Daido Juku
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Daidojuku | |
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| Kudo Competitor with mask and fist protectors | |
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| Kudo Competitor using a submission technique (arm-bar) against another opponent | |
| Japanese | 大道塾 |
| Kana spelling | だいどうじゅく |
| Rōmaji | Daidojuku |
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| Daidojuku Logo | |
| Japanese | 空道 |
| Kana spelling | くうどう |
| Rōmaji | Kudo |
Daido Juku also known as Daidojuku and Kudo is a martial arts organization founded in 1981 by Azuma Takashi. Azuma, originally a Kyokushin Karate 1977 full contact karate champion, resigned from the Kyokushin organization to form Daidojuku in Sendai city located in northern Honshū, Japan. Daidojuku literally translated means The Big Way. It incorporates techniques which were not present at that time in full contact karate styles. Azuma, being a 3rd degree black belt in Judo as well as a 4th degree black belt in Kyokushin karate, recognized the potential for a hybrid martial art. These would not be restricted by the boundaries of a single style but would utilise techniques from various martial arts, namely, at the time of its creation in 1980, Judo and Karate. In the late 80's and early 90's the style began to incorporate various techniques from muay thai, boxing, jiu-jitsu, sambo and other martial arts, fine tuning each technique for use within the Daidojuku style. One of the fundamental goals of Daidojuku being the creation of a versatile and realistic fighting style without compromise to safety, Azuma created a style which incorporated various offensive as well as defensive techniques which includes punches to the head, elbow strikes, head butts, judo throws, jiu-jitsu jointlocks and other standup and ground fighting techniques. In 1981, Daidojuku made it’s public debut at the ‘’’1981 Hokutoki Karate Championships’’’, also known as ‘’’Hokutoki.’’’
Originally known as Kakuto Karate Daidojuku or Combat Karate Daidojuku, the name of the style was inevitably changed to recognize its unique and unorthodox techniques as a mixed martial art. In 2001 at an official press conference held for Daidojuku, founder Azuma Takashi and president of Daidojuku, N.P.O., renamed the mixed martial art Budo to Kudo. This renaming allowed Kudo the opportunity of becoming an official Japanese Cultural Budo sport under the same category as Judo, Aikido and Kendo. Kudo and Daidojuku are world wide copyrights and all of its instructors and branch chiefs are certified under the Kudo International Federation, also known as K.I.F.
Azuma currently holds an 8th degree black belt in Kyokushin Budokai, awarded by Shihan John Bluming and an 8th degree black belt in Daidojuku, awarded by the board of directors of Daidojuku.
Equipment Daido Juku competitors wear the Kyokushin Karate gi (different from the Judo gi with longer pants and much shorter sleeves) but have included various protective gear for the safety of their fighters in the more MMA style fights. MMA style gloves are worn that cover the wrist, back of the hand, knuckles and fingers. And a unique foam helmet was developed with a clear plastic faceguard to prevent cuts and broken noses from punches, elbows and headbutts. It is this helmet that allows the fighters in daido juku to punch and elbow the face, not allowed in more mainstream Kyokushin variants. This helmet is known outside of Daido Juku circles jokingly as a "space helmet"
[edit] Famous Fighters
- Minoki Ishihara, the karateka who fought Royce Gracie in UFC2 had previously been a champion in Daido Juku Karate.
- Semmy Schilt won Hokutoki Championship two times (open-weight division, 1996, 1997).
- Yoshinori Nishi, who won Hokutoki Championship in 1984 and 1985 (open-weight division) and fought in RINGS, founded Keishukai, an MMA school that produced Caol Uno among others.
[edit] Publications
- 「はみ出し空手」”Untamed Karate”, 1982
- 「格闘空手」”Combat Karate”, 1983
- 「格闘空手ゼミナール」”Combat Karate Seminar” published in 「空手道」monthly martial arts magazine, 1984
- 「格闘空手への道」”The Way toward Combat Karate”, 1984
- 「格闘空手II」”Combat Karate II”, 1986
- 「格闘空手への道」”The Way toward Combat Karate”, 1989 – Video release
- 「大道無紋」”Daido Mumon”, 1991
