KOF'98UM Art of Fighting Team

KOF'98UM
Art of Fighting Team

The core team of Kyokugenryu Karate, founded by Takuma Sakazaki, consists of his son Ryo Sakazaki, his daughter Yuri Sakazaki, and his disciple Robert Garcia. Though all three come from the same school, their styles could not be more different: Ryo is fierce and pure, every strike the ultimate expression of fundamentals, earning him the name "the Invincible Dragon"; Robert is swift and razor-sharp, his techniques flashy and precise, layering his own talent over the Kyokugenryu foundation to claim the title "the Strongest Tiger"; Yuri turns the hardness of her father and brother into lightness, fighting with agility and variety and carving out a place all her own within the team. Dragon, tiger, and swallow: one school, three styles.

Ryo Sakazaki

Heir to Kyokugenryu Karate and the current head instructor of the dojo, Ryo Sakazaki was forged from childhood under the strict training of his father, Takuma Sakazaki, carving Kyokugenryu's creed of ending a fight with a single decisive blow into his very bones. There is no trickery in his martial art. Ko'ou Ken expresses that most clearly: a measured, domineering blast of gathered power, released only to strike after the opponent moves and still beat them there. When he needs to break a stalemate, he lowers his body and skims across the ground, trading height for speed with Hien Shippu Kyaku to cut in front of his opponent in an instant. If the enemy tries to suppress him from the air, Kohou answers with a charged rising blow. It is not technique that defines that attack, but the instinctive counter that erupts the moment he is pressed. And when mind and body are pushed to their limit, the ultimate form of Ko'ou Ken appears: Haoh Shokoken, turning all his gathered power into a massive shockwave that tears through everything ahead.

But these are only his conventional weapons. Kyokugenryu's secret art, Ryuuko Ranbu, is his true trump card. Once unleashed, fists, feet, elbows, and knees become an unbroken frenzy of attacks, abandoning every trace of defense and leaving only relentless forward momentum. It was with that retreatless fist that he earned the name "the Invincible Dragon" in a life-and-death clash with South Town overlord Geese Howard.

Robert Garcia

Born into an illustrious Italian family, Robert Garcia could have stayed far from the strife of the fighting world. But as a boy he witnessed the might of Kyokugenryu and was completely captivated, traveling to Japan alone to study under Takuma Sakazaki. From total outsider to a fighter strong enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ryo Sakazaki, he rose on the back of extraordinary talent and a competitive spirit far beyond the ordinary.

Unlike Ryo's steadiness, Robert's fighting style is fast and razor-edged. Ryuu Geki Ken is born from Ko'ou Ken, but abandons the path of direct collision; it is slyer, faster, and designed to cut into the instant before an opponent's power fully comes together. Hien Ryuujin Kyaku raises the advancing force of Hien Shippu Kyaku to another level, taking to the air for a wider kicking range and landing points far harder to predict, drawing a precise slash across the sky. Genei Kyaku pushes speed to its limit: a burst of multiple kicks so fast that afterimages seem to remain in place, and by the time an opponent blocks the first kick, the rest are already impossible to stop.

All of these techniques point to one truth: he is the sharpest blade in Kyokugenryu, not built to crush through a defense, but to tear it open. And when the battle demands everything, his Ryuuko Ranbu comes out as well. Unlike Ryo's version, Robert's flurry is ferocious without ever losing control, every strike landing exactly on the moment his opponent falls off balance. If Ryo's Ryuuko Ranbu is a storm, Robert's is a scalpel.

Over the years, he and Ryo Sakazaki have been rivals and comrades in equal measure, constantly testing each other and standing side by side countless times. That pride, the refusal to fall behind anyone, is what tempered his own title within Kyokugenryu: "the Strongest Tiger."

Yuri Sakazaki

Ryo Sakazaki's sister and Takuma Sakazaki's daughter, Yuri Sakazaki entered Kyokugenryu for reasons that had nothing to do with formal training. Her brother and father were always away, and she refused to be the one who simply waited at home. From awkward beginnings to the easy confidence she now displays, she forged a path entirely different from theirs: in Yuri's hands, the hardness of Kyokugenryu becomes lightness.

Her Ko'ou Ken has not yet reached the heavy force of her brother's, but it comes out faster and with greater flexibility, like an arrow loosed ahead of expectation. Under her feet, Hien Shippu Kyaku is no longer a desperate forward rush, but a true flying swallow, gliding lightly across the battlefield, able to change direction at any moment, tracing an arc through the air before striking with precision. Her real signature, however, is Raiou Ken, a downward burst of power thrown from the air that fuses Kyokugenryu's force with the nimbleness that is uniquely hers. That move belongs to no one else. She carved it out for herself.

When it is time to end the fight, she can unleash Haoh Shokoken as well. Its force may not equal the weight behind her father's or brother's, but its strength lies in surprise: no one expects a shockwave of that scale from so slender a figure. She does not need anyone's approval. Her fists are answer enough.

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