KYOKUSHIN IN POPULAR CULTURE . Video games The movesets of Ryu and Ken from Capcoms Street Fighter franchise are based on Shotokan, the parent style of Kyokushin. Ryu is said to be based on Yoshiji Soeno, a student of Mas Oyama. In Namcos Tekken series, Jim Kazama is said to travel to Brisbane, Australia to learn karate. At the time of Tekkens creation, Cameron Quinn, Mas Oyamas interpreter, and the author of The Budo Karate of Mas Oyama was teaching students such as Garry ONeill and Walter Schnaubelt. Jin Kazama uses the art of Kyokushin Karate in Tekken 4, Tekken 5, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Tekken 6, and Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. He can be seen practicing Yantsu and Pinan Yon Kata in various demonstration modes in the Tekken series. Jean Kujo, from the Virtua Fighter series, practices varied forms of full-contact karate, including Kyokushin. Solara from Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects is said to practice Kyokushin. Kyokugenryu Karate is a fictional martial art from SNK Playmores Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury, and King of Fighters series. Kyokugenryu (the extreme style), which is practiced by Ryo Sakazaki, Robert Garcia, Yuri Sakazaki, Takuma Sakazaki and Marco Rodriguez / Khushnood Butt, is heavily based on Kyokushin. Karate Master Knock Down Blow a recent game from Crian Soft that is heavy Kyokushin based. Movies A trilogy of films starring Sonny Chiba and directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi were produced in Japan between 1975 and 1977: Champion of Death, Karate Bearfighter, and Karate for Life. Chiba plays Master Oyama who also appears in two of the films. Dolph Lundgren has a third Dan blackbelt in Kyokushin. He became famous for starring the Russian boxer Ivan Drago in the 1985 film Rocky IV. He also appeared in movies such as Icarus, Diamond Dogs, Universal Soldier, and many others. The James Bond movie You Only Live Twice (released 1967), starring Sean Connery, was filmed largely in Japan and featured a karate demonstration by a number of well-known Kyokushin students, including Shigeo Kato (who introduced Kyokushin to Australia and was the original teacher of Shokei Matsui). Fighter in the Wind, a 2004 South Korean film based on the same name of a Korean Comic book by Hak-gi Bang is loosely based on Mas Oyamas life. This film concentrates on the period when he is still young, and developing his famous karate style, Kyokushin. The film was the 7th highest grossing Korean film of 2004 with 2,346,446 admissions sold nationwide. Television Kyokushin was featured on Fight Quest on Discovery Channel as the Japanese Martial Arts Style. Kyokushin was the style of karate featured in an episode of Human Weapon. From: arenakyokushin
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 10:52:41 +0000