Shinta

Apart from the makiwara training which has already been mentioned I'd like to say something that has not been said directly yet. Also focus on your hara ( center of gravity / abs ). You're probably contracting it already without thinking about it but try to lower it. It will be harder on your legs but it will make your rotations more solid and make you contract torso muscles easier, specially upper-back that's what makes your punches solid.

When I was learning that kick, I was always told to begin as I would to perform a mae-geri (only pulling your knee high) and then rotate. If you try to do this slowly you will find it very hard to do without dropping your knee (when starting to rotate). However, if you train like this, when going to full speed, you will feel a lot more solid and balanced. And that is what most people miss when doing this kick. That's why they are completly unbalanced if the partner blocks them. Hope this helps. I just find it hard to describe body movements

I've never felt something like "poundage on the joints". But mae-geri in the beginning can be a little harsh on your knees but as long as control it it's ok. But that's not just shotokan... The rest was said by Killer Miller

It kind of makes me wonder... You're training Unsu without knowing something I learnt on my first training? Uhmmm...

Working on it for hundreds of times... It worked for me Well, just start by trying to do it and land standing up - start on kokutsu-dashi and land on zenkutsu-dashi don't worry about the kick in the begining, just try to keep yourself in the air as long as possible. Keep on doing this until you start feeling like you really spend some time in the air and don't have to rotate as fast. This is because when you add the kick, your angular momentum increases and you will rotate slower. then you just have to rotate as fast as you can and you will still feel the same way as without the kick. (hope this made sense) Then focus on the landing, once again you can just forget the kick for now. Just jump and land as you should land (can't really describe it shortly). Then just add the kick and you have it Lastly, practice really a lot and frequently. I find it difficult to keep up with the quality previously achieved if I don't practice at least 2 times a week... Hope this helps!

You can see here, SKIF world championship bareknuckle. I've had the pleasure of training with all the three in the ring for more than once

Yes, the point system is waza ari/ippon in competitions. I'd rather keep silent about my nationality if you don't mind however I can tell you I'm not in an english speaking country I can also tell you that we practice a slightly less point oriented competition in our internal competitions

Until last year we would compete bare knuckled in my country, as a part of S.K.I.F.

I believe that training gear can help you to approach more realistic situations in a more friendly way. And I totally agree with you when you say that the mindset is key. What I was talking about was something that I saw on other competitors' attitude in competitions... More point oriented and less fight oriented...

I've always competed bare-handed, only last year gloves were introduced... I only wore a teeth protector before Now it's a teeth protector and gloves and I think the quality of the fights imediately went down... People don't concentrate as much and leave the face open a lot more just to score a few more points - getting away from true fighting, true karate...

Hope you like

I love to train basics again and again alone. And then see my evolution with a partner I believe that if you master basics, everything else will come pretty much naturally. You'll have the balance, power, endurance, correctness of posture...

Nice post Joesteph!

In Kyokushin it isn't allowed to punch the face. That's partially why they use that guard... For me, I don't have a specific guard, I just keep on changing them through out the fight but I always guard myself. I believe that throwing your arms down is just stupid and disrespectfull. Well, in my style of fighting, I count mostly on antecipation and dodging. As for street fighting, I do not allow anyone to come close to me. I attack first when they enter the my security circle - might look too aggresive to outsiders, but I prefer to be the one standing up in the end... I usually throw a couple of punches and then try to throw them down (while they're still recovering) and try to make sure they don't get up again... I use kicks mainly for defensive purposes, keep distance, etc. As I believe they aren't that effective and have a greater risk associated with them...

I tend to agree with Zanshin about the utility of shows. But I must say this was a decent show (I'm assuming the audience wasn't MA related) It's ok to have those acrobatic movements but I must say that you could have done better in the more traditional parts. Perhaps a little less matrix style without power and more of a tsuki that actually hits your partner. You've done it for fun but, why not karate in the bits where you got nearer to it? Continue training and improving!