The International Combat Karate Organization Seiwakai was founded in 1997 by Ademir da Costa, after more than 20 years of full dedication to Kyokushin Karate, in which he established himself as one of the greatest fighters in history, and almost 10 years as coach of the Brazilian national Karate team, developing names of great international stature in the 1990s.
Ademir da Costa
Ademir Sidney Ferreira da Costa, Brazilian, born in the city of São Paulo, began training in 1974.
At the age of 16, as a 62 kg green belt, he began his competitive career in Kyokushin Oyama full-contact fighting.
At the time, his fights against bigger, higher-ranked and more experienced opponents became famous, and Ademir da Costa was promoted to brown belt by Masutatsu Oyama, founder of Kyokushin, due to his remarkable performance when he became Brazilian runner-up at just 16 years old
From then on, his career as an athlete began to take shape, earning more and more titles in competitions.
Titles
• 1979: Brazilian champion
• 1980: Two-time Brazilian champion
• 1981: South American champion.
• 1982: 6th place at the 14th Japanese Championship, an event in which he defeated the reigning Japanese champion and reigning world champion, Makoto Nakamura, who for the first and only time suffered a defeat to a foreigner. Recognizing the talent of this promising athlete, Mas Oyama presented him with the “Best Technique” and “Best Fighting Spirit” trophies of the Japanese Championship.
• 1983: Three-time Brazilian champion and two-time South American champion
• 1984: Japanese-Brazilian champion, and 4th place at the 3rd World Championship in Tokyo-Japan
• 1985: Four-time Brazilian champion and three-time South American champion
• 1987: A year that deserves to be highlighted, if anything in such a brilliant career can be singled out.
It was in this year that Ademir da Costa faced the greatest challenge of his career: winning the World Championship title, which would take place at the end of the year.
To that end, Ademir once again competed in the Brazilian championship, becoming five-time champion, competed in the South American championship, becoming four-time champion, and as he was one of the favorites for the World Championship title, Sosai Masutatsu Oyama invited him to take the ultimate test of Karate, the 100-fight test (Hyakunin Kumite). Ademir da Costa was the first Brazilian to take the 100-fight test.
At the end of the year, Ademir took part in the 4th World Championship in Tokyo-Japan, an event considered by many to be the greatest in history, with names such as Kenji Yamaki, Kenji Midori, Shokei Matsui, Akira Masuda, Yasuhiro Shichinohe, Hiroki Kurosawa, Andy Hug, Michel Wedel, Nicholas da Costa, Michael Thompson, Gerard Gordeau, Peter "The Hurricane" Smit and Ademir da Costa in attendance.
After victories over Kenji Yamaki and Michel Wedel, Ademir da Costa finished in 5th place at the event, marking his name in the history of world Karate in one of the most thrilling fights against the then European champion Michel Wedel. We will see the details of these bouts in an upcoming post.
After this event, Ademir da Costa retired as a fighter, but not from competition: it was time to put someone in his place to represent Brazil abroad. Ademir devoted about 10 years to developing new talents and future champions, taking on the technical directorship of Kyokushin Brasil from 1988 to 1996, passing on all his experience to the young talents who were yet to come.
In 1997, Ademir da Costa decided to follow his own path, creating his own organization and naming it SEIWAKAI, which means the balance between strength and the spiritual union of the family.
His personal life and his career in the martial art always had to go hand in hand, which led him to set aside his own comfort to devote himself entirely to the martial art, with its ethical and moral principles.
Kancho Ademir rigorously follows all the principles of Budo Karate, and it can be said that Seiwakai is a school of Karate that is traditional in its principles, and entirely opposed to the indiscriminate commercialism that Karate has turned into in recent decades.
In addition, Kancho gave Seiwakai his mindset, his way of life, his philosophy, as well as adjusting rules to make fights more aggressive and more effective for self-defense.
Throughout these more than 20 years of existence, Seiwakai has been playing its role in the international Karate community.
Kancho Ademir da Costa has been promoting national and international events, as well as taking part in seminars abroad.
In 2019, Kancho Ademir da Costa received the Sports Oscar award in the city of Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan-Russia.
The award ceremony took place at the Tatneft Arena, at the Tatneft cup event, where the actor Don The Dragon Wilson, the undisputed world boxing champion Konstantin Tszu, and the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Mr Rustam Minnehanov were also honored.
In 2020, he appeared on the cover of Japan's largest Karate magazine, Karate Magazine, with the title "THE STAR OF SOUTH AMERICA"; our Master shows that he is recognized in Japan not only for his achievements but for upholding the principles of Karate, such a valuable martial art.
Throughout these more than 45 years of total dedication to Karate, Kancho Ademir da Costa has sought to pass on to his disciples all the grit, the determination, the fighting spirit, and above all, the preservation of values such as honor, loyalty, courage and justice, making practitioners better people, because, in his own words, training is worth nothing if we cannot apply it in life, and that goes far beyond fighting: persisting, facing life's difficulties, being resilient, not letting yourself be beaten down, fighting to the end, and this is applying Karate in life.
Seiwakai can be summed up as: "a Karate with the soul of Kancho Ademir da Costa."