Kyokushin Karate Tournament in Korea 2011

This video is the conclusion (part 4) to the documentary movie about Kyokushin Karate training and fighting shot in South Korea in 2011.

Background of Kyokushin Karate training in Korea

Although Taekwondo is by far the most popular martial arts sport in Korea, Kyokushin Karate can easily be found here as well.



Background into how I filmed this project:

I taught Mo and Bader (the subjects training for the tournament in part 4) in an English class at Kyung Hee University in the fall of 2008.  They had just began studying as international students there, and it was my first semester on the job as well.  Because they stuck out in a class mostly dominated by Korea students, I got to know them and we became friends after the semester has finished.

Nearly 3 years later I finished this short movie.

In this part 3 I interview their Park Sang Hyun, their Kyokushin trainer.  We explained a little bit about the history of Kyokushin and who founded it.  This part also contains some great slow motion shots of Mo and Bader training while Mr. Park dissects their style of Kyokushin fighting.

This part 3 is a must see for anyone interested in, or training for a Kyokushin tournament.

Kyokushin Karate Documentary Movie

Taekwondo rules martial arts in Korea, and that's almost the end of the story.  Bits of other martial arts do pop up here and there, and although rare, can be found if one searches hard enough.

I wasn't searching when I stumbled upon it myself.  (Now) former students of mine, Mo and Bader came noticeably all banged up to class one day.  They were eager to share their hobby and the world of Kyokushin Karate in Korea opened up to me.  This happened before I had even begun making movies.

In part 1, I stop by Mo's house to meet him and Bader.  I ask them why they love Kyokushin karate and Korea so much.  And I travel to Seoul with them to observe a Kyokushin training session.