Youth
Jon Bluming was born on the 3rd of february 1933 in Amsterdam. In may 1940, when he was just seven years of age he watched the German luftwaffe attack on the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport at the beginning of the second world war. This period made a very deep impression on him and was also the begin of molding him what he is today. In the socalled hungerwinter (1944) he had to struggle for life and take care of his mother and grandparent because his father was taken away for slave labour.

First impressions of Martial Arts
After the war, in 1946 the young Jon Bluming started at the famous boxing school of teacher Cosman and got his first experience with martial arts and its risks when he got his first broken nose. It was his first injury but would not be his last …

Army career
When he was 16 he applied for the Marines and was accepted in July 1949 and went to the bootcamp in Doorn. Just one year later, in the summer of 1950 The Korean War started and he applied as a volunteer in the van Heutzregiment. When he got wounded for the first time he was transported to a Japanese hospital in Tokyo. In that country he for the first time in his life saw Judo when he visited the Kodokan in march, 1951. When he saw a demonstration by a very small eldery man with a red belt he knew that this kind of art would change his life for good.

The second time he was wounded was during the assault on Inje where this time the Northkoreans and some Chinese where encircled. During the fight he was hit by scrapnel of a handgranate and again spent about 6 weeks in the mash. Around augus 1951 they would return to Holland but they had to wait several weeks for the troopship to arrive. He spent his first time in a small Korean dojo and screwed around with a kind of Tae Kwon Do by a sensei called Park in Yong Dong Po.

After some months in Holland he could not find his way as a civilian and when they asked for volunteers again but this time as occupation troops he went back to Korea. On board of the troopship to Korea the war broke out again and even heavier than before. In aug 1952 he was back at the frontline and names like “Old Baldy”, “Alligator ridge” and “White Horse” where written down in the history books. October the 11th 1952 at the real outpost ARSENAL (75 meters of the Chinese mainline) his buddy and lifelong friend Hans Crebas volunteered to be scout for the RANGERS who where going to take the hill next to Arsenal to relieve the pressure a bit. But when they went up the hill the Chinese went of the hill at the back and around and than after the Rangers up the hill again and than all hell broke loose. Bluming who was behind heard the unbelievable noise and told his LT that he was going down to see what happened to his friend Hans Crebas. Fully loaded with firepower he went down into the dark valley which at the end was fully lit up by all the mortar and artillery and tank fire together with the handgranates and small arms fire and the screams of the fighting Rangers was real loud. He found his friend after a while in the melee where he was helping wounded Rangers. When Bluming finally came back on the outpost he was wounded again by a mortar which dropped right behind him in the trench and his flightjacket saved his life and he landed for the third time in the Mash with a scrapnell behind his left knee. They where both recommended for the Silver Star. But the next day all they got was a promotion to PFC . Bluming was their when his group went out at the last day of the war and where ambushed and nearly all where killed that night. He was not with them this time for his time was up and he was rotated back to Holland . So his first platoon lost 8 man killed in action and more than 70% wounded.

Back in Holland he refused to make a career of the Army and went again into civilian life. Years later their would be justice. During one of his seminars a budoka in Seattle read his book about Korea. His name was Kregg Jorgenson a sergeant of the Vietnam war and besides a Silver Star more than 9 times decorated for bravery and three times wounded. He also is the chairman of the decoration committee of the Rangers. He also thought that Bluming and Crebas got the silver star. When he found out that they where NOT decorated he went after the facts and finally they where both decorated after all those years with the FORGOTTEN HERO AWARD .

Martial Arts career
Back in Holland in November 1953 he found by accident the judoclub Tung Jen which would really change his life. When he brought home his girlfriend he saw in a little street a poster of the TUNG JEN judoclub in November 1953. His fenomenal gift for Budo came to light during his amateur judoperiod when his Sensei Dr G Schutte (then 4th dan Tokyo Hirano) gave him his first dan only after 12 months.  In 1955 he got his second dan and in 1956 he was the first Dutchman who became Kodokan member from Ichiro Abe than 6th dan in La Baulle Franche and he was than captain of the Tung Jen team and won the European championships in Bellevue, Amsterdam Sept 1956. In 1957 he got his third dan from Tokyo Hirano at a summercamp in Holland when he throw 75 judoka from 4e kyu up to 4th dan in 26 minutes even when he had broken his big toe of his right foot. Than he broke also his right knee and went into surgery. In 1957 he was invited to train a police dojo in Berlin Germany and a private judoclub and did that for several months. The money from that event he used to get to Canada. His dream always has been to go back to Japan which in the time right after the second world war almost impossible. So he went to the Canadian embassy and threw his medals on the table and asked for a change to go to Canada. His wish was fulfilled and in January 1958 he arrived in Halifax Canada. He taken in by an old friend and was introduced the next day to Dalhousy University. There he started his career as a professional budoteacher and for two dollars an hour he gave his lessons. He also founded the Maritimes Judo Association and became when he left a life time honorary member. He organized the first Marine Judo Championships and won himself the title All Categories and heavyweight with a weight of only 79 kilo at that time. In January 1959 he left Canada for Japan and started with his students who where truck drivers and drove him all throughout the USA from Maine to San Francisco. At the big cities he stopped and visited all the dojos and fought with all he met. Via Hawaii he arrived in Tokyo in February 1959 and stayed around three years. His third dan from Hirano was accepted by Kodokan and he fought right away in the third dan competition and NEVER lost a match in all those years in Judo as well as in Karate. Later in December 1959 he had to leave Japan to renew his Visa and he went to Korea. He was taken in with all honor and did his test for 4th dan. He was matched against the Korean heavyweight champion Kim (5th dan) and threw him with a left osotogari. The next day he was matched against the 2nd dan champion of Korea and the 2nd dan champion students of Korea and the 3rd dan champion students of Korea Sup Lee. They all went in seconds. He got his 4th dan and his first teachers certificate from Asia. It was the 19th of December 1959.

Back in Tokyo he started under the guidance of the famous Donn Dreager again with weight training for judo and karate and became finally what he always wanted heavyweight at 102 kilo solid from 79 kilo in Canada and nobody could stop him anymore because ha also kept his middleweight speed as Dreager thaught him. In may 1960 he defeated the Japanese champion Kaminaga again with a strangelation which knocked him cold. During the Olympic training summer 1960 he finally threw Isao Inokuma his very close friend and training partner after a full hour fight with Uchi mata makikomi. He also got his 4th dan from Kodokan in competition. April 1959 Donn Dreager asked him to go together for more background on BUSHIDO to the police dojo and train under the famous 10th dan SHIMIZU and KURODA bojitsu and kendo and IiaiJitsu. During the all Japan police championships Kendo ect . they where asked to give a demonstration of Bojitsu and got a standing ovation and a third dan in both disciplines from the Japan Kendo federation. Bluming did another examination by his Sensei Ichitaro Kuroda for Iaijitsu and got his third dan from the JKF also for Iai Jitsu.

In 1960 he went to Manilla again to get a new visa. He gave seminars at the Manilla judo dojo and their he met somebody from the USA  embassy whose name cannot be told for obvious reasons.
Later this person would involve Bluming in kind of official business. In 1961 Bluming was invited to make a gonin gake ( a match against 5 third dans ) instead of Inokuma who was in hospital with a bad back injury. Dreager said to him: “Do it, that’s good for your name” and so it was. They where gone in less than 4 seconds a match.

Back to Holland
Than the letter came from Holland. Opa Schutte asked him to come back and teach the old dojo and the Amateurs association for a year on a good contract. Bluming who by than had a legendary name in Japan and was unbeaten in Judo and karate went back to teach his old friends and make some new ones and also to participate in the world championships in Paris France, Dec 1961. Of course it went all very different as planned ...

He became coach of the Dutch Amateur Judo Association and made his name throughout Holland and Europe solely because of his fight against the Judo Union of Anton Geesink who told not such nice tales to the press about Bluming but refused 7 times to meet Bluming on the judotatami wherever.  Bluming was under false accusations not aloud to participate in Paris. The press was wondered , especially when Bluming was introduced to the Black belts of the NAJA as the new coach the first week of December 1961 in Bloemendaal. He made a match against all comers some 80 judoka from 1th dan until 4th dan and threw them all within about 4 seconds under the watery eyes of the press .
They wrote the next day that Holland would be first and second in Paris and that Bluming must be aloud to fight. It did not help and Bluming watched in Paris a well deserved victory of Anton Geesink.
It made him so miserable that he stopped with competing and started teaching instead.

In his career as a teacher he delivered several champions, like Chris Dolman (4 times world champion), Willem Ruska (double Olympic champion in 1972 and three times world champ judo), Ottie Roethof (World champion in soft style karate and the team world champion), Sem Schilt (at the top in K1 and free fight winner of three times the daido juku and three time King of Pancrase) and the students of his students like Jan Plas (who gave it all to Ernesto Hoost and Peter Aerts), Peter Adelaar and Jan Kallenbach. Bluming went all throughout Europe and founded the European Kyokushinkai kan. The first karate union in Europe was founded by Bluming January in1962. The first ever karate championships were held in Krasnapolsky Hotel Amsterdam in 1965. The first international match was held against the team of Steve Arneil (a student of Oyama and Bluming in 1967) and won by the Budokai dojo.

On the 15th of Januari 1965 he was the first foreigner awarded the 6th dan in kyokushin karate from the Kyokushinkaikan Honbu by Mas Oyama. The karateworld, who was not so big those days, was shocked. Oyama put a classical samurai end to that spectacle and told the karateworld that they could fight Bluming man to man without any rules in a boxing ring. The one who could beat Bluming that way would get $ 100.000 from Oyama and he would stop with karate and take away Bluming his 6th dan.
It was than very silent all of a sudden. Nobody came forward … In 1966 their was one budoka from Korea who came to Blumings dojo and wanted to fight him in a sporty manner. His name was KWAN MO GUN 5th dan Tae Kwon Do and Heavyweigt Champion of Korea. Bluming admired Kwan because he fought his way through Jan Kallenbach, who knocked him cold, then Kenji Kurosaki (the poor man had not heard of him) who knocked him cold and than he still wanted to fight Bluming. That is spirit and real karate and the fact that he lost had nothing to do with that fact. He had KOKORO with big letters. Bluming knocked him out with a shotei for which he is still famous and Kurosaki stopped the fight. That was the only one in all those almost 50 years who really came to fight in the real samurai manner.

In the period after this Bluming delivered a lot of teachers who sometimes went their own way. One example is Loek Hollander who betrayed his teacher Bluming in Japan and Europe in such a way that the Japanese organisation (who was then interested more in money than good teachers) followed Hollander. The Dutch Karate Organisation (NKA) was a initiative of Bluming, grew big under Loek Hollander and got separated in the 80’s when a lot of teachers left Hollander because of the fact that financial benefits where more important to Hollander than practicing kyokushin karate and educating students and teachers.

In January 1989 Bluming received his 9th dan in kyokushin karate from Japan. In that same year he also got his 9th dan in Judo from Japan and was the only one in the world now who got both of the highest grades in Martial Arts from JAPAN. In November 1989 he got a visit from Akira Maeda 8th dan of the Budokai. He told Bluming that Oyama Sensei had send him to talk to Bluming and that he wanted Bluming back in the Honbu and wanted to make him President of the World Karate Kyokushin kaikan. Also that he wanted Bluming to teach the karateka of the Honbu who where keen on fighting professionally in allround especially by the fight organisation of “RINGS JAPAN “ of which Maeda was the President. Bluming said that he would do so only if Loek Hollander was out of the HONBU. Maeda said that Oyama sensei was aware of the problems but for several reasons could not agree with that.

In april 1994 instead of going to Japan Bluming got a fax that his Sensei Mas Oyama had died suddenly in the hospital. He was so devastated that he went to Tokyo to pay his respect and say Sayonara to his Sensei. September the 4th he got a fax from Kenji Kurosaki that he was awarded with the grade of his teacher Mas Oyama and got so his 10th dan signed by 5 big organisation of Budo in Japan. He was the first 6th dan in Honbu and now the first 10th dan in the world as a westerner.
The separation and start of several Dutch karate organisations increased after the death of Mas Oyama in 1994.

Kyokushin Budo Kai
The Kyokushin Budokai was founded by Bluming in 1980. Why this name ???
First because of his Sensei who gave him this new martial art which also changed his life some more after Judo. Second because of Trevor P. Leggett, who was a 6th dan before the second world war n Kodokan judo together with O’Neill (an American). Leggett became very tired of politics and the jackasses who where only interested in making money and taking power positions for the good times without (most of them) having done anything themselves in Judo. He decided to make the Budo kwan in London. His rules where very simple. Anybody who was genuinely interested in doing real judo was welcome. Strictly forbidden was talking about politics as well in Judo as in world business, race, religion etcetera. Only judo. Those who stepped on those rules where expelled. That made a big impression on Jon Bluming when his Sensei Opa Schutte told him that. For Opa and Leggett where good friends. In 1980 a budoka from the Dutch Navy, Jan de Bruin, called him and asked Bluming to give a seminar at the Navy base Vlissingen. Bluming accepted and after the seminar and a good heart to heart talk to Jan de Bruin he decided to make the Kyokushin Budokai in the same style as Leggett.
The first dojo to join was from his former students Tom Eikmans and Frans van Wijngaarden from Spijkenisse. The Budokai was born and has now grown to a healthy and international organisation.

The Kyokushin Budo kai later was also molded into the International Budo kaikan with the support of Dave Jonkers (now 8th dan) and David Cook (who is now expelled because he committed fraude and started his own organisation). The budokai styel is a nonsense style and especially good for free fight and selfdefence or as Bluming likes to call it:  All round karate.
 
The Kyokushin Budokai has now many dojos who all work together for the good of Budo who can learn from each other and Bluming travels still all over the world to show them his ideas of fighting, refereeing, shiai’s ( the honest way ) and selfdefence which is so important our days.