The answer to this question becomes apparent even before anyone speaks when you enter any old dojo in Okinawa, the kind with faded photos on the walls and worn wooden floors. Karate originated in Japan and has been practiced there for the majority of its recorded history. That is supported by the numbers. With 99 gold medals and 214 total medals from all tournament editions, Japan leads the all-time medal standings at the World Karate Federation’s Karate World Championships. In raw terms, no other nation is comparable. With 59 gold medals and 177 total medals, France is in second place.…
Author: Sierra Foster
Sierra Foster
Born in Kansas City, Sierra Foster writes about politics and serves as Senior Editor at kbsd6.com. She was raised paying attention to this city, not just living in it. Sierra has a strong, deep connection to Kansas City, from the neighborhoods east of Troost to the discussions that take place in the city hall halls. Sierra, who is presently enrolled at the University of Kansas to pursue a degree in Political Science, applies the rigor of academic study to her journalism. She writes about politics in Missouri and Kansas as someone who genuinely cares about what happens to the people in these communities—the policies that impact them, the leaders who represent them, and the civic forces influencing their futures—rather than as an outsider watching from a distance. Her editorial coverage encompasses state-level policy, local government, and the national political currents that permeate bi-state regional life. Whether it's a city council vote or a Senate race, she has a special gift for turning complex policy language into writing that feels urgent, relatable, and worthwhile. Sierra seldom sits still off the page. She claims that playing soccer on a regular basis has sharpened her instincts for political reporting because of the sport's teamwork, strategy, and requirement to read a changing game in real time. She's probably somewhere in Kansas City with her friends when she's not writing or on the pitch, discovering new reasons to adore a city she already knows so well.
On the surface, the question seems almost ridiculous. Is Mike Tyson, the man who defeated some of the greatest heavyweights in history in less than two minutes, practicing karate? It seems like a joke’s setup. However, Tyson has made a statement that keeps this discussion going, and once you consider it, the assertion is more difficult to reject than most people realize. “Our style was pretty much Japanese Karate,” Tyson once remarked, referring to the system developed by his trainer Cus D’Amato. For years, that quote has been circulating in online forums and gyms, and it usually divides people in…
For decades, the argument has been discussed in Reddit threads, barbershops, gym locker rooms, and even a breakroom scene from “Better Call Saul,” but it never really goes away. Bruce Lee or Muhammad Ali: who would prevail in a fight? On the surface, it seems unanswerable. Two myths. Two entirely distinct fields of study. There is a noticeable difference between two bodies operating in different weight classes. However, the answer strongly leans in one direction when you examine the details, which are highly specific. Let’s start with the numbers. Ali weighed between 210 and 236 pounds and stood about 6’3″.…
At the start of the book, a girl is bleeding in the shower while her classmates are hurling tampons at her. It’s among American fiction’s most awkward opening scenes. What’s more bizarre and depressing, though, is that Stephen King didn’t completely invent it. King was a struggling high school teacher who was barely able to keep his family out of poverty when he wrote Carrie in the early 1970s. In his memoir On Writing, he used the pseudonyms “Tina” and “Sondra” to refer to two real girls he had met throughout his life, from whom he drew the character of…
Sahil Jilani was last seen at the Riverstone Campground in Townsend, Tennessee, at approximately 8 p.m. on a Monday night. He was a 24-year-old Houstonian who, by all accounts, kept in touch with his family on a regular basis. He didn’t that evening. His vehicle was discovered parked at the Abrams Falls trailhead in Great Smoky Mountains National Park by park officials on Wednesday. Near the falls, his clothes, keys, and phone were found. His body was retrieved from the water below by dive teams on Thursday. His family’s greatest fear was realized when the search, which had taken place…
The same well-known names eventually come up in most discussions about martial arts. Thai Muay. Karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. These disciplines are prevalent in gyms and competitive circuits for a reason: they are efficient, well-organized, and methodically taught and maintained. However, there are fighting systems that are so rare that the majority of martial artists have never come across them, and in certain situations, very few people on the planet still use them at all. According to most accounts, Angampora, an ancient Sri Lankan combat system that almost completely vanished during British colonial rule, is the rarest fighting style in…
There is a certain energy to these kinds of discussions. They begin in the locker rooms of gyms, spread to Reddit forums, and ultimately appear on YouTube channels with eye-catching thumbnails. People continue to watch Bruce Lee vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov despite it being one of those cross-era, cross-disciplinary, and unresolvable matchups. There is something illuminating about the reason. Here, it’s important to start with the fundamentals. At his best, Bruce Lee weighed about 135 pounds, which, by today’s MMA standards, places him in the bantamweight or featherweight range. At 155 pounds, Khabib was a lightweight competitor, but he carried a…
Donald Trump accepted an honorary ninth-degree black belt from Lee Dong-sup, president of Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters in South Korea, in November 2021 at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. He was dressed in the traditional white taekwondo uniform known as a dobok. Pictures from the event went viral. Depending on who was observing, the response varied from genuine annoyance to amusement. To be clear, Trump has never received taekwondo training. He has never practiced any martial art, at least not in a way that is known to the public or documented. The ninth-dan rank, which is the…
For this, there is no formal ceremony. There is no throne, coronation, or governing body that has ever convened to definitively determine who the true king of karate is. Nevertheless, the question continues to be raised in gyms, in comment sections, and in quiet disputes between professionals who have been training for decades. It conveys something about the artwork itself. More than practically any other martial art, karate has a strong sense of respect for its history. Gichin Funakoshi is the most truthful place to start. Funakoshi, who was born in Shuri, Okinawa, in 1868, is recognized as the founder…
You would think that the entire teenage cast of Cobra Kai grew up in dojos after watching the fight in the school hallway. The footwork appears practiced, and the kicks land cleanly. However, the younger stars of Cobra Kai have much more varied martial arts backgrounds than the choreography implies, and most fans wouldn’t guess who has the longest record. That would be Owen Morgan, who portrays Bert, the shy, apprehensive student who appears to exist primarily to be pushed around. After nine years at All Star Karate in Atlanta, Morgan actually obtained his black belt in karate in 2019.…