Column
The kickboxing landscape splintered. Where the sport's greats used to traditionally gather in December to fight out who was the strongest of the year, these greats fought on smaller stages. Whereas the hardcore kickboxing fan knew where to look for it, it was quite difficult for the general public to follow the sport.
As a practitioner of Kyokushinkai karate for nearly 30 years, I've seen how karate has changed through the decades. Or rather, how it's stayed the same in many ways, while the world around it has changed. In this column I'll do a brief dive into this phenomenon, unearthing a hint of the true spirit of martial arts that unites all practitioners across all martial arts styles.