100 MAN FIGHT

The ultimate test of Karate: 100 consecutive fights

You who practice fighting, have you ever competed or fought against opponents for 1, 2 or 3 rounds? Anyone who has ventured into this sport knows how hard it is and how much is demanded of the body and mind to endure a fight, where fatigue sets in quickly and injuries are inevitable.

Now, imagine a fight lasting two and a half hours, and, as if that were not enough, against 100 different opponents, replaced every 2 minutes? Impossible, right?

For most, yes, an impossible feat, but not for the Brazilian Ademir da Costa, who in 1987 successfully completed the ultimate test of Contact Karate, the hyakunin Kumite (the 100-fight test).

Rules of the fight

Before talking a little about the fights, it is important to point out that in Contact Karate, fights take place without shin guards, gloves or helmet; however, to preserve the athletes' physical integrity and avoid serious and irreversible trauma, punches to the face are not allowed, only kicks and knee strikes, which, although traumatic, are harder to land.

Wanting to take the test was not enough; you had to be invited

The founder of Kyokushin Karate, Masutatsu Oyama, created a way to put his fighters through a trial that pushed beyond physical and mental limits, and which would be considered the hardest test in the career of a Contact Karate fighter.

But this test was not for just any fighter.... being a champion was not enough to undergo the test; it was not the fighter who decided to take it, he had to be invited, and the invitation was made by none other than Masutatsu Oyama.

The first tests

The first recorded test took place in 1965, with the Briton Steve Arneil, followed by important names such as Shigeru Oyama, Loek Hollander, Howard Collins, Shokei Matsui, among others...

The time has come...

In 1987, Ademir da Costa was invited to take this test, the same year in which he would compete in the 4th World Championship in Tokyo, Japan.

The test took place in the city of São Paulo, supervised by Shihan Seiji Isobe, who was responsible for Kyokushin in South America.

According to Master Ademir da Costa, the fights were going as expected until fight no. 70, when the fights are stopped so the top of the dogi (kimono) can be changed.

Ademir says that during this pause his body cooled down, and the pain began to set in very intensely at that moment, and he still had 30 more fights ahead of him...

It was about two and a half hours of fighting, with a result of 62 ippons in Ademir's favor; he completed the challenge without being knocked out, but after it ended, with his body showing the wounds of battle, he had to stay under medical care in a hospital for 3 days.

This was one of Master Ademir da Costa's historic feats, one among many in his career, full of achievements that made him one of the greatest names in Karate in the world.