World Tournament 4th of dec 1999

Time goes quickly, here we are again close to another World Tournament, fighters from all over the World have been preparing for this event, as have the referees and judges.

Some will be disappointed after the Tournament, some will be happy. The important thing is that we all get together and remember what Sosai did for us, he gave us this Tournament. Now there are two such tournaments, two world champions and two organizations? There will never be another true world champion. I hope that every competitor fights according to the kyokushin spirit and that we all enjoy the two days of competition.

Sosai was very adamant that we were Budo Karate and that we should have honour and good manners. It happens so often in other kinds of sports that the competitors argue with the referees and even fight amongst themselves. Is this what we want to teach? I hope that Kyokushin is not just fighting it is many things, honour and manners are just a part of our style.

Some time ago just before one of our European Tournaments one of the competing countries had been refused exit visas for their team. A rival organization had spread some stories about them, causing problems for them. Luckily the EKO managed to convince the appropriate people that the stories were false and they were granted visas. Is this what Kyokushin has become? We all claim to train Kyokushin but who amongst us understands what that means.