Strongest Karate [DVD]

DVD cover synopsis: A documentary showing the hard-training and high-kicking karate action of a number of expert practitioners, including Bruce Lee and Willie Williams. The action includes challenging a wild bear and fly-jumping through a flaming ring. What this DVD actually contains!!

This is a documentary on the firstworld open karate championship 1974. Although it was primarily a competition for the Kyokushin style of Karate, a few practitioners of other arts and Karate styles were invited. We get to follow a few Kyokushin Karate practitionersfrom the US with hopes of winning the competition.

Bruce Lee does not appear inthis movie, he is not even mentioned in it, and our guess is someone added his name to the description on the DVD sleeve because he was well at the time ofits release. They also added a lot of other hyperbole on the cover that had no connection to the movie such as fighting a Bear and jumping though rings of fire! What does appear is a lot of interesting competition fighting.

The competition format is known as the knockdown karate rule system (Kumite) that is used in many styles (involving full contact bareknuckles, no punching to the face but kicking the head is allowed, win by knockout or repeated knockdown), this was the first time it was ever tried. A great vintage title for all people interested in Kyokushin karate history, or people who want to see a full contact bare knuckle competition from the early pioneers.