Fighting Black Kings

[glockmeister]

I was checking out this movie the other night called Fighting Black Kings. It's about the first open world Karate tournament back in the 70's. Man it makes me think of how things have gone over the last several years. Watching this movie has opened my eyes to just how hard some of these guys trained. I compare that to a lot of dojos I see today. I was watching those Kyukoshin fighters train and they were really beating the tar out of each other. Also to get to black belt, a guy had to fight ten higher ranking students and beat them. Needless to say, this can get bloody

Today we rarely see contact in the dojos anymore like they did back then and then they werent using anything but bare knuckles and bare feet.

They also were showing some other styles that were competing. things like Kung Fu for example, but despite their grace and fascinating movements, they weren't any match for the raw power of Karate.

Anyone else see this movie? It's from 1978. Definately soem good stuff.

[powerof0ne]

I've seen the movie and know what you're saying but some of us have and/or train/compete the way you saw in this movie. It's a great movie to watch, that's for sure.

[glockmeister]

I've seen the movie and know what you're saying but some of us have and/or train/compete the way you saw in this movie. It's a great movie to watch, that's for sure.

Oh, I am sure there are many that do.

Basically what i am saying is that the impression I got is that back then alot more schools trained that way then as do today. Since the 70's Martial arts got more and more popular and unfortunately it has brought about many more schools that are what we would call McDojos.

[cathal]

Is this a documentary, or a story based on the first tournament?

[powerof0ne]

I understand what you're saying no glockmeister, I think I was tired when I first read what you said. Too many McDojos handing out McBlackbelts with cheese these days.

[Meguro]

Is this a documentary, or a story based on the first tournament?

Not a dramatization but a documentary. Kyokushin still trains this way.

[pineapple]

I said this before in response to another topic. The Fighting Black Kings was one of the best martial arts documentaries that I have seen. It motivates me to do things the old way.

[Charlie]

Many of the fighters featured in the Fighting Black Kings documentary went on to start their own styles. Sato (the champion of the tournament) started Satojuku (Odo- The Champion's Way) which is gaining in popularity in Japan. It's like Kyokushin but I understand it tries to employ more "precise" knockdown techniques than traditional Kyokushin. Royama (2nd place) recently started a "break-away" Kyokushin organization, called Kyokushin-kan, after he became dissastified with the leadership of IKO(1). Joko Ninomiya (3rd place) started Enshin Karate.

As Odo, Seido, Enshin, Daido Juku, Shidokan, and other Kyokushin "offshoots" created by Japanese Kyokushin students from the 70's increase in popularity, influence, and membership, I think Fighting Black Kings will become to be even more recognized as a seminal record of a crucial juncture in karate history. That period in the 70's appears to be when the early students of full-contact, knockdown karate took that art and began developing it into the powerful, even more effective techniques that exist today in the many styles that "originated" to some degree from Kyokushin. Also, I think the creation of K-1 may have been influenced by the "All-World" tournament concept.

[verticlefist32988]

One thing I was wondering about the tournament was if the board breaking was just for a demo or was it to qualify to fight.

[kyospirit]

The breakings are required in kyokushin tournaments.