Ko Taisei (Kyokushin Karate IKO1) VS Sun Wu (Sanshou)

Good to see professional San Da still in existence. This event is supported by FEG. For those who are K-1 fans, you will have heard the name before. FEG is the group that runs the K-1 events. I hope that this is a sign of things to come. Fighting sports in China need a big financial sponsor to grow.

Anyway on to the match itself. I think Sun Wu must have a muay thai coach. His guard and stance is not the typical Sanda style that I am used to seeing in the past. His kicks are not as flicky. He even attempted a jumping knee at one stage! Despite that, he is still too sanda in that relied too much on throws and takedowns. Sure he made alot of good throws off caught kicks, but KO Taisei was still able to fight on and eventually get that one strike that will make the difference. Good match to watch and learn for those from a sanda background.

Daido Juku

This is Daido Juku Karate. It is an offshoot of Kyokushin which helps explains the footage of the full contact karate at the beginning of the clip. Daido Juku competition is quite extreme compared to even Kyokushin. They allow punches to the head, kicks, clinching with knees, elbows and even headbutts! They also allow throwing, takedowns and submissions making it basically like MMA. They do wear full on headgear with face visor but as you can see from the clip people still get knocked out wearing the headgears. There is a few secs in there of someone doing multiple headbutts to the opponent. Very very extreme. Did anyone notice the guy at the start who I assume if the founder running on concrete barefoot? Hardcore!

Kyokushin karate speed kick tutorial

This is Kenji Midori, a famous Karate teacher who was an Open Kyokushin champion. He is well known for his kicks as you can see in this round kick demo and tutorial. The kyokushin kick is slightly different than in Muay Thai in that Kyokushin tend to chamber their kicks. Chambering refers to the knee being raised before being released to kick. This tend to create a more hipping kick than the the Muay Thai roundhouse. I prefer the Muay Thai style kick myself but many fighters who come from Kyokushin background has proven the effectiveness of their style of kicking. The baseball bat breaking demo was awesome.

The Brazillian Kick tutorial

Kar Lok keeps saying he loves the downward roundhouse kick as seen in some K-1 fighters. So this clip is especially for him. The kick is usually called Maha mawashi geri in Japanese. Maha is Japanese for Mach and mawashi geri is roundhouse kick. I guess they call it the mach kick because the kick's speed is like the speed of breaking the speed of sound. The popular name for the kick is the "Brazillian Kick". This is because the Brazilians were the ones who popularised using it in competitions. The K-1 fighters who are known for using this kick are usually Brazillian and have a background in Kyokushin Karate.

Andy Hug HL

Andy Hug was one of the greatest K-1 heavyweight champion despite being one of the smallest heavyweights. He came from a Kyokushin Karate background. He was very popular in Japan, earning the nickname "The Blue eyes samurai" due to his fighting spirit and great fighting skills. He was known for his axe kicks and spinning back kicks. He died age 35 of leukemia in Japan. RIP Andy!

Shizuka Murakami HL

Another amazing and cute Japanese karate girl. How come karate have all these cute kick arse girls?!! I wish I was in Japan.

Yuka Kobayashi HL

This girl's skills is amazing! And she is cute as well! She is from Ashihara Karate which is an offshoot of Kyokushin Karate. They are known as knockdown karate styles, ie. full contact. They are famous for being the strongest styles of karate through their full contact sparring.

Kyokushin full contact rules allows full contact kicks, knees and body punches. They do not allow head punches or any clinching which is why it tends to look strange for first time viewers. Nonetheless they are very tough as they do not wear any gloves or shinpads. Many Japanese kickboxers tend to have a background in kyokushin or one of its offshoots. This is the reason why quite afew of Japanese kickboxers' kicks tend to be more whippy than muay thai.