About

Kyokushin Berlin has trained at its current dojo since 2025, led by Senpai James and Senpai Miguel. We are a Kenbukai-affiliated Kyokushin karate dojo in Berlin — beginners and experienced karateka from every style are welcome.

We are a genuinely international dojo: we teach in English and German, and can also help out in Spanish and Italian. Just visiting Berlin? You're welcome to drop by and train with us. Everyone is welcome — karate is for everyone.

Kyokushin — "the ultimate truth"

Kyokushin was founded by Masutatsu "Mas" Oyama (1923–1994), widely regarded as the father of full-contact karate. Born in Korea in 1923, Oyama trained from a young age and, after moving to Japan, immersed himself in Goju Ryu and Shotokan before forging his own path. He famously retreated to the mountains for long periods of solitary training, hardening both body and spirit.

In 1964 he established the International Karate Organization (IKO), Kyokushinkaikan, giving his style the name Kyokushin — "the ultimate truth." What set it apart was its uncompromising realism: full-contact sparring without protective gear, rigorous physical conditioning, and the trademark tameshiwari (breaking of boards, tiles and bricks) as a test of technique. Oyama held that karate untested in real contact was like "a fruit tree that bears no fruit."

From its Tokyo headquarters, Kyokushin grew into one of the largest martial arts organisations in the world, with branches across more than a hundred countries. After Oyama's death in 1994, the movement divided into several independent organisations, each carrying his teaching forward in its own way.

Kenbukai — bringing the hard and the soft together

The Kyokushin Budo Karate Organization Kyokushin Kenbukai was founded by Tsuyoshi Hiroshige, a senior figure within the post-Oyama Kyokushin world. Like many leading instructors, Hiroshige's path ran through the organisational changes that followed Oyama's passing: he stepped away from Shokei Matsui's IKO and helped build Kyokushin-kan under Hatsuo Royama, before later establishing Kenbukai in 2017 to pursue his own vision of the art.

That vision is what distinguishes Kenbukai today. Alongside Kyokushin's hallmark strength and full-contact spirit, Kenbukai deliberately cultivates both hard and soft techniques and a broad range of kata. The result is a Kyokushin that honours Oyama's power and realism while keeping the technical depth and adaptability of traditional karate alive.

Kenbukai in Berlin

Our dojo trains within the Kenbukai tradition here in Berlin. We practise Kyokushin as Oyama intended — with discipline, conditioning and honest contact — while drawing on Kenbukai's wider repertoire of hard and soft technique and kata. Whether you come to Kyokushin new or from another style, you will find a home for both the fighting spirit and the craft of karate.

Learn more about the Kenbukai headquarters.