Youth:
Jon Bluming was born on
the 6th of February 1933 in Amsterdam. In may 1940, when he was just
seven years of age he watched the German luftwaffe attack on the
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport at the beginning of the Second World War.
This period made a very deep impression on him and was also the
begin of moulding him what he is today. In the so called hunger
winter (1944) he had to struggle for life and take care of his
mother and grandparent because his father was taken away for slave
labour.
First impressions of
Martial Arts:
After the war, in 1946 the young Jon Bluming started at the famous
boxing school of teacher Cosman and got his first experience with
martial arts and its risks when he got his first broken nose. It was
his first injury but would not be his last.
Army career:
When he was 16 he applied for the Marines and was accepted in July
1949 and went to the boot camp in Doorn. Just one year later, in the
summer of 1950 The Korean War started and he applied as a volunteer
in the van Heutzregiment. When he got wounded for the first time he
was transported to a Japanese hospital in Tokyo. In that country he
for the first time in his life saw Judo when he visited the Kodokan
in March, 1951. When he saw a demonstration by a very small elderly
man with a red belt he knew that this kind of art would change his
life for good. The second time he was wounded was during the assault
on Indie where this time the North Koreans and some Chinese where
encircled. During the fight he was hit by shrapnel of a handgranate
and again spent about 6 weeks in the mash. Around august 1951 they
would return to Holland but they had to wait several weeks for the
troopship to arrive. He spent his first time in a small Korean dojo
and screwed around with a kind of Tae Kwon Do by a sensei called
Park in Yong Dong Po. After some months in Holland he could not find
his way as a civilian and when they asked for volunteers again but
this time as occupation troops he went back to Korea. On board of
the troopship to Korea the war broke out again and even heavier than
before. In aug 1952 he was back at the frontline and names like “Old
Baldy”, “Alligator ridge” and “White Horse” where written down in
the history books. October the 11th 1952 at the real outpost ARSENAL
(75 meters of the Chinese mainline) his buddy and lifelong friend
Hans Crebas volunteered to be scout for the RANGERS who where going
to take the hill next to Arsenal to relieve the pressure a bit. But
when they went up the hill the Chinese went of the hill at the back
and around and than after the Rangers up the hill again and than all
hell broke loose. Bluming who was behind heard the unbelievable
noise and told his LT that he was going down to see what happened to
his friend Hans Crebas. Fully loaded with firepower he went down
into the dark valley which at the end was fully lit up by all the
mortar and artillery and tank fire together with the handgranates
and small arms fire and the screams of the fighting Rangers was real
loud. He found his friend after a while in the melee where he was
helping wounded Rangers. When Bluming finally came back on the
outpost he was wounded again by a mortar which dropped right behind
him in the trench and his flight jacket saved his life and he landed
for the third time in the Mash with shrapnel behind his left knee.
They where both recommended for the Silver Star. But the next day
all they got was a promotion to PFC. Bluming was their when his
group went out at the last day of the war and where ambushed and
nearly all where killed that night. He was not with them this time
for his time was up and he was rotated back to Holland. So his first
platoon lost 8 men killed in action and more than 70% wounded. Back
in Holland he refused to make a career of the Army and went again
into civilian life. Years later their would be justice. During one
of his seminars a Budoka in Seattle read his book about Korea. His
name was Kregg Jorgenson a sergeant of the Vietnam War and besides a
Silver Star more than 9 times decorated for bravery and three times
wounded. He also is the chairman of the decoration committee of the
Rangers. He also thought that Bluming and Crebas got the Silver
Star. When he found out that they where NOT decorated he went after
the facts and finally they where both decorated after all those
years with the FORGOTTEN HERO AWARD.
Martial Arts career:
Back in Holland in November 1953 he found by accident the judo club
Tung Jen which would really change his life. When he brought home
his girlfriend he saw in a little street a poster of the TUNG JEN
judo club in November 1953. His phenomenal gift for Budo came to
light during his amateur judo period when his Sensei Dr. G. Schutte
(then 4th Dan Tokyo Hirano) gave him his first Dan only after 12
months. In 1955 he got his second Dan and in 1956 he was the first
Dutchman who became Kodokan member from Ichiro Abe than 6th Dan in
La Baulle France and he was than captain of the Tung Jen team and
won the European championships in Bellevue, Amsterdam Sept 1956. In
1957 he got his third Dan from Tokyo Hirano at a summer camp in
Holland when he throw 75 judoka from 4e Kyu up to 4th Dan in 26
minutes even when he had broken his big toe of his right foot. Than
he broke also his right knee and went into surgery. In 1957 he was
invited to train a police dojo in Berlin Germany and a private judo
club and did that for several months. The money from that event he
used to get to Canada. His dream always has been to go back to Japan
which in the time right after the second world war almost
impossible. So he went to the Canadian embassy and threw his medals
on the table and asked for a change to go to Canada. His wish was
fulfilled and in January 1958 he arrived in Halifax Canada. He taken
in by an old friend and was introduced the next day to Dalhousy
University. There he started his career as a professional
Budoteacher and for two dollars an hour he gave his lessons. He also
founded the Maritimes Judo Association and became when he left a
life time honorary member. He organized the first Marine Judo
Championships and won himself the title All Categories and
heavyweight with a weight of only 79 kilo at that time. In January
1959 he left Canada for Japan and started with his students who
where truck drivers and drove him all throughout the USA from Maine
to San Francisco. At the big cities he stopped and visited all the
dojos and fought with all he met. Via Hawaii he arrived in Tokyo in
February 1959 and stayed around three years. His third Dan from
Hirano was accepted by Kodokan and he fought right away in the third
Dan competition and NEVER lost a match in all those years in Judo as
well as in Karate. Later in December 1959 he had to leave Japan to
renew his Visa and he went to Korea. He was taken in with all honour
and did his test for 4th Dan. He was matched against the Korean
heavyweight champion Kim (5th Dan) and threw him with a left
osotogari. The next day he was matched against the 2nd Dan champion
of Korea and the 2nd Dan champion students of Korea and the 3rd Dan
champion students of Korea Sup Lee. They all went in seconds. He got
his 4th Dan and his first teacher’s certificate from Asia. It was
the 19th of December 1959. Back in Tokyo he started under the
guidance of the famous Don Dreager again with weight training for
judo and karate and became finally what he always wanted heavyweight
at 102 kilo solid from 79 kilo in Canada and nobody could stop him
anymore because ha also kept his middleweight speed as Dreager
thought him. In May 1960 he defeated the Japanese champion Kaminaga
again with a strangulation which knocked him cold. During the
Olympic training summer 1960 he finally threw Isao Inokuma his very
close friend and training partner after a full hour fight with uchi
mata makikomi. He also got his 4th Dan from Kodokan in competition.
April 1959 Don Dreager asked him to go together for more background
on BUSHIDO to the police dojo and train under the famous 10th Dan
SHIMIZU and KURODA bojitsu and kendo and IiaiJitsu. During the all
Japan police championships Kendo ect. They where asked to give a
demonstration of Bojitsu and got a standing ovation and a third Dan
in both disciplines from the Japan Kendo federation. Bluming did
another examination by his Sensei Ichitaro Kuroda for Iaijitsu and
got his third Dan from the JKF also for Iai Jitsu. In 1960 he went
to Manilla again to get a new visa. He gave seminars at the Manilla
judo dojo and their he met somebody from the USA embassy whose name
cannot be told for obvious reasons. Later this person would involve
Bluming in kind of official business. In 1961 Bluming was invited to
make a going gake (a match against 5 third Dans) instead of Inokuma
who was in hospital with a bad back injury. Dreager said to him: “Do
it, that’s good for your name” and so it was. They where gone in
less than 4 seconds a match.
Back to Holland:
Than the letter came from Holland. Opa Schutte asked him to come
back and teach the old dojo and the Amateurs association for a year
on a good contract. Bluming who by than had a legendary name in
Japan and was unbeaten in Judo and karate went back to teach his old
friends and make some new ones and also to participate in the world
championships in Paris France, Dec 1961. Of course it went all very
different as planned. He became coach of the Dutch Amateur Judo
Association and made his name throughout Holland and Europe solely
because of his fight against the Judo Union of Anton Geesink who
told not such nice tales to the press about Bluming but refused 7
times to meet Bluming on the Judo tatami wherever. Bluming was under
false accusations not aloud to participate in Paris. The press was
wondered, especially when Bluming was introduced to the Black belts
of the NAJA as the new coach the first week of December 1961 in
Bloemendaal. He made a match against all comers some 80 judoka from
1st Dan until 4th Dan and threw them all within about 4 seconds
under the watery eyes of the press. They wrote the next day that
Holland would be first and second in Paris and that Bluming must be
aloud to fight. It did not help and Bluming watched in Paris a well
deserved victory of Anton Geesink. It made him so miserable that he
stopped with competing and started teaching instead. In his career
as a teacher he delivered several champions, like Chris Dolman (4
times world champion), Willem Ruska (double Olympic champion in 1972
and three times world champ Judo), Ottie Roethof (World champion in
soft style karate and the team world champion), Sem Schilt (at the
top in K1 and free fight winner of three times the daido juku and
three time King of Pancrase) and the students of his students like
Jan Plas (who gave it all to Ernesto Hoost and Peter Aerts), Peter
Adelaar and Jan Kallenbach. Bluming went all throughout Europe and
founded the European Kyokushin Kai Kan. The first karate union in
Europe was founded by Bluming January in 1962. The first ever Karate
championships were held in Krasnapolsky Hotel Amsterdam in 1965. The
first international match was held against the team of Steve Arneil
(a student of Oyama and Bluming in 1967) and won by the Budokai
dojo. On the 15th of January 1965 he was the first foreigner awarded
the 6th Dan in Kyokushin Karate from the Kyokushinkaikan Honbu by
Mas Oyama. The Karate world, who was not so big those days, was
shocked. Oyama put a classical samurai end to that spectacle and
told the karate world that they could fight Bluming man to man
without any rules in a boxing ring. The one who could beat Bluming
that way would get $ 100.000 from Oyama and he would stop with
karate and take away Bluming his 6th Dan. It was than very silent
all of a sudden. Nobody came forward … In 1966 their was one Budoka
from Korea who came to Blumings dojo and wanted to fight him in a
sporty manner. His name was KWAN MO GUN 5th Dan Tae Kwon Do and
Heavyweight Champion of Korea. Bluming admired Kwan because he
fought his way through Jan Kallenbach, who knocked him cold, then
Kenji Kurosaki (the poor man had not heard of him) who knocked him
cold and than he still wanted to fight Bluming. That is spirit and
real karate and the fact that he lost had nothing to do with that
fact. He had KOKORO with big letters. Bluming knocked him out with a
shotei for which he is still famous and Kurosaki stopped the fight.
That was the only one in all those almost 50 years who really came
to fight in the real samurai manner. In the period after this
Bluming delivered a lot of teachers who sometimes went their own
way. One example is Loek Hollander who betrayed his teacher Bluming
in Japan and Europe in such a way that the Japanese organisation
(who was then interested more in money than good teachers) followed
Hollander. The Dutch Karate Organisation (NKA) was a initiative of
Bluming, and it had after one year more than 76 Dojo's in Holland.
In 1970 Bluming got a invitation to be part of some small casinos
in Amsterdam in order that their would be no trouble from outsiders.
Which kept him very busy and at the same time he got an offer to
play the second role in several movies with famous Dutch actors
(see the Book from street punk to 10th Dan with more than 400
pictures). So he asked Hollander to take the lead in the NKA after
he was back from his Japan training for 6th months. Instead of doing
a good job he only went after the money and screwed Oyama Sosai out
of a hell of a lot of money by keeping a large percentage of the
membership money of all the dojos from the European Kyokushinkaikan
of which Bluming was still the President. He copied Oyama's
certificates for DAN and sold them for a lot of money to Jackasses
in Europe. Later Bluming found this out and got his hands on some of
the copies and send them to Oyama .who was furious and for a while
did not want to talk to
Hollander and wanted Bluming back, who refused 1982. After some
years many Dojo's left Hollander because even for a handshake he
wanted money?
Now he has nothing anymore and even Matsui kicked him out after he
found out that Hollander lied about many things and told Matsui that
Bluming was in jail for holding up a bank with a revolver ect. When
Matsui told that story to Bluming in 1994 November, Bluming took out
his pictures where he was a bodyguard by the Royal family several
times on Prince Bernhard’s birthday and told Matsui, Yes the Royal
family wants only bank robbers as their bodyguard. Matsui, s eyes
went very big. It is a pity that Hollander put such a bad name on
Kyokushin karate in Europe especial when everybody found out that
he NEVER did the 100 men Kumite but got to 28 and went to hospital
with a flat nose and a cut in his ear, two black eyes and many
bruises.
After that he was aloud to take 10 or so every couple days after he
was healed from the first time. Harry Seriese the co founder of the
NKA in Jan 1962 together with Rinus Schulz both now 9th Dan wrote a
letter which is in the book and told Bluming and the IBK what really
happened which is to much to tell and all water under the bridge. In
2008 Hollander asked one of his former students who is now in the
IBK to talk to Bluming and ask for a meeting because he wants to be
friends again. Bluming only said, now everybody can see again how
real ROTTEN this men’s KOKORO is.
In January 1989
Bluming received his 9th Dan in Kyokushin Karate from Japan. In the
year 1998 he got his 9th Dan in Judo from Japan and was the only one
in the world now who got both of the highest grades in Martial Arts
from JAPAN. In November 1989 he got a visit from Akira Maeda 8th Dan
of the Budokai. He told Bluming that Oyama Sensei had send him to
talk to Bluming and that he wanted Bluming back in the Honbu and
wanted to make him President of the World Karate Kyokushin Kai Kan.
Also that he wanted Bluming to teach the Karateka of the Honbu who
where keen on fighting professionally in all-round especially by the
fight organisation of “RINGS JAPAN “of which Maeda was the
President. Bluming said that he would do so only if Loek Hollander
was out of the HONBU. Maeda said that Oyama sensei was aware of the
problems and he agrees with Bluming that Hollander must go, NO
problem. In April 1994 instead of going to Japan Bluming got a fax
that his Sensei Mas Oyama had died suddenly in the hospital. He was
so devastated that he went to Tokyo to pay his respect and say
Sayonara to his Sensei. September the 4th he got a fax from Kenji
Kurosaki that he was awarded with the grade of his teacher Mas Oyama
and got so his 10th Dan signed by 5 big organisation of Budo in
Japan. He was the first 6th Dan in Honbu and now the first 10th Dan
in the world as a westerner. The separation and start of several
Dutch karate organisations increased after the death of Mas Oyama in
1994.
Kyokushin Budo Kai:
The Kyokushin Budokai was founded by Bluming in 1980. Why this name?
First because of his Sensei who gave him this new martial art which
also changed his life some more after Judo. Second because of Trevor
P. Leggett, who was a 6th Dan before the Second World War n Kodokan
judo together with O’Neill (an American). Leggett became very tired
of politics and the jackasses who where only interested in making
money and taking power positions for the good times without (most of
them) having done anything themselves in Judo. He decided to make
the Budo Kwan in London. His rules where very simple. Anybody who
was genuinely interested in doing real judo was welcome. Strictly
forbidden was talking about politics as well in Judo as in world
business, race, religion etcetera. Only judo. Those who stepped on
those rules where expelled. That made a big impression on Jon
Bluming when his Sensei Opa Schutte told him that. For Opa and
Leggett where good friends. In 1980 a Budoka from the Dutch Navy,
Jan de Bruin, called him and asked Bluming to give a seminar at the
Navy base Vlissingen. Bluming accepted and after the seminar and a
good heart to heart talk to Jan de Bruin he decided to make the
Kyokushin Budokai in the same style as Leggett. The first dojo to
join was from his former students Tom Eikmans and Frans van
Wijngaarden from Spijkenisse. The Budokai was born and has now grown
to a healthy and international organisation. The Kyokushin Budo Kai
later was also melded into the International Budo Kai Kan with the
support of Dave Jonkers (now 8th Dan) and David Cook (who is now
expelled because he committed fraude and started his own
organisation). The Budokai style is a NO
nonsense style and especially
good for free fight and self defence or as Bluming likes to call it:
All round karate. The Kyokushin Budokai has now many dojo’s who all
work together for the good of Budo who can learn from each other and
Bluming travels still all over the world to show them his ideas of
fighting, refereeing, shiai’s ( the honest way ) and self defence
which is so important our days.