In 1981, Grandmaster Takashi Azuma created "Karatedo Daido Juku" in Sendai city, Miyagi prefecture. Daido Juku introduced "Kakuto Karate" a safe, practical and popular form of tournament karate using the Super Safe Face Protector (*1) and allowing attacks to the head level attack, throws and grabs (*2).
*1 now it is upgraded to N.H.G Ku (Neo Headgear Ku)
*2 since then joint locks and chokes were included. Ever since, Daido Juku became a leading organization in the mixed martial arts boom in Japan.
Daido Juku however follows Grand Master Azuma’s ideal of "Budo as a social physical education", with an aim at providing a tool for the education of youth and for self-realization of adults, and deviated from MMA boom that worshiped physical strength only. In 1983 the Tokyo Branch opened followed by the Osaka Branch in 1985. In 1986 the organization’s headquarters were moved to Tokyo, and further regional branches were opened, like Hokkaido, Sendai, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, etc. In 1993 Daido Juku started its commitment to the world, starting with the opening of a branch in Vladivostok, Russia. The organization changed its name to "Kakuto Karate International Federation Daido Juku" in 1995 as a result. The first world Championship was subsequently held in 2001. In order to put emphasis on the fact it advocates a Mixed Budo, the organization changed its name again to "Kudo International Federation Daido Juku", introducing the name "Kudo" as a Mixed Martial Arts practiced wearing the traditional “gi” (martial arts outfit with pants and jacket).There was an overwhelming response to the first world Championship with over 20 nations participating in The Hokutoki 1st Kudo World Championships. Over 40 nations participated in The Hokutoki 2nd kudo World Championships. The Kudo World Championship brought international recognition of Kudo as one of the original budo, which pursue both physical and spiritual development including etiquette and ethics. Kudo International Federation Daido Juku has over 100 domestic branches in Japan and international branches in more than 60 countries all over the world. The number keeps growing.
*Budo: Budo does not seek only physical strength but rather the pursue of spiritual strength (courage, self-control, unyielding attitude), attaining kindness (compassion to the weak and the lost), and etiquette (to one’s colleagues, elders, juniors). Budo is a social physical education that aims to produce human-beings who are able to contribute to society by giving them an environment for them to develop the above-mentioned spiritual qualities.
