Karate - TV Tropes

I split the atom with my high kick, baby
I am a master 'cause I practice daily
With aaaaatoooomiiiiic karate!

As mentioned, karate is divided on schools or styles, most of them diverging a lot in their approaches to things like philosophy and technique. Those are the most relevant ones:

• Shotokan: founded by the aforementioned Gichin Funakoshi and developed by his son Gigo, Shotokan was the first modern karate school, and the founders of many other styles studied this before establishing their own. It was also the style who popularized high kicks and spinning attacks in karate, as well as competitions ruled on points rather than damage (both of which have been speculated to be influences from the savate practised by the Japanese military's French instructors). Technically speaking, Shotokan emphasizes more on finesse and long range attack, requiring practitioners to be both nimble and well-balanced.
• Kyokushin: the hardest “traditional”style, this school embodies what people tend to believe about karate as crazy men beating down each other and breaking things and was even at one point named by critics as "Kenka Karate" or "Brawling Karate" (a moniker its founder disliked). Its founder Masutatsu “Mas” Oyama (born Choi Yeong-eui as he was ethnically Korean) loved to fight, so the school is strongly oriented towards sport combat and has solid ties to Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts, having given birth to several offshoots dedicated to those fields, like Ashihara, Daido-juku, Seidokaikan and Shidokan. It is characterized by its full contact, knock-down style, meaning the matches are strictly scored on KO's and damage inflicted to the opponent.
• Shito-Ryu: a traditional yet unifying school founded by Kenwa Mabuni. It consists of an incredibly large and complex curriculum of techniques created in an attempt to combine elements of both power and technique, although it values speed and high posture over most other things.
• Goju-Ryu: an Okinawan style with strong Chinese heritage created by Chojun Miyagi. It is mainly based on the kung-fu concept of hard/soft duality, and as such it incorporates a balanced and divided moveset, drawing from the alternation between soft circular movements and hard linear attacks at close range.
• Wado-Ryu: created by former jujutsuka Hironori Otsuka, this karate school stands out for owing to traditional Japanese jujutsu just as much as to karate itself, to the point it initially billed itself as "karate-jujutsu". This can be noted in its fondness for soft, harmonious body shifts and an unique set of paired kata, similar to those found in judo. Its other main influence was Shotokan karate, which Otsuka studied under Gichin Funakoshi.
• Shorin-Ryu: rooted on seriously ancient lineages of karate, it was developed by Choshin Chibana, who had studied under Ankō Itosu (who also trained Funakoshi), and favors flexibility and circular movements. Note that, although its name is the Japanese renderization of the Chinese term shaolin, it is not related to Shaolin kung fu in any way, nor to Shorinji Kempo, which is a martial art related to Shaolin kung fu created by Doshin So.
• Uechi-Ryu: an Okinawan style founded by Kanbun Uechi after studying kung fu (thought to be Fujian Tiger Boxing) in Southern China, notable for its unique fighting stance, hardcore body conditioning, and its emphasis on toe-kicks, knuckle-strikes, and spear-hand techniques. Features just eight kata, of which only three are from Uechi's original teachings, the rest being devised later by his senior students to bridge the gaps. Though similar to Goju-Ryu and other Naha-te styles, Uechi-Ryu actually developed mostly independently of them.
• Budokan: a style created in Malaysia of all places and is surprisingly an official recognized style of the World Karate Federation alongside the other seven above. Founded by Chew Choo Soot, who trained in judo, wrestling and traditional jiu-jitsu before discovering Shotokan and Keishinkan karate from a Japanese military officer who hired him as his personal fitness coach as he also had a background in weightlifting, who taught him karate in return^note . After the Second World War, Chew went to Japan and occupied Okinawa to further his karate training, as well as several trips to Taiwan to learn kung-fu and later added techniques from taekwondo. The style utilizes both hard and soft techniques due to Chew's background with both, its katas have been heavily influenced by Shotokan and practitioners also use weapons such as the Bo staff and various swords.
• Shudokan: also known as Toyama-Ryu or Okinawa Seitō Karate (Okinawa Orthodox Karate) by the Japanese, it is a lesser known school founded by Kanken Toyama, who combined his Okinawan martial arts training he learned under Ankō Itosu and other masters like Kanryo Higaonna and Ankichi Aragaki, with kung fu he learned when he lived in Taiwan. It is said to include large circular motions with an emphasis on covering and its own unique kata, and also served as the general headquarters of the original version of the Japan Karate Federation. After Toyama's death, it also incorporated elements from Kobudo (referring to the specialized weapons practice of traditional Okinawan karate). As Toyama did not view his school as a distinct style of karate but merely a place for training, he did not appoint an official successor and this fragmented his school after his death in 1966. Today the most well known students who carry on Toyama's teachings are; Toshi Hanaue who maintains the original Shudokan dojo, the Doshinkan school founded by Isao Ichikawa and Toyama's son, Ha Toyama. It is also the school that led to the formation of the Kanbukan, the organization that led to the creation of modern Bōgutsuki Karate (Karate with Armour) and possibly influenced the developed of all the modern protective equipment used in combat sports (except boxing gloves and headgear of course). Not to be confused with a school of Aikido with the same name.
• Renbukai-Ryu: an unofficial name of the style used by dojos directly affiliated with the All Japan Karatedo Federation Renbukai for convenience. Renbukai is an organization that has inherited the non-school doctrine of Kanken Toyama's Shudokan, meaning that any school and style of karate is welcome to learn and participate in their events and is a direct successor of the Kanbukan mentioned above. As such its kumite matches are Bōgutsuki Karate (and are the oldest still existing ones) and even has its own kata in their curriculum.
• Keishinkan or Keishinkai: a style founded by Masanao Takazawa, a student of Kanken Toyama who also trained in Iaido, Judo, kung fu as well as being a chiropractor and a physical therapist. Basically another offshoot of Shudokan, its most of its practitioners can be found in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia.
• Ashihara: founded and named after its founder; Hideyuki Ashihara in 1980 after being expelled from Kyokushin. His style differs from Kyokushin by his emphasis of Sabaki, a concept of controlled movement and positioning that involves using footwork and techniques to either turn an opponent's attack against them by way of their own power and momentum or to avoid being punched or kicked while repositioning oneself to the opponent's "blind" spot to launch counterattacks. While full contact sparring is used in training and gradings, the style is aimed to prepare for real life street encounters, either by single or multiple attackers.
• Enshin: a direct offshoot of Ashihara, it was founded by Joko Ninomiya who wanted to take Ashihara's methods and combine it with Ninomiya's judo background as well as strategies and other ideas of his own into full contact competition. It is known for its tournaments called the Sabaki Challenge, full-contact single elimination tournaments that are basically Kyokushin bouts with the addition of throws, sweeps, takedowns and one-handed grabs.
• Seidokaikan: one of the most famous offshoots of Kyokushin, though technically its more of a direct offshoot of Ashihara since its founder Kazuyoshi Ishii had left with Ashihara at the same time and stuck with him until he decided to form his own style. Established in 1981 and focusing on the sport aspect of full contact karate that Ashihara didn’t appeal to, it made a name for itself by sending their fighters to other martial art tournaments, particular his former art of Kyokushin while also holding tournaments that invited fighters from other organizations to compete under their full contact rules. In 1988, at their 7th All-Japan Knockdown Open tournament, new rules were used for the first time allowing face strikes wearing boxing gloves for extension rounds, basically making them compete in kickboxing, which eventually led to the creation of the K-1 organization in 1993 to provide a platform exclusively for kickboxing. Afterwards it returned to traditional full contact karate roots once K-1 took off in popularity. In 2017, it surprisingly joined the Japan Karate Federation and in 2019 presented a new ruleset that mixes JKF sport karate with full contact karate called "Karate Plus" (formerly "Fullcon Plus"). Not to be confused with Seido or Seido-Juku below.
• Shidokan: as mentioned above, this is a popular school of competition karate founded by Kyokushin karateka Yoshiji Soeno, who branched off wanting more open rules. It emphasizes the sport aspect of the contest, hosting matches in a ring and using gloves, it is known as the "Triathlon of Martial Arts" as their main tournaments are contested under "Samurai Rules" or "Triathlon Rules", six (nine in tournament finals) 2 minute rounds, with three rulesets that are used for 2 (3 in tournament finals) rounds each. The first and most unique ruleset is known as "Strong Rules", which is basically Kyokushin rules except it uniquely allows three seconds of stand-up grappling for clinching, throws or takedowns (and the gi can be grabbed) and also allows ten seconds of ground-based grappling for submissions attempts, making it a form of bare knuckle MMA. The second is known as "Shido-boxing Rules", which is basically Japanese/Oriental/K-1 Kickboxing rules where they strip off their gi tops and put on boxing gloves. The third is known as "Grappling/Submission Rules", which is basically MMA rules where they replace the boxing gloves for MMA ones. It has somewhat of a reputation to be the type of karate preferred by Yakuza, although those ties actually trace back to Kyokushin itself.
• Sato-Juku: also known as Odo ("The Champion's Way") Karate, though its official full name is Ōdō-ryū Karatedo Satō Juku, it was founded by Kyokushin karateka Katsuaki Satō, a former judoka who switched to Kyokushin after doctors advised him to give up judo due to injuries to his knees and shoulders. It is known as a similar style to Kyokushin as it is bare handed and full contact, but emphasizes precise knockdown techniques over techniques designed to injure or "knock-out" one's opponent and its competition rules uses a point system similar to those found in traditional sport karate and discourages low kicks, with the ruleset being known as "Point & KO Rules", which Sato eventually made a separate organization for to allow other styles and schools to experience.
• Kyokushin Budokai: another Kyokushin offshoot, this time founded by Dutch pioneer Jon Bluming. With the sub-heading of All-Round Fighting to avoid confusion with another organisation that uses the same name, it is said to be closer to the style Mas Oyama originally taught before he had to change it for “safety reasons”. It is a full contact bare knuckle karate style that also allows grappling, groundfighting, and submissions due to Bluming's training in Judo, but also allows palm strikes to the head and face unlike Kyokushin, which is kind of Hilarious in Hindsight as Bluming and his students later became involved in the shoot style wrestling movement that also featured this as part of their ruleset by sheer coincidence.
• World Oyama: a minor offshoot of Kyokushin founded by brothers Shigeru and Yasuhiko Oyama, both students and close family friends with Mas Oyama as Mas took their surname as his own when he renamed himself. Formerly known as USA Oyama, the brothers were both originally sent to New York and Birmingham, Alabama to spread Kyokushin, but formed eventually decided to form their own organisation in 1985 while still having amiable relation with Mas after leaving. The differences between the styles are minor as it is mainly just a few changes to their katas, though they also have an addition competition ruleset they refer to as "Semi-Knockdown" (sometimes confusingly called "Semi-Contact"), which is basically normal Kyokushin rules, just with protective equipment.
• Shin Kakutojutsu: another offshoot of Kyokushin developed by Kenji Kurosaki in the late 1970s. It was originally a kickboxing organization, first as the Japan Martial Arts Federation then the Shin Kakutojutsu Federation as he saw All Japan Kickboxing Association and Japan Kickboxing Association as old-fashioned and too passive in taking measures against the declining popularity of kickboxing at the time whose rules were basically Muay Thai with a 2 minute time limit instead of the regular 3 minutes as Kurosaki believed it was closer to the reality of fighting in the streets, though it didn’t last long. Kurosaki eventually revised it into a his own school of karate with its competitions being a gloved karate ruleset, though it allows limited clinching and throws.
• Seido or Seido-Juku: another offshoot of Kyokushin founded by Tadashi Nakamura, another student of Oyama sent to the US to spread the style. After leaving Kyokushin due to differences in philosophy^note , he created his own style to reflex this philosophy in karate, but unlike most other offshoots on Kyokushin, his style focused more general development of health, self-confidence, moral character and well being, rather than knocking out opponents. The style's competitions used to be based on gloved karate rules (basically Kyokushin rules with boxing gloves and face punching), but they eventually moved away from that and their kumite today is more like semi-contact though it still allows full contact strikes to the body and low kicks, which they refer to as "Contact Kumite" and students also train and compete in point karate rules.
• Shinbudokan: another offshoot of Kyokushin founded by Australian practitioner Jason Hoad. With the sub-heading of Modern Budo, it also takes techniques from catch wrestling, BJJ, Muay Thai, and sambo. It is associated with Hoad's amateur MMA promotion the Beast Amateur Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA) under "Samurai Rules" which is basically an amateur MMA ruleset.
• Daido-Juku: founded by another Kyokushin karateka seeking freedom, Takashi Azuma in 1981. This school transitioned from a style of karate to its own martial art, referred to as Kudo (previously had several names - Kakuto Karate, Hokutoki Karate, Karate-do Daido-Juku, and Combat Karate Daido-Juku, among others). Known by its futuristic-looking protective helmets and its custom fist protectors that resemble thin MMA gloves, it can be described as the Japanese answer to combat sambo, allowing for submissions (though only on the ground and can only be attempted twice per round, with groundfighting being only allowed for 30 seconds in each round), ground and pound (controlled strikes aka non contact only), elbows and even headbutts and groin shots. ^note 
• Seikukai: a full contact style that evolved from Koshiki Karate. Founded by Shingo Ikarii in 1977, the style's competition rules (first used in 1979) are basically Daido Juku without submissions and groundfighting as they also wear the same helmets and gloves, which is why the style is referred to as "Nishi no Kakuto Karate" ("Fighting Karate from the West"). Funnily enough the school is closely associated with Daido Juku, regularly sending students to their competitions, teaches the style alongside their own and is a member of the International Kudo Federation.
• Zendokai: an offshoot of Daido-juku founded by Takashi Ozawa (not to be confused with the Zen Do Kai system founded by Bob Jones). Its main ruleset is both more free and more restricted at the same time compared to Kudo as it has longer rounds at 5 minutes compared to Kudo's 3 minute rounds, allows for a slightly longer time for groundfighting at 1 minute and 30 seconds, standing submissions and full contact ground and pound, but bans headbutts to the head as well as elbows to the head and groin shots, with fighters using amateur MMA headgear and MMA gloves instead of the Super Safe helmet and fist protectors used in Kudo, though it now has a ruleset for beginners at high school age and that are over 35 years old or for those that only started training in martial arts over 30 years old that make use of the old Kudo equipment with a time limit on groundfighting that is similar to Kudo, while another ruleset resembles Seikukai rules down to allowing headbutts and elbows to the head except that is also scores pins. Due to the success of some fighters who represented the style in MMA competition, it has also been known as Real Fight Karate (which is also the name of their tournaments) or Vale Tudo Karate.
• Wajūtsu Keishukai: another offshoot of Daido-juku founded by Yoshinori Nishi, a judoka who trained under Masahiko Kimura before learning Kyokushin under Takashi Azuma and joining Daido Juku and became one of the early champions of the style. Originally named Karate Kakutojutsu Keishukai, it was at first just a way for Nishi to have the freedom to compete in other combat sports other then Kudo, but he later decided he wanted to develop a new style of jiu-jitsu and it was his loss to Rickson Gracie at the Vale Tudo Japan 1994 event where he decided to expand his style with techniques from kickboxing, BJJ and even shoot wrestling. It eventually transitioned to teaching modern MMA and expanded into a multi-gym network starting 1996 through the efforts of Toyoki Kubo and Ryūsuke Moriyama, and is probably the largest chain of MMA gyms in Japan today. It is also the style associated with the famous Tournament of J events (better known as the Lumax Cup to English-speaking fans)^note , the Japan Extreme Challenge Vale Tudo Open (known to the Japanese as simply Extreme Challenge and was the school's answer to Shooto's Vale Tudo Japan events, not to be confused with Monte Cox's Extreme Challenge events) and the Greatest Common Multiple (GCM) Communication company (now known as the Wajutsu Keishukai Players' Association) that promotes MMA, submission grappling and kickboxing events^note 
• Yoseikan: also known as Yoseikan-Ryu, it is an offshoot of shotokan developed by Minoru Mochizuki. Mochizuki trained directly under Gichin Funakoshi and is one of the arts that is formally organised into his Yoseikan Budo system, though a small number of schools through the world still focus on the traditional Karate aspect of Yoseikan.
• Nippon Kempo or Nihon Kempo: another karate style later turned into its own martial art, it was founded by Muneomi Sawayama (real name Katsu Sawayama), a judoka who also learned under both Mabuni and Miyagi, who wished to create a sort of modernization of ancient Japanese battlefield jujutsu. It was originally called Dainippon Kempo, but it was changed because there was already an organization with a similar name^note  and also referred to as Nikken for short. Appropriately, it trains in protective gear and features some throws and groundwork, and was adopted as the predominant hand-to-hand style of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.
• Jieitai Kakutō Jutsu: translated as Self-Defense Forces Martial Arts, is a military self-defence and fighting system developed for the Japanese Self-Defense Forces mostly based on Nippon Kempo as stated above through the teachings of Ryonosuke Mori, while also combining it with Kenji Tomiki instruction in his school of Aikido, as well as other techniques from judo, Sumo Wrestling, jukendo, and kobudo.
• Nippon Kempo Karatedo: Not be confused with the other style above, this school was created by Tatsuo Yamada, a student of Motobu Chōki and one of the fathers of Japanese kickboxing. He was the first to combine traditional karate with boxing training, with his kumite training involving boxing equipment like sandbags, boxing gloves and the boxing ring, and even had amateur boxers as guest instructors. He also organized the first full-contact karate matches with boxing gloves (without other protective gear) under the Working Title of “Karate-Boxing” in 1959 and held the first competition in 1962. He later became interested in Muay Thai and started learning the art, during which he established a connection with Osamu Noguchi, a promoter of boxing who was also interested in Muay Thai. It was from this relationship that Japanese kickboxing would be born. This school of karate technically doesn’t exist anymore as Yamada would change his dojo’s name to “Suginami Gym“ and exclusively teach kickboxing before his death in 1967. The gym today continues to produce kickboxers to this day.
• Byakuren: a full contact karate style founded by Shorinji Kempo practitioner Masayasu Sugihara. While Sugihara did train in judo and a traditional style of karate in his youth, he eventually became a bodyguard and close student of the founder of Shorinji Kenpo; Dōshin Sō. However, Sugihara was eager to test his skills in real competition, but since his master forbid his followers to take part in full contact competitions, he entered the All Japan Karate Championships organized by Seidokaikan in 1983 using the name Byakuren Kaikan as a pseudonym for his school. He ended up in third place, but the truth was soon to be discovered and to avoid further trouble with his school, he decided in 1984 to break away establish his own style and used his previously made up name for it. While the style's competitions are based on Kyokushin's rules, in training the style also teaches throws, pins, and submission techniques and kata is said to be more limited compared to other styles.
• F.S.A. Kenshinkan: a school founded by another former Shorinji Kempo practitioner in Takeyuki Hayama. The FSA is an acronym for Full-Contact Submission Arts, as such the style is more of a MMA-oriented karate style. In addition to hosting competitions that include Kyokushin rules, Glove karate rules (that was referred to "Musashi GLV"), amateur MMA rules (that was refered to as "Musashi MMA" when though the rules were from Zendokai), Bōgutsuki/Koshiki karate rules (referred to as "Chaos Safety Rules" and later "Chaos Max Rules"), it also once had a unique ruleset called "Absolute" which allowed bare knuckle punching to the face, standing submissions, throws, headbutts, even groin shots and strikes to the eyes while only wearing face masks that protect the eyes. It is also best known for being the style associated with the defunct Chaos Madmax promotion, whose rules were basically the Japanese answer to Lethwei, just with standing submissions.
• Rishin-Juku: a school founded by Yoshiharu Murai, a competitive full contact karateka and street fighter who trained in Kyokushin and Shidokan. It is known as the style associated with the PRO-KARATEDO Federation, which features a ruleset called "Tatsujin Rules" that is sort of a mix of the F.S.A. Kenshinkan's Chaos Madmax and Absolute rules above, as it that allows all striking everywhere except to the eyes (and yes the groin is a legal target), but also allows ground and pound, though soccer kicks, open hand and palm strikes are banned and submissions can only be done standing (though they can be finished on the ground if done in 5 seconds). It also has another similar ruleset called "PRO-KARATEDO rules" that makes fighters wear MMA gloves and is the Japanese answer to old school vale tudo, though it bans soccer kicks, open hand and palm strikes, grabbing the hair, biting, groin shots, and strikes to the back of the head. It later created another ruleset that is the Japanese answer Karate Combat called "Tatsujin Neo", just with the allowance of elbows, is much more lenient on strikes in the clinch and is fought in a ring instead of the pit.
• Mumonkai: founded by Yoshimoto Togashi, who studied Kyokushin, traditional karate sparring, and bōgutsuki karate to create his own style. His style's competitions are unique as fighters can wear protective equipment such as super safe helmets, MMA gloves and shin and foot guards or none of them at all at their own risk and forgoes chest protectors altogether. Allowed techniques include almost all striking techniques (even bare knuckle punches to the face, elbows, knees, forearm strikes and even allows strikes to the groin) and throws. It is a form of full contact point fighting (though it would be more accurate to consider it full contact karate with quick draw rules that happens to score points like traditional sparring), meaning clean hits will score points as well as stop and reset the bout (though it does allow fighters to chain strikes) within the time limit, but unlike normal point fighting, strikes are thrown at full power and knockouts are a legit way to win the bout, all the while fighters must start in and reset into a fixed distance from each other before attacking.
• Shinbukan: another full contact style that doesn't trace its lineage to Kyokushin or even Shorinji Kempo, rather it comes from Shudokan of all things and was also known under names like Total Fight From Kyushu, Freefight From Kyushu, or Kyushu Kakuto Karate among others. Founded by Hiroshi Honkawa in the city of Fukuoka on Kyūshū island in 1976, he was inspired by the bare knuckle full contact nature of Kyokushin's kumite and created his school to be able to compete under Kyokushin's rules without official joining Kyokushin. In 1986 he started an annual tournament called the "All Japan Martial Arts Championship" (or "All Japan Combative Sports Tournament" as Quest Inc. displayed in English on their videos of several tournaments), which was at first basically an "open" full contact karate event, until the third one in 1988 where he changed the rules by allowing palm strikes to the head as well as throwing, submission grappling (though disallowing "air" chokes, neck cranks, and heel hooks) and even knees to the head when on the ground (also palm strikes to the head and body punches), and elbows strikes are allowed once the tournament reaches the semi-finals, all without protective equipment. Matches are only 3 minutes long (unless it was a draw, in which an additional 3 minutes are used) and can be won by knockout, though like traditional knockdown karate rules fighters had only till the count of 5 to get back up instead of the 10 used in kickboxing, also uniquely fighters can score 2 "Yūkō" ("Valid") to win; one Yūkō is earned by knocking down the opponent for less than the 5 count, throw the opponent on their back twice (meaning fighters can win by throwing the opponent on their back four times), or submitting the opponent (yes fighters can potentially submit the same opponent twice within 3 minutes) with groundfighting having a time limit of 25 seconds (and can only be done twice in a round), or they can win by having one Yūkō over the opponent when the time runs out. In 2003, MMA gloves were adopted and allowed punches to the head both standing and on the ground, which were worn until the semi-finals, where bare knuckle punches to the head were allowed. In 2009, the tournament's name changed to the "All Kyushu Kakuto Karate Championship" and has banned submissions, but on the other hand, it now allows headbutts with fighters wear Super Safe helmets, MMA gloves, and shin guards.
• Kendokai: not to be confused with Kendo as it has different kanji and roughly translates as "fist way", it was founded by Hideo Nakamura (born Kang Chang-Soo, as he is Korean) officially in 1983 as he had other dojos before it named Shutokukan and Yamanashi, it follows the Shudokan motto of "there is no school in karate", it is known for using a makiwara with a sandbag in place instead of the usual pad as part of their training and its competitions (at the highest levels) are bare knuckle full contact like Kyokushin, but operates like point kumite with stipulation that strikes to the face should be either semi-contact or no-contact and also allows momentary grappling, clinching, and throwing techniques are also permitted.
• Koi no Takinobori Ryu: a full contact style developed in Russia by Andrey Kochergin, a military hand-to-hand instructor who also trained in traditional karate, judo, Muay Thai, and Wing Chun. Its competition rules are a form of kakuto karate, just without head protection as well as being and barefooted and with MMA gloves, though fighters can go bare knuckle if they wish, and groundfighting can take place only thrice not longer than 20 seconds each time, but during the extension rounds it is unlimited, as well as while a submission is being used (though it depends on the referee). It also places emphasis on knife-fighting for self-defense training.
• Kansui-Ryu: founded by pro wrestling legend Antonio Inoki and karateka Yukio Mizutani, with the style's name being a combination of their names^note . The story of its creation supposedly came about when Mizutani challenged Inoki to a "Fight to the Death" duel, which Inoki accepted and the media hyped up the match as "Shōwa no Ganryūjima" (a reference to the famous duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō). The match however had to be called off apparently due to nobody willing to sponsor an actual death match for television and Inoki's manager Hisashi Shinma being worried about Mizutani's skills after watching him practice^note . Despite this, Inoki and Mizutani kept in contact with each other and eventually developed a friendship, with the style being the result of it. The style itself is sort of a combination of Shotokan from Inoki (he grew up learning it with his brother Hiroyasu) and Okinawan martial arts like karate and kobudo from Mizutani, as such it contains kata and weapons training and even has competitions for them, but the main competition ruleset is Point & KO rules (both with and without protective equipment). The style never really spread outside Japan, though there is at least one official school in Australia.
• Gensei-Ryu: founded by Seiken Shukumine, who combined classic Shuri-te techniques with his own innovations that were inspired from his time as a kaiten pilot during WWII, thus developing the special characteristics of unique to the style with a philosophy that says "to do something unanticipated or unexpected is the secret to victory", which basically makes this style real Confusion Fu. However, Shukimine would eventually come to see what he saw were the shortcomings of this system and served as foundation to Shukimine's much more well-known style, Taido. The style still exists today as a few students of his rejected Taido and thus continued teaching the style without his input.
• Taido: as stated above, it's another karate style that later turned into its own martial art. Convinced that the limitations of karate were due to its linear mode of training, Shukumine introduced spinning and twisting movements, gymnastic maneuvers, speedy and effective footwork, and changing body angles for both attack and defense in order to create a martial art that he believed would equip his students to function at a high level in society. When fighting Taidokas are supposed to be the constant movement, in order to maintain distance and gain a feasible offensive positions, which at times can look very similar to Capoeira of all things. Competition bouts are semi-contact, with the head not being a legal target to strike at and there are no weight classes because a taidoka must be able to fight against all and any kinds of opponents. Not to be confused with a style of Aikido also named Taido.
• Aikikempo: a confusingly named form of karate that incorporates techniques from Shito-ryu, Goju-ryu, aikido, judo, and jujitsu (no actual kempo influence). Created by Keiichiro Hashida and Susumu Fukuda, it places great importance on direct contact, and their kumite matches are a form of Bōgutsuki Karate that allows strikes and throws. It also places emphasis on sword techniques as Hashida was once the head of an Aiki Ken Do club.
• Shobu-Ryu: founded by Emerson Bernardo Martins, a Shorin-Ryu black belt in collaboration of taekwondo black belt Eromilson de Mello Pereira, though they also researched and incorporated techniques from Judo, Capoeira and Kung Fu. It is an exclusively Brazilian style of karate as its schools can only be found in Brazil.
• Taekwondo: See its page for more.
• Zen Do Kai: a system developed in Australia by Robert "Bob" Jones based off his Goju-ryu training before adding in techniques from other arts like Muay Thai, Aikido, Ju Jitsu, Boxing, etc. Also known as Bob Jones Karate and also has the sub-heading of Martial Arts Freestyle to avoid confusion with Zendokai above. It claims to practice modern self defence principles with traditional values, which include traditional kata training. The system is taught by clubs are under the Bob Jones Martial Arts brand of the Bob Jones Corporation.
• Uru-Can: an obscure martial art developed by Paulo César da Silva Lopes in the 1970s for the Paratroopers Armed Forces of Brazil. Originally named Paulo Associação de Lutas Brasileiras, then Karate Brazil before settling on its current name, which is named after two breeds of snakes unique to Brazil, the Urutu and the Caninana. It blends karate, taekwondo, kung fu, judo and jiu-jitsu techniques to create a reality based self-defense system originally for the Brazilian military, but it didn't catch on, so Lopes took it out of the military and into the public, though it also didn't really catch on with reportedly only several hundred practitioners as of this writing.
• Algaput: a martial art developed in Azerbaijan by Vasif İmran oğlu Namazov that is said to be based on traditional Turkic Martial Arts and the founder even calls it a “Turan martial art”, though it is also very obviously based extensively on his own training in Kyokushin, Ashihara and Enshin karate, as well as judo, sambo and MMA. Fighters wear modified gis called "chapans" and white gi pants with Algaput logos. The art has five competition systems, with each match lasting 3 minutes, though tournament finals bouts contain two rounds of 3 mintues, it should also be noted that those that include striking all ban punches and elbows to the head and face just like Kyokushin, despite fighters wearing headgear, shin guards, and gloves for those; 1) Ayça (also Aycha or Aypara) - striking with throws, sweeps and trips with fighters wearing MMA gloves, though it disallows clinching and grabbing the legs with two hands, 2) Batur - MMA rules with a 20 second limit for groundwork and the aforementioned ban on head punches and elbows. 3) Caymaz - more like kickboxing as it is done with boxing gloves and also allows ankle trips (without grips), again with the aforementioned ban on head punches and elbows. 4) Gurshag or Gurash - submission grappling with 20 seconds for groundwork and starting positions feature the left hand on the opponent’s belt and the right hand raised up. 5) Kachut - this contains several things; demontrations of yörtem (unarmed and armed forms), archery, rope, self defence against one and against groups, and also competitive one-on-one simulated weapon fights featuring yatagan (stick), shamshir (sword) and akınak (knife).
• Horting: a martial art developed in Ukraine by Eduard Eremenko based on Cossack fighting traditions, though he also drew from his background as a Master of Sport in Kyokushin as well as influences from kickboxing, judo, sambo and MMA. Practitioners wear jackets called "hortovka" with matching long pants and belt. Competition rules have forms, self defense demonstrations, saber fencing, grappling (with and without the jacket), and two MMA rulesets; the first have fighters wear boxing gloves but everything in MMA is allowed and the other consists of 2 rounds, the first round has fighters wear MMA gloves and is basically normal MMA, if it goes to the second round however The Gloves Come Off and fighters fight bare knuckle with strikes to the head banned. Oddly with the MMA rulesets, adults fight without the uniform and fight in a tight shirt and shorts while young adults and younger fight with the uniform on (and headgear).
• Modern Pankration or Pankration Athlima: a modern recreation of the ancient Greek combat sport of Pankration. Created by Greek karatekas Savvidis E. A. Lazaros, Panagiotis Koutroumpas, and Polinikis Trigazis (as well as their teacher Simos Zahopoulos to a lesser extent as he developed Pyx-Lax, see Kickboxing for more)^note , who mixed it with other techniques from judo, freestyle wrestling, boxing, etc. It has a uniform that resembles a Japanese gi with a Greek aesthetic called an "endyma", which consists of loose trousers called a "periskelis" and a jacket called a "chitonion", though some schools simply use blue or white shorts and rashguards, though competitions also require shin guards, headgear and MMA gloves. It has two rulesets: 1) "Elite" which is less restrictive and allows punches and kicks to the body and head and is basically amateur MMA and 2) "Traditional" which is more restrictive, as it disallows punches or kicks to the head, although "controlled round house kicks to the head" are allowed, which is basically kyokushin rules with groundfighting (also the gloves used are 4oz compared to Elite's 6 oz ones). Not to be confused with Neo-Pankration (or Mu Tau Pankration), a separate modern recreation of Pankration by Jim Arvanitis that predates the other style, which focuses more on self-defense than sport (though he once also referred to it as modern Greek karate).
• Barokai: a Dutch full-contact proto-mixed martial art mostly based on karate with techniques from judo, wrestling, boxing and kickboxing added in, which was formed just before the "Freefight Era of Dutch MMA" began. Created by Toon Stelling, Bas van Hout and Rob Houweling, it never really caught on as it empathizes technique and lacked the raw violence that would define MMA, though it still exists in the Netherlands in a few places.