K-1 Tournament at Dongguk University

K-1 is a kickboxing combat sport that combines standup techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Kickboxing and traditional Boxing, among others. The name is a play off the abbreviation of Formula 1, which is F-1. The sport was first formed by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a former Kyokushin karate competition fighter who had formed his own organization, Seido-kaikan karate, in 1980.

The principal object of K-1 is to win by either knockout or by decision. Fights occur inside a ring, as in boxing, and they are fought for three rounds of three minutes each. Extra rounds (also three minutes long) may be fought, if the judges score the fight a draw. Victories are usually achieved by hurting the opponent with kicks to the legs or the head, or using traditional boxing punches, such as the jab, cross or uppercut.

Classic defensive boxing stance is rather ineffective against leg kicks, and fighters are more or less forced to constantly move and counterattack, which is certainly one of the reasons why K-1 fights are seen by many as more dynamic and exciting than boxing fights.

No major K-1 tragedies have been reported; nonetheless, the risk of sustaining a serious injury still exists.

On Saturday we were lucky enough to attend a tournament at Dongguk University in downtown Seoul. Our Irish friend Denis, thanks to his muay thai connections, was able to get us excellent tickets at a discounted price. Cheers Denis!


Myself, Northy, and Denis, started with a big beer on the bus into Seoul at around 1pm. From there we met up with around 6 of Denis' friends, who were all very sound guys. We gorged ourselves on beer and a fix of good old Western grub in Outback Steakhouse, and made our way along to the venue. As you can tell, I'm not getting into much detail, as the videos of people getting pummelled are far more interesting than reading my waffle.

The following video shows the entrance of one of the fighters. I was very impressed by the whole event, it was much flashier than I had imagined. I had something dark and dusty in mind, like the end of Kickboxer when "The Muscles From Brussels" fights Tong Po. You remember.



The next one shows 2 fighters knocking seven shades of kimchi out of each other. Not that they were all Korean of course. All in all, there were around 10 fights, lasting from roughly 5pm to 10pm, with fighters from China, Korea, Japan, USA, and Sweden. Sweden.....not the first country that springs to mind in relation to martial arts, and sure enough the guy was flattened in about 30 seconds. Wherever these 2 were from, watch out for the guy in blue gloves land a beast of a kick to the other guys nose, which proceeds to piss blood everywhere. Violence is bad remember kids.



I've saved the best video til last. This bald guy was hard as nails, and unleashes the biggest kick to the head to claim victory. As Koreans would say...."Nice-uh!" You'll also hear me and Northy drunkenly encouraging this display. We took a fair old carry-out inside of course!




This is a picture of Denis and I trying to look as mental as the fighters earlier on. And failing.




After what was easily one of my favourite events since coming to Korea, we adjourned to the Irish Wolfhound bar in Itaewon, where we drank and made merry til the wee small hours, and I missed a dartboard with every dart I threw. Eventually we came home to Ilsan, and tried a new kalbi to me, Deung Kalbi. Not as crap as it sounds. Geddit? Hilarious. Actual ribs on the bbq, and you each get a very unstylish yet effective heat-proof glove. Delicious. Here are some drunken photos of myself, Lynne, Northy, Denis, Aneta, and Jimmy (fellow baldy, boxer, cool guy). Oh and check the state of Northy in the taxi....genius!