- Today I'm trying the
world's toughest karate style. This is Kyokushin karate, a Japanese form of full contact fighting. - Stay nice and light. - And that is Sensei Brian Fitkin, direct student of the legendary Mas Oyama, and teacher of Hollywood
superstar Dolph Lundgren. - I must break you. - Today I'm visiting his dojo to see if I can survive a full
class of Kyokushin karate. - Don't give up, give up, keep fighting, fighting, fighting. - I'm dying. Almost done. Don't give up. But first, I have to prepare. - If you don't toughen up your legs, how are you gonna absorb some
of these kicks coming at you? - Kyokushin is famous for
its devastating low kick. - The kicks could come in like that. - Ah. - And then you get the
ones where you use the hip, where you come in slightly down. - All right. - And then you get the ones where you can sort of
just push straight on. - Oh, which part of my
leg would be the perfect- - Well use this particular part, depends how close you are. - I've never seen that one before. All these kicks have
different angles, right? - Yes. I can just go in. I come in with a big one, which is- - Ooh. But there are actually
many different low kicks. Oh, that, that was already painful. Now it's my turn to try. But Kyokushin also has unique punches. - Then I can come in on your chest. Boom! So I don't have to be like this- - Interesting, no, yeah. Which a lot of people
think karate doesn't have. - No. - They think only boxing has hooks. - No, no, no. - However, there's one thing
I still don't understand. What is the reason for
no punching to the face? Mas Oyama decided to remove face punches when he created Kyokushin,
and I wanna know why. - Yes, it's because he didn't
want to wear boxing gloves. Then it would be just like kickboxing. - I suppose that also builds
more toughness, to not - Yeah, exactly. He wanted it to be raw, you know? - Yeah - Power without pads and things like that. - Yeah yeah. And you can't
really condition your face. - You can't do that with the head. It becomes quite a brutal mess. - Now there is only one
technique left to learn, the famous rolling thunder kick. - Front flip and then the kick? - Yeah. - Is this something you practice or- - Um, well... - Would you be able to teach it to me? - Possibly. Yeah. - Okay. Bam. - But I mean, you have to
sort of like throw yourself. Not too much. No, it's too far over. Here's the target. Too far over there. - I see. - One more. One more. - One more. - Well, that wasn't bad. - All right. Let's see
if I can do it later. - If I was 21 again, I'd show you. - And so it begins, my
very first Kyokushin class. "Sensei Ni Rei!" "Osu!" "Kamaete!" "Ichi ni, ichi ni san" - Training kicks off immediately with a smattering of different
fighting combinations - Luckily, a lifetime of karate practice makes it easy to follow along. But this is just the beginning. - After warmup is done, it's
time for some stretching. But I have a feeling that this is just a calm before the storm. - And the hands... - Now we partner up and start doing fighting
drills against each other. My opponent is one of the world's best
fighters in his category. And he's hard as a rock. - Yame! Okay, good. One, two. - Almost every combination
involves low kicks. - One, two, three and four - And my thighs are not used to this. Luckily, I recognize most of the kicks from my private class. - So we'll do a little
bit of technique here now. So... - After using the body as a punching bag it's time to use pads. And now we turn it up. - Stay nice and light. Light on the feet. - Unfortunately, the
champion keeps hammering away at my legs, because he's
preparing for the European championship, and I'm just his warmup. But I guess that's what I get
for wearing my black belt. Even though I'm a beginner in Kyokushin. Now we start going even
harder on the pads. But that's not all. We drop down and start doing pushups, followed by sit-ups, followed by even more pad work. At this point, I am dead-tired. We haven't had a single water break, and there's no time for rest. - Don't give up, give up. - I am seconds away from giving up. - Keep fighting, fighting, fighting. - That's when I suddenly
remember something that Sensei Brian told me earlier. - Never give up. Life is not easy. You have lots of knocks,
you lose your parents, things don't go as you
want, you lose your job. I mean, what do you do in
those moments of crisis, when you need this mental strength? You hit the bottle and drink, or maybe take a few tablets? Not everybody's gonna be a great fighter. Not everybody can kick high, but if they try, that's what you want, people to try. Or if they're tired, and they say, well can I take a rest now? Yeah, it would be easier to say "Yeah, you take a rest." But I mean, no. This is the time when it's challenging. This is when you're gonna
show that you can continue. That's what Kyokushin is all about. - All right. - I'm dying. I'm so thirsty. I can barely speak. Almost done. Don't give up. Now there's only one thing left, Kyokushin-style sparring. - Jesse, you know the rules, don't you? - I think so. - Yeah. There's just
no punches to the head. - That's right. - And no groin kicks of course. - Luckily, my first opponent
is just a green belt. - Hajime, off you go! - This should be a walk in the park. The fight has barely
started, and I'm already getting kicked in the head. Turns out it's way harder than I thought to not punch the face, but still protect your head. - Ooh. - Luckily, we're not
doing full contact today because my body is taking a beating. After getting head-kicked
for the third time. - Yame! - it's time for my next opponent. "Osu!" - This time I'm fighting a brown belt, and he's not wearing any gloves in true Kyokushin fashion. My goal is to remember and use all of the new techniques that I've learned including the rolling thunder. So far, it's not going well, but at least I only have one fight left. The bad news is, this is my opponent. - My last fight is against
the champion black belt. And it feels like I
can't get anything done, because I'm getting hit with techniques I've never even seen before. And my opponent is just smiling. To be honest, I thought this
would be the hardest fight of today, but it's actually the most fun. And perhaps that's the
true secret of Kyokushin. It's not just about full contact, but full control. And the tougher you get,
the kinder you have to be. I might not have won, but
I think I'm a little bit tougher now.
