A style of karate created by Masutatsu Oyama in 1964. Kyokushinkai emphasises strength, endurance and the ability to withstand being hit. It advocates its advanced practitioners engaging in full contact fighting but without protective gear. Kyokushinkai is famous for its "knockdown fighting": A Knockdown fight lasts two or three minutes, without stopping, and is won by a single point (ippon), which is awarded when a technique sufficiently stuns the opponent so that he is unable to resume fighting.

It is based on traditional shotokan karate but because of its emphasis on full-contact sparring it share many similarities with kick-boxing, with practitioners often employing knee-strikes and axe-kicks.

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