The conception of Budo-karate – martial art and warrior’s Way, warrior’s yoga – is completely traditional. Exactly same way Masutatsu Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin, understood his karate when he underlined principal distinction of Budo karate and Western sports. Ideally Oyama saw Kyokushin Budo karate as “the strongest one” – the effective self-defense system, martial art and unique spiritual practice. Despite of the whole world development of Eastern martial arts as combat sports went into contradiction with traditional values of the Far-Eastern warriors’ culture, Oyama and his successors continued and still continue to defend ideals of Budo karate. In those cases when practicing Kyokushinkai (or some other martial art) as a kind of sport keeps the priority of spiritual motivation a peculiar phenomenon comes into being – the phenomenon of Budo sport. According to Budo sport conception, any sport competition is first of all the practice of initiation – one of the fighter’s ways of self-knowing in action and self-realization while searching only “wisdom and strength” on the way of Kyokushinkai

Kumite

Studying and teaching kumite in modern Kyokushinkai School is connected with the practice of full contact tournament fights, limited by known rules, (the most dangerous techniques, particularly punches to the head, and wrestlers’ techniques are forbidden). But initially kumite in Oyama’s dojo was at most close to real self-defense and was understood as Budo karate. Oyama ardently defended the conception of “dangerous fights”, where the experience of struggling “on the border of life and death” was assumed. Obviously such kumite could not be cultivated as a kind of sport. At the same time the tradition of holding training fights, aimed to real self-defense, – i.e. learning to defend oneself against punches and strikes to the head and to attack with such techniques, to use throws and braking techniques against wrestlers’ grabs, – keeps its vitality. In “Bushido School”, except sport kinds of kumite, all mentioned kinds of training fights are used. They are a part of general complex of self-defense on the basis of karate both without arms and with different kinds of traditional and modern weapons. This part of combat training is completely in accordance with Budo principles

Kata

Kata is unique phenomenon of Budo karate tradition and modern competitive sport discipline, by its nature gravitating to Budo sport. In Katas, as in warriors’ dances, elements of masters’ fighting experience are reproduced. Katas contain key formulae of movements, where particular techniques and universal principles of Budo karate are coded. These moving “forms” have active-meditative nature and are traditional (formalized and ritual) mean of teaching and self-knowing on the martial Way. According to M.Oyama’s words, “you need one half of your life to master katas and another half of your life to understand their sense”. Sensible learning and spiritualized performing of Kyokushin katas in “Bushido” School is one of Budo karate and Budo sport practical trends of primary importance