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, submission wrestling, 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.’’’ Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Manyogana 万葉仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 For other meanings of Kana, see Kana (disambiguation). ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 Category Rōmaji (ローマ字 Roman characters, sometimes misunderstood as romanji in English), is a Japanese term for the Latin alphabet. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Manyogana 万葉仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 For other meanings of Kana, see Kana (disambiguation). ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 Category Rōmaji (ローマ字 Roman characters, sometimes misunderstood as romanji in English), is a Japanese term for the Latin alphabet. ... Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Kyokushin is a style of stand-up, full contact karate, founded in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama (大山倍達) who was born under the name Choi Yeong-Eui (최영의). Kyokushinkai is Japanese for the society of the ultimate truth. ... For other uses, see Karate (disambiguation). ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... Full-contact karate is popular in the U.S.. Full contact karate has many different derivatives but two main fundamental styles. ... This April 2007 does not cite its references or sources. ... HonshÅ« (本州 Literally Main State) is the largest island of Japan, called the Mainland; it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait. ... Judo ), meaning gentle way, is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budō) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. ... Judo ), meaning gentle way, is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budō) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. ... For other uses, see Karate (disambiguation). ... Muay Thai (IPA: [/muai32 32/]; Thai: ) also known as Thai Boxing,The Deadly Art, The Art of the Eight Limbs is the Thai name for a form of hard martial art practiced in several Southeast Asian countries including Thailand. ... Professional boxing bout featuring Ricardo Domínguez (left, throwing a left uppercut) versus Rafael Ortiz Boxing, also referred to as pugilism is a combat sport in which two participants of similar weight fight each other with their fists in a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. ... Jujutsu (also jujitsu, ju jitsu, ju jutsu, or jiu jitsu; from the Japanese 柔術 jūjutsu gentle/yielding/compliant Art) is a Japanese martial art. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Mark Mullen applies an armbar to Ernesto Martinez during the Open “Tap Out” Tournament. ... Judo ), meaning gentle way, is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budō) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. ... Jujutsu (also jujitsu, ju jitsu, ju jutsu, or jiu jitsu; from the Japanese 柔術 jūjutsu gentle/yielding/compliant Art) is a Japanese martial art. ...

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. Budo (武道) is a term for Japanese martial arts. ...

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 an official Kudo Gi gi (sleeves and body of the top gi, like a single-weave judo gi, are created out of a single piece of cloth, unlike the traditional karate gi where the sleeves are sewn onto the body). This design of the Kudo gi makes it ideal for throwing and grappling techniques. Also required for competition are groin guard, mouth piece, official Kudo hand-wraps, official Kudo fist protectors and SuperSafe (official Kudo protective helmet). The fist protectors are MMA style gloves which cover the wrist, back of the hand and up to the 2nd joint of the knuckles. The SuperSafe head guard is a unique foam helmet developed by Daido Juku to protect a fighter from facial injuries and head trauma. It is this helmet which allows the fighters in Daido Juku to punch and elbow the face, not allowed in more mainstream Kyokushin variants. GI may stand for: Galvanized Iron Gastrointestinal, a division of the human anatomy in medicine Generic identifier Geodætisk Institut, a former Danish cartographic institute Geographical indication Game Informer, a video games magazine Government issue, meaning army enlisted personnel Government Issue, A 1980s Hardcore Band G.I. Joe, a...

This helmet is known outside of Daido Juku circles jokingly as a "space helmet." On another funny note, Azuma Jukucho (founder and president of Daido Juku, also the creator of so called “space helmet”) has been quoted as saying in Japanese: “Call it whatever the hell you want, space helmet, aqua helmet, whatever…this is Kudo, this is Daido Juku.” (Jukucho laughs)

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.
• Kenichi Osada, who has participated and won seven years.

Royce Gracie, pronounced Hoyce Gracie, (born December 12, 1966) is a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. ... Sem Schilt (born October 27, 1973 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch kickboxer, mixed martial artist and Seido Kaikan karate fighter as well as World Champion[1] in the 2005 and 2006 K-1 Grand Prix tournaments in Japan. ... RINGS was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion from 1991 to 2002. ... Caol Uno Shoten Shoten (May 8, 1975-) is a Japanese mixed martial arts fighter. ...

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

References

• Daidojuku Headquarters Home Page
• Daido-Juku Karate-Do Eesti Liit
• Daido Juku home page
• http://www.kudo.ru]