Kyokushin

Kyokushin (極真会) is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Korean-Japanese Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達 Ōyama Masutatsu?). Kyokushin is Japanese for "the ultimate truth." Kyokushin is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline and hard training.

Oyama had designed the Kanji of Kyokushinkai to resemble the Samurai sword safely placed in its sheath. Kanji is the representation (using Chinese characters) of the word Kyokushinkai, which is the name of the ryu or style. Translated, "kyoku" means "ultimate", "shin" means "truth" or "reality" and "kai" means "to join" or "to associate". In essence Kyokushinkai, roughly translated, means "Ultimate Truth". This concept has less to do with the Western meaning of truth; rather it is more in keeping with the bushido concept of discovering the nature of one's true character when tried. One of the goals of kyokushin is to strengthen and improve character by challenging oneself through rigorous training.

The Kanji 漢字 (Japanese characters) calligraphy, worn universally on the front of the Gi, is a stylized form of the characters for "Kyokushinkai", which is the name given by Sosai Mas Oyama to the karate style he created.  It is composed of three characters:

極  Kyoku  meaning "Ultimate"
真  Shin  meaning "Truth"
会  Kai  meaning "Association"

Kanku

The symbol of Kyokushin Karate is the Kanku, which is derived from Kanku Dai kata, the Sky Gazing form.  In this kata, the hands are raised and the fingers meet to form an opening through which the sky is viewed.  The top and bottom points of the Kanku represent the first fingers of each hand touching at the top and the thumbs touching at the bottom, symbolizing the peaks or ultimate points.  The thick sections at the sides represent the wrists, symbolizing power.  The center circle represents the opening between the hands through which the sky is viewed, symbolizing infinite depth.  The whole Kanku is enclosed by a circle, symbolizing continuity and circular action.

Techniques

DACHI	STANCES
GERI WAZA	KICKING TECHNIQUES
TSUKI WAZA	PUNCHING TECHNIQUES
UCHI WAZA	STRIKING TECHNIQUES
UKE WAZA	BLOCKING TECHNIQUES
BUKI	WEAPONS
TAGETTO	TARGETS
KOGEKIHOKO	DIRECTIONS
YOGO-SHU	GLOSSARY
Belts
7TH KYU	Tsuki No Kata 突きの型 Ju Ni Ho
6TH KYU	Taikyoku Sono Ichi 太極 Taikyoku Sono Ni 太極 Taikyoku Sono San 太極
5TH KYU	Sanchin 三戦の型 Pinan Sono Ichi 平安 Pinan Sono Ni 平安
4TH KYU	Yansu 安三 Pinan Sono San 平安
3RD KYU	Gekisai Dai 撃塞大 Pinan Sono Yon 平安
2ND KYU	Pinan Sono Go 平安
1ST KYU	Kanku Dai 観空大 Tensho 転掌
1ST SHODAN	All kyu katas Personal Shodan kata
2ND NIDAN	Garyu 臥竜 Saiha 最破
3RD SANDAN	Seienchin 征遠鎮 Seipai 十八
4TH YONDAN	Sushiho 五十四歩
5TH GODAN
6TH ROKUDAN
7TH NANADAN
8TH HACHIDAN
9TH KUDAN
10TH JUDAN

 

---