Blackbelt Story

[sublimo]

hell yeah it chanced my life! My goal was to become world champion (when I was 13 years old) But now I relise that will not happen! hahahaaha! I have other goals now!

CV


Name: Sublimo (forum name

Adres:

Birth date:

Birthplace:


Dojo:

Chance of grade

10. kyu 15-okt - 1993

9. kyu -may - 1994

8. kyu -Nov - 1994

7. kyu -Juin - 1995

6. kyu 09-may - 1996

5. kyu 04-may - 2001

4. kyu 04-may - 2002

3. kyu 15-mar - 2003

2. kyu 18-okt - 2003

1. kyu 19-sept - 2004 Sihan David Pickthall

SHODAN: july 2007 Sigeru Tabata and Yashuhiro Shichinohe sihans


Competitions (Kumite)

Event Country Date Weight Class Place
Belgium open (youth) Belgium 19-may - 1996 -67,5kg
Interclub (youth) Belgium 19- okt - 1997 +65kg 3rd
Interclub Belgium 01-feb - 1998 +65 kg 3rd
Da Graca Holland 15-mar - 1999 -78 kg
Belgium open Belgium 25-april - 1999 +68 kg 2nd
Interclub Belgium 15-okt - 1999 -80 kg 3rd
Belgium open Belgium 22-may - 2000 -80 kg 2nd
Belgium open Belgium -sept - 2000 -80 kg
Antwerp open Belgium 02-feb - 2002 -85 kg 2nd
Brabant cup Belgium 02-mar - 2002 -85 kg 3rd
Oyama cup Holland 23-nov - 2002 -80 kg
All Japan open Okinawa Kyokushin Union Japan 30-mar - 2003 open

European championships IKO3 Belgium 15-nov-2003 -80 kg Last 8
Lost to A. Polimero

Diamond cup IFK Belgium 27- mar - 2004 -80 kg
British open IFK England 09-okt - 2004 -80 kg
Oyama cup IFK NKA Holland 07-nov - 2005 -80 kg 4th
Swiss open IKO2 Switzerland 16-juin - 2005 -80 kg

Torneo Internacional Ciutat De Santa Coloma
Kyokushin UnionSpain 26-nov - 2005 open Last 8
Lost to J. Tineo

Beker Der Kempen Belgium 20-may - 2006 -80kg 2nd

Diamond cup IFK IKO2 Belgium 24-feb - 2007 +80kg –90kg 3th

Beker Der Kempen Belgium 19-may - 2007 +80kg 4th





Competitions (Kata)

Event Country Date Class Place
Nijiyama dojo Belgium 07-dec-2002 6-3rd kyu 2nd round
Asahi dojo Belgium ? -may-2003 6-3th kyu 2nd round
Nijiyama dojo Belgium ? -? -2003 2nd kyu
Asahi dojo Belgium 21-may-2005 1st kyu
Asahi dojo Belgium 19-may-2007 1st kyu 2nd round

Instruction courses

Kamp von Anneke Austria (hard) 22-24-aug-2001 Sensei Luigi Polimero

Summer camp Herentals Belgium 22-24-march-2002 Midori Kenji Shihan
Niho Satoshi Sensei

Weekend Chur Switzerland 25-27-okt-2002 Steve Arneil Hanshi

Vosselaar course Belgium 16-nov-2004 Yashuhiro Shichinohe Sihan

Nijiyama course Belgium 24-25-jan-2004 David Pickthall Sihan
Summer camp

HerentalsBelgium 01-jul-2005 Yashuhiro Shichinohe Sihan
Yoshikazu Koi Sihan

Tokashki Summer camp Japan
(Okinawa)
??-aug-2005 Yashuhiro Shichinohe Sihan

Sutani Dojo course Belgium 05-06-nov-2006 David Pickthall Sihan

North sea camp Belgium ?? -??-mar-2006 Suzuki Kunihiro Sihan
Summer camp

Herentals
Belgium 30-juin-2006 Toru Okamoto Sihan

North sea camp Belgium 17-mar-2007 Naohiro Nomoto Sensei

Spring camp F&F Sneek Holland 27-29-apr-2007 Sigeru Tabata Sihan
Yashuhiro Shichinohe Sihan




National referees and referee courses

Event
NK youth 20-juin-2003 Peter Fens Sensei
Nijiyama course 20-juin-2003 David Pickthall Sihan
Vosselaar 14-may-2005
Herentals course 30-juin-2006 Yashuhiro Shichinohe Sihan
Yoshikazu Koi Sihan

Sutani Dojo 28-nov-2006 Alain Breugelmans Sihan
Zoetermeer 15-jan-2007 Antonio Da Graca Sensei

[sexininja_bex]

I started training in Kyokushin in June 1997 (wow i didn't realise it was that long ago!) I picked it up really well and progressed through my grades quickly for a little junior!! I passed my Blackbelt grading at Summer Camp last year (that was HARD!) In the past 2 years I know i have matured within Kyokushin and although, only 17 I feel I am responsible enough to wear the belt. I began to represent England when I was only 12, once I begun to fight abroad, my main goal was to fight, one day, in Canada (I still wish to do this.. I don't know why!? lol) Now I am nearly 18 I can't wait to fight some more knockdown.. my aims for this year coming and the near future is mainly knockdown. My knockdown training is more important to me, I have already learnt without very very very dedicated training, knockdown isn't an option!! One main aim for me this year, is to do well in the kata tournament. At my club, Eastbourne I teach regularly and I love it!! I intend to teach the way I was taught, hard and strong and I endeavour to continue the styles dicipline when I teach. My life has changed a great deal because of karate, I have become far more confident with both strangers, at college and with friends/family. Kyokushin is my life! And I believe its so good to have a main focus and a main hobby.. my boyfriend loves the fact that i do something!!
OSU
X
SEXININJA

[bushido spirit]

what a great subject fire brings back memories lol , i started shidokan karate longe time ago not realy in 1996 i forced to go to karate some how by my dad i reached the brown belt then stoped it for about 3 years ,untell i got into a treet fight with my brother gainst 7 guys (it was a hell of night of alot of runing !!! ) , then got back to karate it toke me2 years to get the black tho i wasnt aiming for , but when i got it it was the happiest moment in my life tell now , then i started to get more into karate nd martial arts in general , getting the black belt made me more confidant and respectfull to my self and others , now that i got the belt am thinking to take join brazilian ju-jitsu nd get the black belt ( focusing more in it but not forgetting karate kumite) , tho we do some grapling nd kickboxing in shidokan karate but am stell not that satsfied with it lool........nd life goes on!!!!!OSU

[jungsun86]

I began Isshinryu Karate when I was 5 years old, because my parents wanted me to do something active. I hated the Boy Scouts and 4-H, so they thought they would have me try Karate. When my sensei first saw me, he said, "He looks a bit too young, and he's a little small even for his age. If he can't keep up with the class, you may have to remove him and bring him back in a couple years." This immediately made Karate a challenge for me. I always wanted to be the best, so I could prove that I belonged there. The classes were not separated by age, so children had to hang with the adults in exercises, of course not in sparring, but in exercises at least. I guess my first goal was to survive. My next goal was to prove that I belonged. Six years later, at the urging of my sensei's shihan, I was promoted to first dan black belt. I was the youngest that had ever come out of the system. This made me have to work twice as hard. I was expected to hang with the adults. In our school you perform to your rank, despite age. Ranking never came easy, because my sensei was very wary of having such a young black belt, let alone a higher ranking one. The ultimate sign of respect was when I received my 3rd dan, and the right to be called sensei. My sensei, by then a shihan himself, told me it was among the proudest moments in his martial arts career. I ranked as a 4th dan 4 months after my 20th birthday. From my life in Karate, I have learned many things. The most important being patience, perseverance, discipline, and how to live life as a better person. My goal now is to graduate college, and possibly someday open my own dojo. We'll see where life takes me. For those of you who make it through this arragato dozai mas.

[vapor]

jungsun86, that is a great story, and sounds like you have a very unique experience that not many have had to deal with (the severe expectations that were placed on your shoulders due to your age).

vapor

[kyofighter]

I started training in martial arts in 1986 with judo and shotokan karate.
In 1988 I started kyokushin and after eight years in 1996 I received shodan from Kancho Matsui.
I was always fascinated with japanese culture , samurai and martial arts in general.
My goal was to be the best I can be and one day have my own dojo .
I tested for nidan in 2001 also with Kancho Matsui and just this summer I passed the sandan test with Hanshi Steve Arneil.
I'm training 4-5 times a week and I feel more then ever that there is still a lot to learn.
Osu

[strongman1]

Osu fire

This is good stuff

well I start in 1983 in Hastings NZ at the Y.M.C.A on Railway road with shihan purcell there were great NZ fighters in that club my friends come with me but i was the only one to stay then i left and started training at bj's dojo with sempai Tony Caldwell (R.I.P)
was very hard but alot of fun we had between 8-10 karatas in the club it took me a long time to get my shodan I remember for my 1st kyu grading which was a club grading
there were 5 going for grade 4 were going for 5 kyu sempai said to me his will be the hardest grading you will ever do and he was right and left and all over me but i stayed there then i had 4 more black belt to go one of then was shihan solly purcell he has the hardest punch i have ever felt i have done alot i my time but no one has ever punch me that hard
as for Sempai well about 4 week after the grading he told me that i broke two of this ribs then he told me also train in other clubs and start getting ready for my shodan

Rest in peace
Sensei Tony Caldwell

Osu Osu

[xchrisbobisx]

well i got to purple belt in karate when i was about 8 2 belts from black, and i got to blue in TKD 3 belts from black. of course this was a very americanized karate and tkd. where you basically kata for belts, and pay =) thats one reason i dont like belts in general, ranking someone skill wise is not smart. maybe ranking someone mental wise or wisdom/experience wise. anyways i dont like belts because karate in america became a industry. people want to feel safe, people want black belts, and people now SELL blackbelts, what a joke its your safety your talking about. matter of fact theres a joint here called "black belt academy" it has good business know why? your 1st belt is a black belt, and every rank you get you get a white yellow orange green etc stripe on your black belt.

[jcbel]

I pity the black belt from that academy who decides to go somewhere else and try to spar with somebody... which reminds of a great story.

I have a friend who was a 2nd Dan in a non-contact style of Karate and was a "world champion" in their kumite. He went to a Kyokushin dojo all cocky and asked to spar, assuming he would spar with the instructor. He got paired up with a "lowly blue-belt" who proceeded to kick him in both thighs (two kicks exactly) and floored him. He said he could barely walk after the experience and after getting home he promptly burnt all his certificates and awards he received in the other style. When he felt better he signed up at that dojo and went on to earn his black belt the hard way (and was an uchi-deshi for a year too).

[xchrisbobisx]

LOL! thats funny because a friend of mine told me at his little sparring club, a so called black belt in karate guy came along and lost. to pretty much a nobody none of my friends have belts or have trained under any martial art.

[kyokugirl]

hey! i started training when i was 5 in perth and scotland with my mum and dad. i got up to my blue belt then left for a few years. me my mum and my dad all went back when i was 13 and havent been able to keep ourselves away since! my mum got her black belt two years ago and me and my dad both got ours together last year at winter camp. i owe so much to our shihan for getting me there and also to our two amazing sempai's that we lost the day after my grading: they were amazing people and really talented black belts although sempai williams height was a bit scary when i was just 5 hehe i found my confidence has really grown since i have been doing karate and i cant wait to learn a lot more as i know that this is just the beginning! got scotlands winter camp next week cant wait! good luck to everyone who is grading! osu

[hans]

I started karate back in 1974. i did not know at the time that differnet ryuha did exist, it was just this mysterious karate I wanted. The first bruce Lee era was going on, so lots of kids my age were running around yielding nunchakus and there was much talk on the schoolyard about fighting, kung fu, karate, but nobody new much,there was no internet, just some expensive magazines from the USA. (black belt, official karate). So I enrolled in what appeared to be a wadoryu school, but certainly a good one, with much emphasis on sparring. Later on, the books of Sosai draw my attention. After changing schools and styles several times,I enrolled in a kyokushin dojo. I was black belt in wadoryu allready then. This was around 82. I was promoted two nidan in kyokushin within not too long, but i had to adapt somewhat to the rules.It tremendously expanded my close-in fighting ablities. There was also training in kickboxing at this dojo.Unfortunately there was much politics and fractionating in the kyokushin scene at that time, and my teacher choose a path that I did not wanted to follow. I had been training with shotokan people and changed over to JKA style shotokan, to be graded in that style eventually as well. At the same time we started training in taikiken kempo, the internal chinese martial art based style founded by Sawai Kenichi, who was an advisor to Sosai during his life. By the way, Sawai is also in "This is karate", well known kyokushin shihan Royama Hatsuo is allso a well known taikiken kempoka. I also took up judo again which i did as a little kid for some time. Now, after over 30 years of martial arts, I know i will do this to the end, with my family and friends, and i am so lucky that i have much to choose from. Lots of friends own their own dojos, judo and various karate styles, so i can go where i like.

[WILK]

BROWN TO BLACK ENSHIN STYLE
Osu!
I have just gained promotion to 1ST Dan in Enshin and what a remarkable feeling to finally put that belt on. The test started on the Friday evening, a 1.5 hour basis session. The pace was fast and my technique was constantly being monitored which made it even more difficult. As the session continued Sensei just never let up on me (I HAD NO WHERE TO HIDE) but I was up for it and I had found that level where you feel unstoppable and I was buzzing, then bang Kata time. I have never quite been the most fluent at kata but the effort has always been there however when you have to perform on your own under intense pressure things can be different. I’d rather fight than perform Kata on my own, with my heart pounding away Sensei pushed the Kata on. By numbers, then without, then facing an opponent, then again it seemed to go on for ever then NAOTTE music to the ears. The session had come to an end, was he pleased was he going to let me complete my test on the Saturday? As I waited in line for feedback I knew I had made several minor mistakes but was he looking for perfection, had I impressed? Sensei turned to me and said “well done I’m pleased but there are still a few things to work on, but we all have things to work on Osu, see you tomorrow”. Happy days the first part completed!
I woke on the Saturday quite apprehensive, I knew what was coming but didn’t quite know what to expect if that makes sense? The day would consist of a four hour Enshin seminar where again my technique would be monitored. Then after the seminar I am to fight ten one minute rounds with twenty seconds rest in between against ten different Enshin fighters.
The seminar was awesome learning different moves and meeting new fighters from all over Europe and I was proud to be a part of that day. I must be honest though I constantly had one eye on the fights and I couldn’t quite settle and I found myself becoming restless I just wanted to get on with the fights. The seminar was coming to a close, and everyone was really pleased with the success of the course and all the new ideas they could take back to their own dojo’s but not me I had to switch on and fast, in five minutes I would be facing some of the best Enshin knockdown fighters in Europe. The mats were laid and it was time I felt confidant, probably the most confidant I had ever felt going onto the mats but I had done the work, the hill climbs, the road running, the bags, the weights the sparring and now it was time to test that work!
First a bit of solo Kata AGAIN, that didn’t help calm the nerves then the first fight the 06 Sabaki champion and 08 runner up great let’s start with the best shall we. The pace felt slow or was that me being sluggish I couldn’t quite tell but I thought I needed to step it up so I did and so did he the fight was pretty even then in a blink of an eye I was on my back three points to him. Great just the start I wanted! The fights came and went and I felt stronger as the fights went on, I was scoring points with takedowns and hopefully demonstrating good Sabaki at the same time. My fitness was carrying me through the fights and I hadn’t been scored upon or put down since the first so I was buzzing then came the last. This guy I had known for years and make no mistake he is quality 2nd Dan Kyokushin 2nd Dan Enshin and a seasoned knockdown fighter. The fight started I thought I need to get in early so for first 30 seconds we traded I put him down but it wasn’t the cleanest so no score then on the half way he caught me to my stomach, OUCH! I knew there was a reason for all those sit-ups I didn’t go down but it took the wind out of my sails, there was 20 seconds left and he was relentless kick after kick he put in but I managed to stay close and take the sting out. YAME the test was complete. I returned to my corner wiped down returned to the matt bowed and received my black belt off one of the most influential people in my life. What I find so appealing with Enshin and having witnessed other styles is when you do pass a promotion test, whatever the colour of belt you know you have earned it.
The next training night was a Monday and I proudly walked into the Dojo but the funniest thing was I felt like a white belt starting all over again!
Osu!

[kaloyan]

Congratulations WILK very interestng story thanks for sharing sound like a harrd test for me (not that im going for blak belt in the coming 5 years though)

[intwominds]

Loved your story WILK, thanks for posting.
A big congratulations!

OSU!

[cochito]

Well, since my childhood, I've never been "sporty" type. In Japan, boys were expected to be athletic and, thus, to get good grades in PE. Although I had trained and competed in swimming, I was not that good and didn't really like it (I now love swimming, though). But, I still wanted to be athletic. Maybe, i wanted to gain attentions from girls . Then, I realized I was flexible; I could split and do ax-kick without warm-up when I was 15 years-old. So, I thought I could choose from either ballet or martial arts. I felt ballet was too "feminine" for me (I now love it), so I chose martial arts. And, Shorinji Kempo class fitted my schedule. I don't really remember my goal back then. Maybe, I thought I could fight back the bullies, though I was not really bullied back then. My first test was maybe around 6 months later for 3rd kyu brown belt(the 3rd kyu is the lowest for the adult class. You have to learn more techniques than kids for each test). Eventually, I decided to remain till I gain the black belt. I got the 1st dan about 3 years later, and I quitted the style about 6 months after that because I was in the senior grade of high school and had to prepare for college exam.
Well, to be honest, I think I got bored of Kempo because of its fixed-kumite (demonstration) system; I was very interested in Kyokushin (and K-1) by then. Now, I know I was very childish and should have respected the style I was learning.
If I start martial arts training again (hopefully Kyokushin), I hope I have dedication enough to stick with it.
Well, I'm sorry for my long and disorganized post.

[Bloke]

Thanks for posting your story and dont worry - it was neither long nor disorganised

[Steffen]

Hey!

I really enjoy reading about you and your kyokushinlife

I started up with Tkd in 1984. I had seen the movies and wanted to learn this. At that time all the kids was playing soccer,and the perents around did not like this "fighting-farm" but my friend and I keept on training. After some years Karate was comming to town. I thought Karate was Karate and did not know about different styles or anything else for that matter

Late in 1990 I left Tkd and startet up with Karate. I did not know it was Kyokushinkai. The hard an intense training really caught me. This periode did somthing with my mind,and that "something" is still there.. the joy of just training
Our Sensei did not focus on belt test and tournaments,and that was a new thing for me. This factor I think buildt a very good fundamental in the Dojo.
The belt testing and tournaments came in after a while,but then it feelt natural.

Summer 1999 I was ready to go for the Shodan test. It went well for me,and I really glad it did,because I had trained so hard the last year. Training before work (I started to work 07.00 in the morning) and working as a joiner/carpenter this was hard for me. My boss did not like this so I was called in to explaine how much it ment to me. He understood...and I still owe him for that.
I have not taken Ni Dan,and I dont know if I`m ever going to do.

My main goal is to teach and stay activ so long it is possible...+ one year!

[Dent]

Osu!

Originally Posted by Steffen

My main goal is to teach and stay activ so long it is possi