Kyokushin
Photos from the 25th National Kyokushin Karate (full contact) tournament in Sydney, 28th October 2001
Select a photograph to view it full size.
Charge
Dont try to block that!
Hajime
Yup sir'ee, you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of this thigh-kick! Look at the wind-up, like the force and speed of a double handed back-hand tennis stroke with the racket being your shin and the ball being your thigh muscle. The defendent is quite rightly getting the hell out of there - ice packs for that man!
Junior Heavyweights
Full contact rounds last 3 minutes, and I can tell you that sometimes you really need to stand back for up to 5-10 seconds to 'suck-it-in' so at to regain your breath and your composure. Rarely do you find a bout where the contestants stand-off and chat. These boys are about to errupt at each other.
A back-spinning jumping round-house kick - lethal when they hit their target (the head). And yep as the blur attests, they need to be executed very quickly to have any effect. This example shows an attempted back-kick to the head which frankly is a trophy take-down strike. This one has been anticipated by the defender who has blocked his head and body - well defended! The attacker needed to have been in closer, at which distance its very hard to see them coming.
Contestants commence each round and restart with a respectful bow (Ous!!). The contestants are 'tagged' with a red or white ribbon so that the judges can score during fast moving bouts.
Interesting technique, though leaving himself somewhat exposed does our attacker. Did I tell you that thigh kicks are permissable on the inside thigh muscle as well? Having said that, if his next strike, after the mid-section straight punch was as inside round-house using his right leg (trailing), he could have got some awsome 'flick speed' to cleanly score a winning point (to the head).
A beautifully executed round-house kick to the upper thigh. The attacker uses the lower shin bone to effect the strike. In this case the 'receiver' didn't even see it coming. And from experience... it ah doesn't tickle!
The photo shows just the right effect. When you get a pair of fit young black-belts mixing it, there is often a continusous round of fists and feet slugging it out! To be clear, punches are only allowed to the torso. Illegal fist strikes include head, neck and nads; kicks to the head in such tornaments are accepted and prized.