August 28th 2006
Jon Bluming One widely known controversial figure in the early days of Kyokushin Karate was Jon Bluming of Holland. Bluming was a powerfully built judo-ka, decorated veteran of the Korean conflict (three Purple Hearts) and friend and student/training partner of the widely acclaimed martial artist Donn Draeger (1922-1982).
 
Oyama spoke glowingly of his student Bluming. Perhaps somewhat like a "mouthful of hot molasses" (too hot to swallow and too sticky to spit out), despite Bluming's confident arrogance, Oyama undoubtedly appreciated his young student's strength and knowledge. Bluming created quite a stir at the Oyama Dojo with his strong judo throwing and groundwork skills combine well with his solid, 100kg+ frame against the generally much smaller karate-ka. Oyama even said that he regarded Bluming as his strongest gaijin student of those early days. Besides Oyama, Bluming can count among his teachers the legendary judo 10th Dan Kyuzo Mifune (1883-1965) as well as his friend Draeger.

Oyama with his top student of the early days, Jon Bluming.
 
According to Bluming, whom I first met and spent many hours with in May, 2006, he is a Kodokan 9th Dan and was the first non-Japanese to receive his 6th Dan in karate from Oyama. After training in Japan for some time he returned to Holland in 1961 with a 6th Dan in both Kodokan and Kyokushin.
 
Always controversial-you either love or hate Jon Bluming but you cannot deny him-not surprisingly, everyone seems to have an opinion of him. His influence on martial arts is unquestioned-in Holland and, if you consider the successes of his students (Bluming mentioned as former students Johan Vos and Thom Harrinck whose many students have had tremendous success in the kickboxing ring, 1967 and 1971 world judo champion and duel Olympic judo gold medallist (1972) Wilhelm Ruska (whose main teacher was the great Tokio Hirano) and Rings and Sambo World Champion Chris Dolman), on the world stage as well.
 
There is no doubt Bluming shoots from the hip. If he has an opinion, he'll let you know. This certainly rubs anyone with something to hide up the wrong way and can make anyone uncomfortable. I personally found him humorous, charming and very much loving of Oyama, despite his opinions. If one looks behind the gruffness and his somewhat "awkward" approach to tact and truth, he has so much incredible history and knowledge to share. Bluming was right there in the midst of the action in Japan for a number of years and has a lifetime of incredible experience (which is obvious when you listen carefully to his opinions of the state of the martial arts and its connection to realistic fighting). When talking about training and fighting, I felt his comments were very realistic and reflected his decades of experience.

Bluming as a 23 year old after having trained in Korea during the Korean conflict (photo from the website of the Shimpokai Judo Club, New Brunswick)
 
Bluming is not so well known in Kyokushin outside of Europe simply because he left the mainstream Kyokushin world in 1970 for his own reasons. In Holland, I doubt if there would be a black belt in any martial art who does not know of him. After leaving Kyokushin, Bluming started teaching his own eclectic style of Kyokushin-based karate and the best of judo's throws and groundwork which he named Kyokushin Budokai. It is interesting that this eclectic mix of realistic fighting is, since the popularity of mixed martial events in the last decade or so, only now being seen for the benefits it always had when Bluming has been advocating its effectiveness for four decades. Oyama agreed with him, at least by his actions if not by his words that karate without at least a fundamental base in grappling was not complete. That is why he spent years training in newaza at the Sone Dojo of judo.

Early photo at the Oyama Dojo, 1959. Above, Bluming looking on as Bobby Lowe demonstrates his tameshiwari skills. The inscription on the photo reads: Overseas students, Jon Bluming (Holland), William Backhus (America) and Bobby Lowe (Hawaii).



Here Oyama, Bluming, Backhus and Lowe take part in a grading in front of the press, 1959
 
In an interview with US-based martial artist and author Jose Fraguas, Bluming said the following:
 
I was the third man in the kyokushinkai after my Sensei, Kenji Kurosaki, who really showed me in those years how to fight for real. Mas Oyama was like a father to me. He never let me pay for anything and always helped me out when I was low on money. He was a terrific teacher and really could raise my spirit when I felt really low. He also could put the fear of God into his students when they did not train the way he wanted them to train. It was the best years in my life. There were no politics or anything like that. I was simply training and felt like a God.
 
I was really shocked when he died. I felt like a very close family member or friend passed away. I did my best to pay him back by organizing his system in Europe. At that time, most Budoka did not know what karate was and none were in a real dojo in Europe. That was in the 1960s. I loved to go around and show them the kyokushinkai style, and for those who didn't believe in the style and challenged me, I had to beat the piss out of them! What was funny is that most of them usually became dedicated students of our style.
 
When I started karate in March 1959, I was a third Dan in judo. I marched around in Oyama Sensei's dojo for years with a white belt. I was promoted to fourth Dan in 1963 and sixth Dan on January 15, 1965. There were some Budoka who complained about me being a sixth Dan. Mas Oyama wrote in a United States martial arts magazine that he would pay $100,000 to anyone who could beat me in a ko-shiai. Besides that, he said he would take my ranking away if I lost the fight, he would go into politics and stop teaching karate. I thought he was joking, but he was not. Honestly, I was not really happy with this challenge because I was too busy with my schools and business in Europe at the time. There was only one who showed up in my dojo, and that was Kwan Mo Gun, a fifth Dan and the all-over Korean champ. I still have high regards for that Budoka who wanted to fight me. He was beaten terribly by my student, Jan Kallenbach, a third Dan, and then by Kurosaki, who had been training for a year in my dojo, and then finally by me. Some are probably wondering why I didn't take him on first. Well, my students begged me to let them go first, otherwise there wouldn't be anything left for them to fight! Jan later became a European heavyweight champion. I really admired Kwan and his spirit because every time he was knocked out he woke up, got on his feet and said in loud voice, "And now Bluming!" You have to respect that.
 
At one stage in the interview, Fraguas asked, "With whom would you like to have trained that you have not?" Bluming replied:
 
Nobody, I say this because I was fortunate to have met and trained under the most famous and legendary sensei in Japan between 1959 and 1980. I don't think I missed a thing. One of the best was Donn F. Draeger. He really made me who I was in judo and gave me the body for which I always longed. In 1959, he took me from being a skinny 79 kilos to a solid 102 kilos dynamo. I came out on top because I had the speed and flexibility of a middleweight but the body and strength of a heavyweight. Then, of course, there was Oyama Sensei and especially Kenji Kurosaki Sensei. In Kodokan judo, I had all the famous champions and sensei in the Kenshusei (Research training group: author's note). There was Mifune, Daigo. Osawa, Kaminaga, Inokuma, Koga, et cetera. In bo-jitsu, it was Shimizu Sensei and Ichitaro Kuroda Sensei. Yamaguchi "The Cat" was a very good friend of mine. Like Frank Sinatra said in one of his songs, "I had it all."
 
How good was the famous Draeger? According to the 9th Dan Kanemitsu, Draeger was one of the best on the ground and had he concentrated just on his judo newaza he could have beaten anyone. in 1959 he was easily beating all the Kodokan 3rd and 4th Dans, finishing 6th Dans and holding his own against top 7th Dan instructors. He even drew in a 10 minute battle on the mat with Shibayama, a 6th Dan who was considered the best on the ground in Japan at the time. Shibayama, who had also worked with Geesink (Olympic gold medallist in Tokyo, 1964) and the great Gene LeBell, said Draeger was the best. Quite a compliment considering Draeger is often remembered more as an historian and scholar than a judo-ka. At the time he was a 4th Dan. He eventually moved right away from judo, disillusioned with the direction it was taking as a sport and the damage the sport was causing to his body.
 
The Journal of Combative Sport, November 1999 edition, published a series of letters Draeger had written to Robert W Smith, his co-author in the historical text "Asian Fighting Arts", during the years1959 to 1974. The letters included these comments:
 
Bluming is a real killer, standing 6'5" (193cms) and 230lbs (105kgs). Solid muscle via weights.
 
Bluming is now ranked 6th Dan in Oyama (Kyokushin Kai) karate. Does very little judo, but saw him smash a few yesterday which took me back to the old days. More aggressive now and only limited by his aches and pains, which are many. Bluming has challenged any and all karate men in Japan, but no takers.
 
Osu, Warm regards, Cameron Quinn
  

August 9th 2006
 
Some time ago I got a mail from Kazuo Takahashi, a former Kyokushin Honbu member from the early years. I met him around 1966 in the Honbu and we became friends. I have not heard of him since 1972 when my Sensei Kenji Kurosaki left Honbu and the Kyokushin kaikan. Here is the letter and after I went to Japan in February 2006 I talked to many old members and sensei’s of the old days and found out that in great lines the story Kazuo send me was TRUE which made me very sad especially after seeing MAMA Oyama in her last days in the hospital and heard there also what happened and since then her face is still etched in my mind and so I decided to publish this letter.
 
OSU Dear Jon Bluming Sensei. I write this letter with great sorrow for all the things that happened after Sosai died. First a funny matter happened after his dead. He was not that ill and we all where sure he would be out and around in a few weeks. All of a sudden he died and we where all very surprised. His Daughter Kuristina Oyama was still in the USA for her study and she called to the hospital to preserve the body of her father in order that there could be an autopsy as soon as she returned to Japan. ODDLY enough on order most probably of Matsui (who claimed to be the successor of Sosai which was a great LIE and he lost the high court case) the body was as fast as possible CREMATED so that their was no proof or anything to show what really happened. DON'T forget that there were elements of the top YAKUZA involved for whatever reason. Anyway that was the end we all were thinking. But then during the funeral events there was a wooden case besides the coffin in the room for all (as is the custom in Japan) to put in envelopes with money for the WIDOW of Sosai. Matsui still claimed to be the BOSS in those days and after the ceremony he took the wooden case and that was the last they have seen of that. The widow Oyama never received the money. After that Matsui together with sensei like Midori and several others took over the Honbu and in short time the bank account was not what it was before and some years later the Widow of Sosai could not pay the mortgage anymore on the house in Tokyo and was thrown out of their own house because of that.
 
NONE of the RICH old students of Oyama the Budoka he really trusted did anything to help Mother Oyama.
 
They did however put in many articles in sports magazines how much they loved Sosai and how he was their real Father etc etc. Beautiful Yakuza love stories while they robbed the Honbu clean. After that the widow Oyama got a terrible brain attack and went to hospital where she spent several years in despair and could not move and could not talk and was taken care of by her Daughter and her husband Suzuki (who is now the Honbu Chief Instructor and does a terrific good work) and who won all court cases 28 in all and the end still not in sight but the main victory was that Matsui was thrown out of the Honbu by the high court decision that he was a liar and had no business with the Kyokushin Kai Kan.
 
Now he calls his organisation Ichi Geki which means just kickboxing and is still a powerful man in that business but EVERY body knows what happened and they don't really trust him.
 
Second terrible insult was the way Midori went to the Temple in Tokyo where the grave of Sosai is located and told and intimidated the local priest that they, he and his organization, were the real owners of the Honbu and therefore they must have the rights to the grave etc etc and not the family. So when they came to pay their respects they where told that they had to ask permission to those two because the rights where signed over to them and they payed the cost and maintenance of the grave.
 
Midori (a very rich man from rich father) told them on the telephone that they where out and should not bother him anymore. Kuristina Oyama and Suzuki went to the biggest and most popular magazine in Japan and told and proved the story and so it was written for all to see and Midori found out that his brains where not really working because of greed and power crazy.
 
He finally called Kuristina Oyama and told them that they could have the rights back and he signed it over to the real family and that was it. So everybody could see again what kind of ugly students Sosai really had. Well the widow. Mother Oyama died some months ago under terrible agony and the Honbu is getting back on their feet after this ordeal. Now everybody can be a member of the new Honbu in memory of Sosai for they don't want to sell the Honbu but want to fight to maintain the memory and the museum in the Honbu and Sosai's karate legacy. More information anybody can get from the Honbu is e mail kuristinao@yahoo.com. I hope also that you can do something about this at least get out the truth of those terrible people who call themselves students of Oyama Sosai and behave like gangsters.
 
Sorry that I confront you with this letter but you where the first 6th Dan in the Kyokushin Kai Kan and Sosai loved you and always talked about you so please help.
 
Yours in Budo Kazuo Takahashi OSU.