyokushin, as did Kazuyoshi Ishii’s Seidokaikan, which created K-1 in 1993. A study by Piejko et al. (2019, 61 competitors) recorded most often bruises (91%) and joint injuries (49%).
History
Masutatsu Oyama was born in 1923 in Korea as Choi Yeong-eui and died in April 1994 in Tokyo. He studied karate under Gichin and Gigo Funakoshi (Shotokan), with sources placing the start in 1943 or 1946, and in Goju-ryu under Gogen Yamaguchi and So Nei-chu. Under Kotaro Yoshida he studied Daito-ryu aiki-jujutsu, which influenced the Goshin Jitsu self-defense program. According to the IKO, Oyama hung the Oyama Dojo signboard in May 1954 in Mejiro, Tokyo. He adopted the name Kyokushinkai, roughly "the ultimate truth", at a ceremony in 1957 and awarded the first 1st dan on 6 December 1959. According to its own history, the International Karate Organization (IKO) was formally established in June 1964, when the Honbu headquarters in Ikebukuro was completed, and a president had already been appointed in April. In 1965 Jon Bluming became the first foreigner to receive the 6th dan. After Oyama's death a succession dispute followed. The IKO states that Shokei Matsui was appointed according to Oyama's will, but a court declared the will invalid. Sources disagree on whether a family court in Tokyo ruled in 1995 or the supreme court in 1997. Kyokushin split into a number of organizations.
How it differs
Kyokushin belongs to knockdown karate, that is, to full-contact styles. The sport karate of the World Karate Federation (WKF) rests on controlled contact. Under its rules, a strike to the head may only lightly touch the skin, a hit counts if it is stopped within 5 cm of the target, and points are added up, with a kick to the head worth three points and a kick to the body two. WKF competitors wear gloves, shin and foot guards, a mouthguard and a body protector. In kyokushin only a hit with a visible effect is scored, and fighting is done without gloves.
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The IKO rules of November 2023 prohibit punches or elbows to the face and neck, head butts, strikes to the groin, spine and from the front to the knee, grabbing, holding, throws and pushing on the face or neck. Kicks to the head are not prohibited. An ippon is awarded for a clean hit after which the opponent stays down for 3 seconds or more or loses fighting spirit. The rules differ among kyokushin organizations. In the event of a draw, the IKO gives preference to the lighter competitor if the difference is 10 kg or more, while the Czech branch of World Kyokushinkaikan sets the threshold at 5 kg. According to the Czech branch, in the main category fighting is done only with a groin guard and an optional mouthguard, women have a mandatory chest protector, and juniors, children and masters use shin guards, gloves and a helmet as needed. Besides full contact, the IKO today also publishes separate rules for semi-contact kumite and for kata.
Technique
In competition, kyokushin is practised as knockdown karate, standing and without gloves. The WKO rules (11th World Championships) prohibit hand and elbow strikes to the face and throat, even a light touch, as well as groin and lower-abdomen strikes, headbutts, strikes from behind and on a downed opponent, kicks to the knee joint, throws, grabbing, pushing and hugging. Kicks to the head are not prohibited, and punches to the body, knees and kicks to the inner and outer side of the legs are allowed. The basic rules do not permit the clinch and grabbing, and the derived styles Ashihara and Enshin allow a one-handed grab for a throw. The Kyokushin-kan syllabus (2008) begins at 10th and 9th kyu with the techniques seiken chudan tsuki, seiken ago uchi, uraken ganmen uchi and mae geri, and higher grades add mawashi geri, yoko geri and ushiro geri.
Training
Training consists of kihon, kata, kumite and tameshiwari (board breaking). The kata come from two lines: Taikyoku, Pinan, Kanku and Sushiho from the Shuri-te line taken over from Shotokan, where Pinan are read as Heian and Sushiho corresponds to a modified Gojushiho, and Gekisai, Sanchin, Tensho, Saifa, Seienchin, Seipai and Yantsu from the Naha-te and Goju-ryu line. The kata Garyu was created by Oyama, Bassai and Tekki were dropped in the late fifties. In tameshiwari under the WKO rules, competitors break cryptomeria boards of 33 × 21 × 2.4 cm with four techniques in the order seiken, sokuto, enpi and shuto, and the board must break on the first strike. We have not found the structure of an ordinary training session or its conditioning part in the sources.
Ranks and progression
Kyokushin has student grades called kyu and master grades called dan, up to the 10th dan. The order and colors of belts differ by organization, often running from the white belt of 11th kyu through orange, blue, yellow, green and brown to black, and the dan grades are marked by one to ten gold stripes. We found no mutual recognition of grades between organizations. Kyokushin-kan (regulations of 2008) requires, for the 1st dan, the 10-man kumite, that is, ten fights in a row, or an equivalent, and for the 2nd dan breaking two boards with four techniques. The 100-man kumite is 100 fights in a row against fresh opponents, lasts roughly 2.5 to 4 hours, and the challenger must win at least half. In its overview the IKO lists Howard Collins first, in December 1972, followed by Miura Miyuki in April 1973 and Shokei Matsui in 1986. It does not list Oyama or Steve Arneil among them. Former students describe the claim that Oyama completed it three times in three days as impossible.
Who it suits
We did not find children’s rules of IKO or WKO, from what age children compete, what is prohibited for them or how long the round is. In kumite children often wear a head guard, but the source does not give the organisation or age. We did not find a study of kyokushin in children or a position of physicians. Under the WKO rules men fight 3 minutes with up to three extensions of 2 minutes, women from the quarter-final 2 minutes with two extensions and with mandatory protectors for the breasts, groin and shins. Piejko, Mosler and Grzebisz (Biomedical Journal of Scientific and Technical Research, 2019) surveyed 61 elite competitors from Poland (40 men, 21 women): they reported 548 injuries, most often bruises (91%) and joint injuries (49%), fractures and sprains 7% each. A serious or lasting injury was reported by 35% of men and 12% of women. The authors point out that the results cannot be generalised beyond competitors. We found no contraindications.
Competition
A bout at world tournaments lasts 3 minutes. An ippon ends the bout and is awarded, per the WKO, for a knockdown over 3 seconds, and under the 2023 IKO rules for a knockdown of 3 seconds or more or the opponent's unwillingness to continue, and two waza-ari count as an ippon. Without a knockdown the judges decide, and per the WKO at least three of five must agree. A draw goes to at most three 2-minute extensions, after which, per the WKO, the lighter competitor wins (a difference over 10 kg for men, over 8 kg for women), and at equal weight whoever broke more boards in tameshiwari. The IKO decides by weight and boards already after two extensions, with a weight difference threshold of 10 kg. The first World Open took place on 1–3 November 1975, and the IKO under Oyama organized the editions of 1975, 1979, 1984, 1987 and 1991. After the split, the IKO, WKO, IKO-3 and other organizations hold their own world championships, roughly every four years.
Gear
Competition is without gloves. Under the WKO rules men have a mandatory groin guard and an optional mouthguard, women mandatory protectors for the breasts, groin and shins. Gloves and head guards are not addressed by the WKO rules, at world tournaments the fighting is bare-knuckle without protectors except for the groin and teeth. Gloves and shin protectors are used in some situations outside tournaments, and children in kumite often wear a head guard. Practitioners train in a gi.
Today
The main Kyokushin organizations today are the IKO (Shokei Matsui), WKO Shinkyokushinkai (Kenji Midori), IKO-3 (Matsushima), IKO-4 (Tezuka), the All Japan Kyokushin Union and the KWO of the Oyama family. Jon Bluming (1980) and Steve Arneil, who founded the IFK in 1991, left earlier. The styles Ashihara, Enshin, Seido juku, Shidokan and the Seidokaikan of Kazuyoshi Ishii (1981) emerged from Kyokushin, and from the circle of the latter K-1 arose in 1993. Azuma Takashi, who came to Kyokushin in 1972, opened Daido Juku in Miyagi Prefecture on 17 February 1981, under the name kudo since 2001, with strikes to the head in a helmet, throws, chokes and joint locks.
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At Lumpinee Stadium Kenji Kurosaki lost by an elbow KO and Kyokushin won the matches against Muay Thai 2:1, with sources giving 12 February 1963, or February 1964. Kurosaki then questioned Kyokushin without punches to the face and founded Mejiro Gym, where in 1978 Toshio Fujiwara became the first foreigner to win a Rajadamnern title. In 1966 Kurosaki spent eleven months in the Netherlands with Jon Bluming, his student Jan Plas opened Mejiro Gym in Amsterdam in 1978, and Dutch kickboxing spread from there, which some authors describe as a mix of Kyokushin, Japanese kickboxing and Muay Thai. Andy Hug, originally from Kyokushin, won the K-1 Grand Prix in 1996. Gerard Gordeau entered UFC 1 (1993), and Dolph Lundgren was European champion in 1980 and 1981.
Did you know
According to the IKO, Oyama won the first postwar All Japan Karate Championship in Kyoto in 1947. The first president of the IKO, in April 1964, became Sato Eisaku, then a minister without portfolio. The first Open All Japan Karate Championship was held in September 1969 at the Tokyo Gymnasium, Yamazaki Teruyoshi won, and according to the IKO 7,000 spectators came. The first world championship followed in November 1975, Sato Katsuaki won, and since then it has been held every four years. The first women's IKO world championship was held in January 1996 in New York, and in 1999 Francisco Filho became the first IKO world champion who was not Japanese. The manga Karate Baka Ichidai about Oyama appeared in the weekly Shonen Magazine from January 1971 until 1977. Films with Sonny Chiba followed, Kenka Karate Kyokushinken (1975) and Karate Baka Ichidai (1977). In 1988, according to the IKO, Oyama wrote to the president of the International Olympic Committee, Samaranch, and proposed that karate, kung-fu and taekwondo be demonstration sports at the Olympic Games. The IKO rules were revised in April 2016, and in March 2023 a section on defensive techniques was added to them.
Styles & Branches
Full-contact karate from Osaka, founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii according to the school's website. According to the Japan Times, Ishii organised the first K-1 Grand Prix in 1993.
Style of Jon Bluming that, according to its organization IBK, combines full-contact kyokushin karate with throws and ground fighting. Today it bears the name All-Round Fighting.
A Japanese karate school founded in 1977, according to Wikipedia, by Katsuaki Sato, the winner of the first kyokushin world open tournament in 1975.
Frequently asked questions
What is kyokushin karate?
Kyokushin is a full-contact style of karate founded by Oyama Masutatsu. In the main competition category bouts are fought without gloves and without protective gear except for a groin guard and a mouthguard. Hand strikes to the head are forbidden, kicks to the head are allowed.
Who founded kyokushin?
Kyokushin was founded by Oyama Masutatsu, born on 4 June 1923. According to the IKO, in May 1954 he hung up the Oyama Dojo sign in Mejiro in Tokyo, and in June 1964, after the headquarters was completed, the International Karate Organization was formally established.
What are the belts in kyokushin?
The belt system differs by organization. The Czech branch of World Kyokushinkaikan lists grades from 10th kyu (orange belt) through blue, yellow, green and brown belts to 1st dan (black belt), with striped grades between the colors. The IKO states that a student starts with a white belt and exams are held three to four times a year.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.