What the Fight Team is

The Fight Team is EKKC's competitive arm — students who train with the explicit goal of competing in Kyokushin tournaments. The Saturday Fight Team Camp is a monthly intensive that supplements regular weeknight training with three hours of dedicated tournament work: drills, conditioning, sparring, tactics, and recovery.

What Saturday camps cover

Each camp runs 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. The format varies based on tournament calendar — closer to a competition, camps focus on tournament-specific drills (timing, distance, weight cuts, mental preparation). Off-season, camps focus on conditioning and technical refinement. Shihan tailors each camp to what the team needs.

Tournament calendar

EKKC athletes compete across Western Canada, the United States, and internationally. Major tournaments on the typical calendar: Banff Tournament (December), Edmonton Cup (January), LA Tournament (February), Calgary Cup (March), Alberta Open Championships (April — hosted by EKKC), Japan Friendship (May), Canadian Championships (May), NYC (June), Tokyo (November). Athletes choose which tournaments to compete in based on rank, weight class, and preparation.

What it takes

Fight Team membership is demanding. On top of regular weeknight classes (typically 3-4 nights per week), Fight Team members attend the monthly Saturday camp, train extra conditioning on their own time, and travel to tournaments. The reward is the chance to test yourself against the best Kyokushin fighters in your age and weight class — and to represent EKKC and Edmonton on the national and international stage.

Cost and support

The Fight Team monthly fee is on top of regular membership. Tournament travel costs are partially covered by EKKC's sponsor and grant funding for major events; athletes also fundraise individually for international competitions like Japan Friendship and Tokyo.