1. 1st World
Moscow '05

Russia vs. China Sanda Friendship Competition
December 23, 2005 - Quangzhou, China

(text translated from the Japanese)

In accordance to the invitation by the Chinese Martial Arts Association, this year's friendship competition between a representative team of Russian Kyokushinkan fighters and China's Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) fighters has been realized. It is with great pleasure that we announce that already one year since a representative Japanese team of Kyokushin fighters met with China's Sanda fighters in this same location last year, this event became a success. The central motive of this national-level project by the Kyokushinkan organization is the gradual introduction of Kyokushin karate into China.

This time according to the invitation from China, a fighter from each of five weight classes were dispatched from Russia, but having fought to the finish in September's severe World Open Karate Tournament, and then immediately preparing for and fighting in the European tournament held in London in October, they were really only able to prepare to fight in this Sanda challenge event from the middle of the month. Therefore, the Russian fighters entered this competition with only three weeks of preparation to fight in their first Sanda-style event with no fundamental understanding of how to fight with boxing gloves against a foreign team with "home town advantage." The Chinese team that confronted them, 3 of them who already had the experience of fighting against the Japanese Kyokushin team last year, was composed of China's Sanda champions.

Once the fighting began, the Russian fighters attacked fiercely and without hesitation and in so doing showed great bravery. The Russian fighters knocked down the Chinese Sanda kings several times and they were frequently seen to be driving the Chinese fighters backwards. However, from start to finish the Chinese Sanda kings expertly relied on their knowledge of how the sport is scored by the judges to accumulate the necessary points to achieve victory.

Even as the Russian team was defeated, the many spectators who came to watch the fights freely showed their applause at the Russians' bravery. The Chinese Martial Arts Association and the Chinese mass media, not anticipating that the Russians would struggle forward to this extent, have expressed their enthusiastic hope that, for better or worse, Russia would send its fighters to China again next year and there after.

Now that the Russian fighters have participated in this year's event, they were able to gain appreciation for this different kind of fist fighting called Sanda. Also now that they understand the Chinese fighters' strengths and body type, they are better able to set their objective for next time. There is a plan to hold next year's event in Shanghai, and the Russians are able to be hopeful about winning.

The lofty purpose of this experiment is the gradual introduction of Kyokushin karate into this huge country that holds 1/5 of the world's population, and because these young people have the courage to undertake this challenge against fighters of an unknown style in an unfamiliar land, we were able to make this competition a success. Certainly if there is such a strong desire on both sides for this purpose to be achieved, there can only be one final result. Accordingly, we can say that this year's event, having furthered this purpose, became a great success.