Kuma

With a lot of the comparatively younger Shihan, I would agree with this. A lot of the senior instructors who have been with Kyokushin since day one are quite different though. Our organization's top instructor trained first under Shigeru Oyama and later Sosai Oyama and we train lots of different applications, especially those from Tensho kata.

I love it. That's why I consider it my primary style and foundation.

We typically do some warm-up exercises, then kihon drills for a while. Then we'll hop into some kumite drills and matches, then finish with kata. Pretty standard class, many times we'll add in other aspects of training (i.e. goshin-jutsu, ukemi, kobudo, depends on whatever we're currently working on).

Getting both your hands tied up on their throat is basically giving them an easy sweep though I'd think.

When I was testing in 2007, part of my requirement was to spar 15 minutes continuously against several other students and instructors. While sparring one of my instructors, he cracked one of my floating ribs with a body hook, and then later another student managed to dislocate my xyphoid. Not a fun day, took a bit to recover from that one.

Actually "parcour" was what the French military used to call their obstacle courses from what I see. The guy most well known for Parkour today is a fellow named David Belle, a martial artist, stuntman, and actor. He was former military and some of his experiences shaped Parkour, but Parkour is not a French military creation.

The Japanese term for it is called dojo arashi, which roughly means "dojo storming". As many have said, it used to be a common thing but not so much anymore. I have witnessed two challenges at my own school. My instructor always agrees for a sparring session but that we do it the proper way. A true dojo challenge is challenging the entire dojo itself, not just the instructor, so a challenger has to face the students as well. He also has them sign a waiver making any injuries sustained during their time training at our place is not our fault. One of the challengers refused to sign and promptly left. The other agreed to sign and quit after fighting a kohai who was pretty much mopping the floor with him.

Parkour is different from free-running and does include a variety of acrobatic moves to get over and around obstacles.

I would not consider it a martial art, as it is not trained like one. It's basically a combination of gymnastics and running, neither of which I would consider martial.

Three places of interest to karateka that you can't pass on: (1) The Okinawa Prefecture Karate Museum (2) The Budokan in Naha typically has lots of karate demos and tournaments (3) Shuri Castle As far as places to eat, Curry House CoCo. Amazing curry.

Check out the book "Five Years One Kata" by Bill Burgar.

I actually remembered when that happened (showing my age here). It was a big deal at the time and I think he eventually got a big settlement out of the Hulkster for it.

In his book "Kill As Catch Can" on using freestyle wrestling for street fighting, Ned Beaumont mentions a few incidents of pro wrestlers fighting with police officers. All I can say is you definitely do not want to underestimate them. They are strong, tough, well conditioned, and can adapt what they know to really injure you. Hulk Hogan choking out Richard Belzer on TV is a good example of that.

It's situations like these why you need a variety of tools. This is my main argument with those who claim their systems are just too deadly for any other fight but one to the death.

You just started Systema, I'd wait a good while before trying something else.

If someone is puffing themselves up and taunting you with insults, they're trying to get you to play the game. You getting verbally/physically combative back is what they want. Still, just staying there and taking it is no good either as their courage then starts to build up and they might attack you. I feel the best option is to avoid their game altogether and get the heck out of Dodge. React in a way that makes no sense whatsoever, then as they react to it you've got your window of opportunity to walk away. They may think you're nuts but situation avoided.

Much like there are many different types of kung fu, there are many different types of karate. Body movement and coordination is a key principle in all martial systems. There are many subtle details in even the simplest of techniques. I can't think of any martial art that does not constantly attempt to improve the movement and reflexes of its students.

I really can't say if that's what they're getting like, as the very few tournaments I've been to as a spectator have been geared towards knockdown karate styles, so it's primarily knockdown sparring and basic tameshiwari. However, I have seen some of that "extreme martial arts" stuff on TV with the outlandish kata and uniforms and I can definitely say it's a strange offshoot of real martial arts.

Not sure about Machida's, but Silva's is used a lot already. Most of the guys tend to stick with the body rather than the face when doing their push kicks, but a good striker will go for the high kicks.

I found Machida's, which is the one I think you mean. The one he took out Couture with, am I right? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBEi9aPJIkM If so, that's tobi mae geri, a flying front kick. A flashy move, but effective. Here he is demonstrating it from his Machida Karate-Do videos: Silva's is different though, he doesn't hop like Machida does. His is more just your standard rear leg front kick.

Do you mean this kick of Silva's? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyNzIw4lEwk If so, it's a pretty standard front kick. It's been in a lot of MMA matches and a lot of fighters have scored a couple KOs with it. If it works, people are going to use it, and the front kick is about as basic and effective as you're going to get.

Tobi mae geri is a pretty strong technique if you get the technique down right. Flashy, but can get you a KO. Ewerton Teixeira, a Kyokushin karateka who now fights in K-1, has used them pretty well in a lot of his matches. He has a powerful mae geri in general.

The front kick's been used quite a bit in MMA last I saw. Not sure what you mean...?

Admittedly that's been old news for a while, but there are some schools of thought which think cardio before weights can be beneficial. It's all what works for you. I've always done my cardio after weights, but I've mixed it up sometimes to good effect.

"Beer mug down" in most karate systems is usually uraken mawashi uchi. Starting right at about 7:00 you can see it. We'll work it in with our fighting combinations from time to time, as well as on the bags, but I've never used it in kumite yet personally.