Beginner to Black Belt: Authorised Kata Manual for Kyokushin Karate

I hope that you will find this kata book not only beneficial but also interesting; over the years Kyokushin has seen many countries and many different instructors doing many variations of Kyokushin kata. I hope that this book will finally enable everyone to do it in the same way. About this book: I have over the years resisted the pressure to produce a kata book as I was always of the belief that this was best lefi to Sosai Oyama. After Sosai Oyama passed away without a definitive kata book, I thought perhaps now was the time to make the effort. I have endeavoured to make the book easy to understand and tofollow by combining diagrams with text, in the hope those karate students, from beginner up to advanced, will jind it a useful guide and reference in their pursuit of excellence. There are many instructors within the Kyokushin system who only give lip service to kata. I think these people lose something in their karate when they take this course. Kata above all is the pursuit ofexcellence and gives the karate student the opportunity to concentrate solely on perfecting the technique. Kyokushin training by its nature is hard work and during training the student must combine the many repetitions performed with the speed of training and the cardiovascular activity that comes with a training session. ln kata, however, the karate student can be totally absorbed in the kata and the technique required. Over the years, there have been many changes to Kyokushin kata, but I have attempted in these pages to return to the original way of Kyokushin kata. lt is my hope that karate students will enjoy my humble effort when reading this book. I am grateful for the opportunity to share my experience with you.