Kumite Tests

*Mas Oyama's Three Hundred Man Kumite
Oyama chose the strongest students in his dojo, who were to fight him one at a time until they'd all had a turn, and then they'd start from the beginning again, until the three hundred rounds were up. He defeated them all, never wavering in his resolve, despite the fact that he himself suffered severe physical injury in the process.

Each student had to face him about four times over the three days, though some never made it past the first day due to Oyama's powerful blows. Legend even has it that Oyama as willing to go for a fourth day, but no one else was willing or able to do the same! This, is it said, took place not long after he had completed his mountain training.

*The One Hundred Man Kumite
Mas Oyama started to institute the 100-man kumite as a grading requirement. He soon found, however, that not everyone had the spirit to do it, though the physical skill could "easily" be taught. The indomitable will, courage and determination just wasn't to be found in everyone. Thus is became voluntary.

At first, the fights could be completed over two days if so desired by the person doing it, but after 1967, Mas Oyama decided that they should all be fought on the same day. In addition to the basic requirement of 100 fights, other requirements are that the competitor much clearly win at least 50% of the fights, and if knocked down, should not stay down for longer that 5 seconds.

In the BKK, kumite tests can be attempted at out annual summer camps.

One Hundred Fights

The list below gives the names of these incredible men, and it is notable that most of them are still very active in karate, having achieved a high rank. Some are even heads of their own styles which, of course, are heavily derivative of Kyokushin. Initially, people had the choice to do it over two days, with 50 fights per day, but later it became compulsory to do it all in one day.

*Steve Arneil (21st May 1965) Completed in one day!
*Tadashi Nakamura (1965)
*Shigeru Oyama (1966)
*Loek Hollander (1967)
*John Jarvis (1967)
*Howard Collins (1972) Completed in compulsory one day.
*Miyuki Miura (Friday 13th April 1972)
*Akiyoshi Matsui (1986)
*Ademir de Costa (1987)
*Keiji Sanpei (1990)
*Akira Masuda (1991)
*Kenji Yamaki (1995)
*Francisco Filho (Feb: Brazil and March: Japan, 1995). Only person to date to complete 100-man kumite twice.
*Hajime Kazumi (1999)
*Klaus Rex (2002)
*Naomi Ali née Woods (2004) The first woman to ever perform both 50-man and 100-man kumite.

Fifty Fights

The following have completed the 50-man kumite:

*Gary Bufton, Great Britain (March 1976)
*Bernard Creaton, Great Britain (1997)
*David Cook, Great Britain (1997)
*Jeff Whybrow, Great Britain (1978)
*Cyril Andrews, Great Britain (1978)
*Jim Phillips, Australia (Feb. 1986)
*Luke Grgurevic, Australia (Feb. 1986)
*Tony Bowden, Australia (Feb. 1986)
*Gary Viccars, Australia (Feb. 1986)
*Tom Levar, Australia (March 1990)
*Sapan K. Chakraborty, India (Sep. 1992: India and Dec. 1994: Great Britain)
*Michael Thompson, Great Britain (1992)
*Trevor Marriot, Great Britain (1993)
*Peter Angerer, Germany (Sept. 1997)
*Raoul Strikker, Belgium (Dec. 1997)
*Sjaak van de Velde, Netherlands (Oct. 1998)
*Jim Skalvos, Australia (Jun. 1999)
*Pedro Beltran, Spain (Jun. 2001)
*Robert Lauretti, Australia
*Naomi Ali née Woods, Australia
*Kenny Jarvis, Great Britain (May 2006)

If you think you can do it, go to a summer camp and a Karateka can choose to do any number of fights e.g. 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 etc. and he or she will get a certificate for this achievement. This recognises that, while not everyone may be able to meet the ultimate Kyokushin benchmark of 100 fights, personal benchmarks are just as important an attainment. After all, even ten knockdown fights in swift succession can come to as much as half an hour of solid fighting if you use the three minute limit used in tournaments as a guide.