Yes, there were lots of great fights! I'm really looking forward to our next tournament! The United States International Kyokushin Championships, will be held in Atlantic City on January 28th, 2023. Thanks for your comment! Osu!!!

@@billstewartkyokushinkarate amazing tournament. This was my first time ever tournament and I am looking forward to my next. I fought in division 16c and got 1st place. I am looking forward to the next one I compete in.

@@KDTrey5735 Congrats! Osu!

Osu! My apologies as I somehow missed the notification on your comment. I expect the tournament you were considering has come and gone. The short answer to your question is that it depends. Generally, in knockdown, they do not divide by belt as it's full-contact, but they will try to match based on experience if they have enough competitors. Depending on the tournament, divisions may be based on age, experience, and weight. It can depend on who shows up that day as promoters will almost always reserve the right to combine divisions if there are not enough competitors. In our tournaments in the US, we also have Semi-Contact divisions. Semi-contact because the competitors wear gloves, shin & instep, and headgear. The divisions follow knockdown rules though. These divisions are normally divided up based on belt rank so may be a better way to compete and get a taste of what it's like. Osu!

Osu! My apologies, I've not been in the US for just over a month now. I somehow missed the notification for your comment. This tournament was sponsored by the USA-IFK Kyokushin organization which is led by Shihan Mike Monaco. Osu!

So they don't get CTE later in life.

No worries about your English, it's fine 🙂 It was an open tournaments so anyone can come in and fight. We had fighters from other styles, including MMA/MuayThai. You're correct in that competitors normally wear a white gi but we have some flexibility on that and it wasn't required in this tournament. My impression of the problem was that they weren't understanding the commands. I could hear the referee talking to them from where I was sitting. In Kyokushin tournaments commands are given in Japanese. I could hear him explaining to them (more than once) what the commands meant in English so he initially gave them the benefit of the doubt. Being aggressive is fine, but not following the referees instructions is not. After a couple of verbal warnings and reminders that "YAME!" meant "STOP" one of the fighters received an official warning. Thanks for your comment🙏 OSU!

@@billstewartkyokushinkarate Thanks for your answer. I thought when you start in Kyokushin tournaments you need to know Japanese commands. About being agressive - well, I had impression, that it was more than sport competition, these guys looked like they wanted to really hurt each other. But like I said, it was only my impression. Thanks again. Great tournament. I've already watched it a few times. OSU!

More interesting is guy on left in karate gi - with black belt - that does not know rules/ commands / meanings ? Weird - looks like he was given karate gi and belt for costume. Guy on right - you can see he is new to fight and tournaments. I've trained tkd/kickbox/kyokushin for years - I understand this is open - so outsiders can come in - but left fighter was kind of weird to me.

@@billstewartkyokushinkarate dayum That is a piece i didn't know was a thing here in States XD

​@@soulflame5635 My apologies, I see you made your comment a couple of months ago. I somehow missed the notification and it got buried in my inbox. I'm just seeing it today. Yes, it does happen. There were fighters there who were fighting under knockdown rules for the first time. One does need to train as much as possible under the rules of the competition. The old adage, "You fight how you train" is very applicable here. It's also true that not everyone wearing a gi is being taught the commands in Japanese. Thanks for your comment! OSU!

Osu! Yes, they're on mats, although I can understand why it may not immediately appear that way. From the looks of them, I think these were custom mats designed specifically for this gym as the lines for other sports line up perfectly.

In my days there were no mats, just the wood floor and pretty much everything was allowed (throwing's included, which I loved to do and learned from Bluming Sensei RIP) except face punches for obvious reasons.

Osu! Thanks for your comment and my apologies for just replying. It's an interesting topic of discussion that you touch on... You might be surprised to know that this issue is debated even within the Kyokushin community and that there are those who agree with you😄 When it comes to tournaments, my own viewpoint is that there are always going to be rules and conditions that prevent any "sporting" contest from being totally "realistic" 🙂 My understanding (it was over 50 years ago and before my time in Kyokushin) was that allowing face punches was considered but it was decided there would be to much blood. The alternative would have been to wear gloves, but that wasn't considered to be "realistic" enough. In a "real fight" no one is going be wearing gloves after all😉 In knockdown points are scored by hurting your opponent, knocking them down, or knocking them out... as opposed to some other rulesets who are scoring points with a touch. From that perspective fighting bare knuckle under knockdown rules it could be argued is much more "realistic" 🤔 What do people think is "more" realistic... getting hit with a hook to the ribs with a bare knuckle fist, or one wearing a glove?😉 Again, there will always be a difference between "sport" and "real world". The value that competition provides us in any of the combat sports, is what you learn about yourself when you face the very real possibility of injury. In that respect there is an element of "realism" in all of them 🙂 Thanks again for your comment🙏 Osu!!!

@@billstewartkyokushinkarate Osu to u too. I just feel like it's not realistic to not punch the face or head in combat. Bareknuckle fighting is making a comeback. Have u watched the BKFC? Bareknuckle Fighting Championship?

@@edgar22452 Osu! I think most everyone agrees that restricting punches to the face or head in "actual" combat is impractical🙂 I hope they do anyway 🤔 That's why we practice strikes to the face and head in the dojo. Knockdown is a ruleset for a sport. Kyokushin, like many other martial arts, includes techniques that are not legal in competition. Any combat sport will have restrictions aimed at fighter safety. The BKFC, as you point out, fights bare knuckle and you'll have noticed that it can be bloody. They don't allow kicks, grappling, or throws though. Is that realistic? What makes a punch to the face superior as a technique to kicking someone in the knee or taking them to the ground and submitting them? There are pros and cons to any ruleset. It's kind of like saying boxing isn't realistic because they don't allow kicks or BJJ isn't realistic because they don't allow punches🙂 Osu!

ikr more like brawling

Kyokushin Karate doesn't allow punches to the head, only kicks, so it makes it look awkward without the typical defensive stances of other combat sports, especially since they just punch the body. They do have takedowns and head kicks so it doesn't look too bad