Judd Reid’s Incredible Journey From Skinny Teenager To 100-Man Kumite Legend

Judd Reid is one of an elite few karate masters who have successfully conquered the rarely-staged 100-man kumite. It is widely considered the ultimate martial arts test, where a challenger engages in a hundred consecutive two-minute fights against black-belt opponents. 

Through his martial arts journey from being a skinny Melbourne kid all the way to becoming a world champion who conquered the 100-man kumite, Reid has made it his personal mission to motivate people to pick up martial arts, and inspire a similar sense of determination and self-confidence.

More than five years removed from the life-altering experience, the Australian Kyokushin fifth-degree black belt stood inside Singapore’s Core Dojo. On that sunny afternoon, he took a quick recess from conducting a karate seminar for this exclusive interview with onefc.com, and recalled competing in the landmark event.

Reid breathes deeply. “[The 100-man kumite] is something you can never prepare for,” the 46-year-old says. “I dug deep and I drew on all my previous experiences in life, especially from my time in Japan. I drew from my persevering, never-give-up spirit. I believe, and I feel, what got me across the line was drawing on those experiences.”

Those experiences began in Melbourne, Australia. Reid was a skinny boy who played soccer and often engaged in schoolyard fights with bigger kids. By his own admission, he had a lot of fire in him, was always getting in trouble, and lacked self-confidence. However, when the self-proclaimed Bruce Lee fanatic started practicing karate when he was 12 years of age, and found the training yielding immediate results.

He felt an instant connection to Kyokushin karate, and bonded with it instantly. Reid enjoyed all aspects of the martial art, particularly the intensity of the training, the hardship,  discipline, and sweat it involved. Most of all, he respected the strictness of his teachers in ensuring everything was done at 100 per cent. 

“I liked the philosophy of karate. It is something that you wouldn’t forget about after you finished training and would bring home with you,” he says passionately. “With karate and martial arts, you carry those philosophies on with you throughout your life. It teaches you a way of life. In some ways, it teaches you how to behave.”

In fact, the person happiest with Reid’s training was his mother. She was overjoyed at how her son had changed. Suddenly, he had much-improved-concentration and discipline, which resulted in better results in school. Through karate, everything in Reid’s life was experiencing an immensely positive effect.

That was also the point where a dream was born. Reid made it his life’s ambition to study directly under Sosai Mas Oyama, the legendary teacher who founded the full-contact discipline of Kyokushin karate.