Espina

I don't know about Abbe Kenshiro Docho. Could you tell me more about him, please?

Well, there are always exceptions For example, Master Kanazawa comes to my mind. He got his black belt in a couple of years, but janitors at the college he was attending said he never stopped training, even when it was 3 am, Master Kanazawa was practicing katas and kumite techniques by himself. I can't remember the name of Master Kanazawa's Sen Sei, but I'm sure he had to be more than confident that he was giving the black belt to an outstanding student, since Master Kanazawa is now a 10 Dan Shotokan Kaycho (for the Shotokan International Karate Federation)

Does anyone practice Ashihara Karate?

You must keep something in mind... traditional karate only had two belts: white and black. The Kyu system was implemented when Karate was brought to Occident. As westerns, we are always specting some kind of promotion, some kind of reward or ranking. We don't have the patience of oriental people, and therefore the Kyu system works for us. I can tell you, though, that as I was getting near to the black belt I was also understanding the importance of patience and also an internal feeling that says whenever you are ready or not, which is backed by your Sen Sei. I think that initial promotion is good, because that makes you feel more important and is an incentive to keep doing martial arts. But I also thing that as you go near the black belt, you should be asked to have a neat performance, a full set of values, complete respect for others and a willing to do good. Otherwise you are not a martial artist, you are a simple fighter.

I practice two karate styles: Ashihara and Goju Ryu. They are both karate, but as stated above, they are different. Goju Ryu is more traditional. The training techniques are far more "simpler" than the ones from Ashihara, since Goju Ryu uses training gadgets from many years ago (I´m sorry for my english, it's not my native language). For example, Goju Ryu uses a huge heavy clip-shaped metal ring, a hammer called Chising, jars full of water, etc. Ashihara, on the other side doesn't use these kind of gadgets. The training is more orientated like Kyokushin or Muay Thai, where you kick and hit a lot of sandbags and pows (as well as your training partners hehehehe). The main differences I´ll have to say are the way kumites are performed (remeber, they are both karate, so they can't be that different either). Goju Ryu is a lot like shotokan. You fight with gloves, and every time a point is made the fight is stopped. You can kick from the belt up and can punch from the belt up too (even at the face), but the punches can only be tsukis , there no way you can throw a hook or anything like that. You need to be pretty agile for this kind of karate, since it's focus on hitting fast and first. On the other side, Ashihara uses elbows, knees,kicks, punches, etc. You can kick just about any part of the body and punch the same, but not in the face (the punching part, feel free to kick the head every time you want). The kumite is not stopped until time is up. Many people states that this kind of karate (incorrectly called full contact) is tougher than traditional karate. I don´t think that there is a tougher karate. As I mentioned, they are all karate, you just need to find the one that fits you the most I recommend you watch some videos form Benetello, Biamonti and Pina to get a glimpse of Traditional Karate Kumite. Also, these links will show you some traditional kumite from Japaneses. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki4J2y687tM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6LPxs1zbmE For Ashihara kumites, please search for the "Sabaki Challenge" on you tube. Particularly the one from '97 is pretty good . You can search also for a guy named Kurbanov, which practices Kyokushin (a lot similar to Ashihara). I heard one time that Ashihara is the Karate style practiced by the japan policy and military. I don't know if this is true, but I wouldn't be surprise if so, because as I read before, this particular kind of karate is a lot street fighting focused. I hope this information helps Osu