BUDO KARATE HOUSE 3-Year Residential Program

European Cup Tournament Hungary, March 2007

Two BKH residential students fought in this year's Kyokushin-kan European Cup Tournament in Hungary. Robert Schnoes (above) who has been at BKH for 560 of his 1000 days (before graduation) fought in his first tournament after being out of competitions for six months due to a broken foot. Paul Kaminski (see below, in yellow belt) who has been training for 180 days, fought in his second overseas tournament. BKH residential students progress much faster than most karate students because of the intensity of the 2 or 3 times-per-day training. They don't do anything but train, so they get tough fairly fast. However, these two guys are learning that there is no real substitute for fighting experience. This was Schnoes's 3rd tournament and he made some mistakes that he won't make next time. (You'll see him bleeding in a photo below.) His primary mistake: Over confidence. He has gotten so tough that he was completely unintimidated by his opponent, a mistake that led to his defeat. As with other BKH residential

students in the past, it is common for them to lose consistently until they get past a certain point where their toughness makes up for their lack of experience, and then they start to win. We pride ourselves at BKH to making fighters from non-fighter types in one and two years who can stand toe to toe with guys, like Schnoes's opponent (above), who have been training for six or eight years. Be sure to continue to follow these guys progress (and if you're interested in joining them, by all means apply!) to see how they do in their next tournaments. We decided not to travel to this year's All-Japan Weight Category Tournament due to finances (there's less than four weeks between this one in Hungary and that on in Japan), but there is the All-Japan Open Tournament in November, in addition to seminars in Hungary in July, and Korea in September. We hope, by the way, that regular Ligo Dojo students will start to join us on these trips, finances permitting.

It was a axe-kick that caught Schnoes just above his eye. This brief rest allowed him to find his rhythm, and once the fight resumed he kept his opponent on the run. It was too late to change the opinion of the judges though. Note the smile on Schnoes's face. That's the over confidence that led to his defeat. He's gotten so tough that he's no longer afraid. His instructor coached him that next time he should be a little bit more afraid and then maybe he'd remember to protect his head from axe-kicks.

This was Paul Kaminski's (22, Connecticut) second tournament. And again there's no substitute for experience. He is progressing very nicely and, after just six months of training, is in an awkward stage between weakness and coming toughness, and his lack of confidence was his primary disadvantage. He was defeated by this much more experienced opponent by low kicks to his left thigh. If you can't stand, obviously you can't fight.

BKH Instructor Nathan Ligo (center) performed in a demonstration at the tournament with one of his life's three teachers, Sensei Sandor Brezovai of Hungary (right). Please click on the Kyokushin-kan link at right to see more photos of this tournament and demonstration.

The BKH American team toured the famous Hungarian Parliament Building with Kancho (chairman) Royama of Kyokushin-kan on our final day in Budapest.

Paul Kaminski can be seen here with Kancho Royama during the seminar on the day following the tournament. BKH Director and Ligo Dojo head instructor, Nathan Ligo, is below with Kancho at the Parliament building.