Ukrainian Sensei Stanislav Blyzniuk Can Easily Beat Thirty Japanese 

And in this school several hundred students representing 8 different age and skill groups, dressed in snow-white kimonos, or, to be more accurate, in dogas (kimonos), and reflected in big wall mirrors, are starting their martial dance to a sensei's (teacher's) characteristically abrupt commands setting the right tempo for performing a kata (exercise).

"Isn't all this too lofty?" you may argue.  Believe me, it is not if you look closely in the eyes of these sport performers, who gathered in a well-lit honbu (hall) - their Komblis karate club in the Raiduzhny residential area of Kyiv.

Everything Kyiv kiokushionists have today has been painstakingly created by Stanislav Blyzniuk, Honored Coach of Ukraine and the Republican Federation Head.

The Raiduzhny facility has won recognition and high praise from International Kiokushin-karate Organization leader Hatsu Royama, who visited Kyiv.

The natural question that comes to mind is what kind of funds the club exists on.  Of course, the lion share is contributed by the sponsors since club maintenance, trips to tournaments, and outfits for the members require considerable expense.  In addition, every club participant pays a membership fee of forty hryvnias, with which each adult, so to speak, takes care of himself and one of the promising children.  In a word, it is a sport industry in itself.

Stanislav Blyzniuk received a 3rd dan (grade) certificate from the hands of kiokushin-karate founder Masutatsu Oyama after his marathon sparring with thirty young Japanese alternating every minute (back then Blyzniuk was the USSR karate champion and Master of Sports in martial arts and hand-to-hand fighting).  He is not limiting his activity only to Kyiv.  Kiokushin clubs have been a success not only in large industrial cities like Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odesa but also in provincial towns such as Zhovti Vody, Mukacheve, and Mariupol.  Nearly 10.000 athletes nationwide are currently involved in this exotic sport.

Next May, Kyiv will host the 1999 European kiokushin championship, and we will have a chance to see firsthand the best kiokushin athletes along with the Komblis club members, who have already made their first step toward understanding the complex science of spiritual and physical perfection.