Christian Buffaloe, 16, recently competed in the "2016 All American Kyokushin International Karate Championships" in New York City on June 18th.
This prestigious annual event is sponsored and organized by the International Kyokushin Karate Organization in Tokyo, Japan and featured over many fighters from Japan, Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Canada, and South America. This Kyokushin tournament is very different from other karate and martial arts competitions. Competitors are only allowed to enter after being evaluted by top officials in the Kyokushin organization based on their actual Kumite(Fighting) abilty. This tournament was a qualifying event to compete in the "International Kyokushin Teen Youth Championships" in Tokyo, Japan in April, 2016. By gaining 1st place in the teen youth(16 - 17 yrs) division, Christian Buffaloe is now a major contender for the world youth title. The matches in these competitions are fought under the Kyokushin full contact, knockdown rules, not the light touch, point system rules used by the other styles. In Kyokushin competitions, a fighter has to clearly show his superiority in order to win a match, which usually ends in a knock out or one competitor is unable to continue. Christian Buffaloe is trained by local Kyokushin Karate instructor Kenny Buffaloe, and is an active competitor in international Kyokushin tournaments in New York, Los Angeles, and Japan since 2008.
Christian Buffaloe fought in the very competitive teen youth division of the "2016 All American Kyokushin International Championships", working his way up into the semi-finals where he faced a much larger Japanese competitor who he had previously lost to in 2015 in the United States Kyokushin Championships in Los Angeles. On this occasion, Buffaloe used his footwork and strong punching attacks to overcome his opponent and advance into the finals.
In the final match for the teen youth division (16-17year olds) title, Christian Buffaloe faced a strong French Canadian fighter in an intense, spirited fight. Buffaloe won an unanimous judges decision based on his power attacks to become the new 2016 All American Kyokushin teen champion.
Portions of the championship was covered by FUJI-TV, Japan's number #1 cable T.V. network and will be shown on national Japanese television next week and later posted online.
For more information on Kyokushin Karate, call: (252) 589 - 4281, or email:
Christian Buffaloe(on left), 16 year old local Kyokushin Karate competitor, wins 1st place(champion) in the Teen Division(16 - 17 yrs) of the "2016 All American Kyokushin International Championships" in New York recently. Buffaloe received his 1st place trophy (award) personally from Kancho Shokei Matsui (in middle), the President of the International Kyokushin Karate Organization in Tokyo, Japan. Kenny Buffaloe, Christian's father/instructor, stands at far right.