Grand Master Azuma the founder of Kudo Daido-Juku.

What is Kudo?

Kudo is an all-round martial art method from Japan, founded by Grand Master Azuma who was one of Sosai Mas Oyama's Kyokushin students. Grand Master Azuma saw the vision for a well-rounded martial arts system that included safety, reality and popularity.

In Kudo you will learn strong, solid and basic skills that can work in real self defence situations. Not only will you learn martial arts and self defence, you will also be taught traditional samurai ethics and values like: rectitude, courage, benevolence, politeness, sincerity, honour, loyaty and self control.

By learning Kudo you will develop a strong mind and body, and it places a strong emphasis on the development of a deep ethical value system for all of its students.

We must stress that competion in Kudo is completely optional for students, and the main focus of training is on how to become a strong but balanced person.

Now you can learn Kudo in the UK with Sensei Lee Hasdell who is the first British Kudo black belt in the UK under Master Azuma.

Message from Grand Master and Kudo Founder Takashi Azuma.

One of the purposes of martial arts, especially Budo (Judo, Karate-do, Kendo, Aikido, "Kudo" and so on) is to train the mind and body to become strong and utilize that strength for the improvement of our community.

Also it is a useful method of cultivating the youth who will contribute to the society through the tough times and events in their life.

Nowadays, education for the youth in the world is on the verge of decay. Budo is, we can dare to say, a vital "tool" to discipline them and a guide even in ourselves.

So we have to evade being misunderstood about the value of "Budo" due to bad impression that mere martial arts apt to give people as "violence without philosophy".

"Kudo" means three important philosophical concepts.

1.) Mujou kann = A view of life as something transient and empty.
In other words, anything that has a shape be crushed or changed in its form someday.(Therefore it is no good for us to attached or obsessed by things.)

2.) Sougo izonn = Interdependancy.
All things exist only because they depend on each other.( Therefore one should not be Self-righteousness, or self-conceited.)

3.) Huhenn Hutou = Open mind, impartiality, liberalism.
We can gain all things if we try to do so earnestly, but in order to be free, we should never persist with them, even day by day affaires, separating ourselves from prejudice, bias and so on.

This perspective may be expressed "Open-Mindism" (Grand master Azuma's Original term)

But It never means the way of "Self-centred" , "egoistical" but "Open mind with generous", "humble heart in robust belief" .

The word "do" in Kudo means "a way of life".

So for those who think the word "Kudo" as a motto of our life, all these three concepts have a heavy, a deep meaning with us.

That is to say, if we meet the any kind of difficulties we must face them positively and never evade without challenge against them in order to gain the ultimate, highest truth.

Kudo History

Kudo 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 Honshu, 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.'''

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.

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.

Kudo Competition Equipment: Kudo 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 Hanshi Masayki Hisataka for the Koshiki fighting system practiced by Shorinjiryu karateka 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.

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)