Hajime Kazumi
Hajime Kazumi was born in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan on December 14th, 1971 and is the Japanese Karateka. At the age of 52, Hajime Kazumi biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 52 years old, Hajime Kazumi has this physical status:
In 1992, Kazumi's first entry in a Karate tournament was participating in the 24th Open Tournament All Japan Karate Championships. At the time, Kazumi's only accolade was winning FTV Cup Tohoku Tournament in the same year, but was otherwise deemed as a unremarkable participant. He fought and won against also fresh Akira Masuda in the third round on the second day. Kazumi gained momentum and defeated other successive open tournament World Open Karate Championship representatives. He beat Hiroyuki Miake in the 4th round. After defeating Yutaka Ishii in the quarterfinals and Yasuhiro Shichino in the semifinals, Kazumi advanced to the finals.
Although he lost to Yoshihiro Tamura in the final match, he won second place in his first appearance and was named the break-out sportsman of the event. Kyokushin founder Mas Oyama praised Kazumi's performance, quote "To think [Kazumi] is still in his 20s and yet is so strong? I'm looking forward to [his] future."
In 1993, he participated in the 1st Open Tournament All Kanto Karatedo Championships, and won two of the five tournament games with a left middle mawashi geri and a left lower mawashi geri. In the same year, he participated in the 25th All Japan Championship as a seed player for "Number 1". Again, Kazumi reached the finals and final match was against Yoshihiro Tamura, the same opponent whom he lost to last year. The fight was intense and dragged on, requiring two extensions. Kazumi would be declared the winner by 5–0 decision and achieved his first victory at the youngest age of 21 in history. In addition, he became the last champion to win the championship cup when Mas Oyama was still alive.
In the 26th All Japan Championship of 1994, his final match was against Kenji Yamaki, his Kyokushin senior. Kazumi lost the match by decision and ended up as the runner-up. He was elected as the representative of the World Championship the following year.
In the 6th World Championship of 1995, he successfully won from the D block, and in the 4th round, he took the judgment victory from Norihisa Horiike of the Hyogo branch and won against Brazilian Glaube Feitosa in the quarterfinals. Kazumi would fight Francisco Filho in the semi-finals. Filho fought fiercely in overtime and two extensions. Kazumi won by split decision. In the final match, he faced Yamaki yet again, but Kazumi was defeated and ended up as the runner-up.
The 28th Open Tournament All Japan Karatedo Championships in 1996 would be dominated by the Australian Garry O'Neill. All Japanese fighters had lost to him and O'Neil would advance to finals.
Kazumi on the other-hand had defeated Norihisa Horiike in the quarter-finals and Masaki Takao and the Hyogo branch in the semi-finals. However, the fights had left his body in very bad condition, with Kazumi having his left toenail peeled off, his right knee ligament stretched, and his right arm broken. Kazumi would win his fight against O'Neil by 3–0 decision, earning Kazumi his second victory of his career.
In 1997, he had cruised the 29th All Japan Championship without any real challenge, until reaching the finals, where Kazumi would fight Gary O'Neil again. The fight was intense and would go overtime. With 30 remaining in overtime, O'Neil would collapse following left side mawashi-geri kicks from Kazumi, having now won his third overall and second consecutive victory.
At the 30th All Japan Championship in 1998, Kazumi would overwhelming win all the fights and he achieved his fourth overall victory with three consecutive victories. Kazumi was elected to the representative of the World Open Karate Championships the following year.
On March 13, 1999, Kazumi challenged the 100-man kumite. One person fought 100 people in 1 minute 30 seconds. Opponents include Francisco Filho, Hitoshi Kiyama, Ryuta Noji, Yasuhiko Kimura, Masayoshi Takaku, Yoshihiro Tamura, Naoki Ichimura, Ryu Narushima, Shinji Adachi, who were selected as representatives of the 7th World Open Karate Championship. Kenji Yamaki served as the 100th opponent. Kazumi completed the 100-kumite. Immediately after the completion, he went straight to the hospital because of chills, nausea and pain.
At the 7th World Championship held in November of the same year, he defeated Glaube Feitosa in the semi-finals, advanced to the finals, and rematched with Filho. The match with Filho dragged through various overtimes, eventually brought to split decision. Kazumi lost and become the runner, whereas Filho would be the first foreigner to win the Kyokushin World Championship in 27 years of its inception from 1975.