Howard Collins

Early life

Howard Collins was born in 1949 in Mountain Ash, Wales, roughly 20 miles from Cardiff. He lost his father at age eight. During his school years, he played rugby and did athletics training.

At 15, he took up Kyokushin karate at the Cardiff School of Budo, inspired by reading about Masutatsu Oyama. In 1967, he joined the London Metropolitan Police, but his mother died just three weeks later. After two years in London, he signed on with the merchant navy to sail his way to Japan, departing when he was 21.

Karate career

Howard Collins first set foot in Japan in 1971 as a 3rd kyu, training at the Kyokushin headquarters under Oyama. On October 22, 1972, he took second place at the 4th Open Karate Tournament in Tokyo, finishing behind Miyuki Miura. He became the first person to complete the 100-man kumite in a single day, either two years after starting his training in Japan or on December 1, 1972, depending on the source. Collins later recalled the ordeal, noting that while he started strong from two years of daily training, exhaustion set in, and when asked if he wanted to quit, he refused, thinking, "What can they do, kill me."

It ended after three and a half hours. In 1973, he returned to the UK and taught in British and European dojo. That same year, he was listed at 6 feet and 198 pounds, and in September he earned his 3rd dan. At the 1st World Tournament in November 1975, he lost to Toshikazu Sato on a judge's decision after multiple extensions and a rematch.

Following an invitation from Attila Meszaros, he moved to Sweden in 1977. He placed fifth at the 2nd World Tournament in November 1979.

Collins was ranked 4th dan in 1980, promoted to 7th dan by Oyama in 1993, and received 8th dan during or after the World Tournament in Japan in October or November 2015. He has authored several books, including The Kyokushinkai Knockdown karate book (1980), The Absolute Karate (1995), The Shodan (2003), and The Gateway (2004). He now leads the Gothenburg Kyokushin dojo in Sweden.