evergrey

From what I hear about ours, it involves pain, suffering, more pain, more suffering, kata and kumite in a river, bruises, welts, jogging, climbing stairs all the way up a dam, running uphill, sleeping on river rocks, doing on the knuckle push-ups on river rocks, possibly running barefoot in the snow, standing under a freezing cold waterfall, and probably a lot of kihon. And also pain, suffering, and karate.

to push AND to endure would be a more literal translation, I think. As for getting it tattooed- I think I have heard some Shotokan people use it. Perhaps some others do as well... but it's true that we're known for it. It's not the same as getting the kanku or the Kyokushin kanji tatted on, however. I had a number of friends in my life who now say OSU, though they've nothing to do with Kyokushin, because they have come to love it and it's meaning. I can't speak for all Kyokushin karateka, only myself... but I think it's not a bad choice. OSU!

Is GKR the style that has people going door to door in dogis trying to find students?

Might want to try talking to the instructor before class, if possible, or the highest rank student there if not.

One of our students got surprise graded a month ago, lol! He had no idea it was coming. I picked up on it but didn't tattle. It was great, and he passed with flying colors... which is why they did it. They knew he needed to be MUCH higher rank than he was!

I'm really lucky in that our Shihan (7th dan) and head instructor (5th dan) are both total sweethearts who give lots of time to the newest white belt, and lots of time to the seasoned students as well. They are gracious hosts when a guest comes to work out with us, and always willing to talk to students before or after class, so long as they don't have to jet out of these for something important. Most of the Shihans I have met have been pretty nice folks, actually. There are a few who aren't, and certainly some fakers who aren't. Some can be creepers too. They're human! But most have been great. I just love Sensei8. Totally welcome to share my meal anytime. OSU!

Haha, I ended up saying hi to your daughter instead of you!

Hollywood style, grabbing the hand right before the it would hit the face. Ahh... lol, no, that just gets you punched in the face with your own hand. Next time you see that, please get video and post it to youtube!

LOL, OSU Bob! But let's not talk about the housing thing, as they'll hear it in the room next door, and I just want calm until they move out on the 12th. :}

Such a relief. Also the doctor believes that way back 6 years ago, I was misdiagnosed with a serious deadly kind of cancer, that has been scaring the pants off me since then. He says he doesn't think I can have it, and sees no sign of it, so yay! Breathing, bit by bit, over here. OSU!

Anything that hones your skills and has a positive effect on your life is probably good. I don't know about formal "sport karate." The full contact knockdown tournaments I go to don't involve any punch bulling, LOL! The medic works overtime. Half the photos of my friends from the last tournament are of them lying on the mat with the dude in blue gloves kneeling over them!

Heh, my dojo tests (it's always done in Kyokushin) and they don't do it to get money out of me, and I always give it 100%. *shrugs*

Catch a punch, in what way? Like, redirecting? Or grabbing the hand when they've passed full extension or not built up enough speed and power yet?

OSU! I'm pretty happy about it myself. Still hasn't really sunk in. I mean, that axe has been hanging over my head for a long time now... I haven't REALLY noticed yet that it's gone. Also got a new housemate, woohoo! I don't trust the "justice" system, as it stands. If my instructor got thrown in jail, I'd investigate myself.

Wow!!! Man, I wonder if one of them reads this forum? They worked us so hard I almost passed out, and I did get a small asthma attack, and a lot of pretty solid beatings from blackbelts, LOL! It was just what I needed though, with everything going on in my life. But hey, today I found out that I don't have cancer. So yay!

Sorry, having a crisis at home right now, and am not on skype much. :/

I think it would depend in part on whether or not I agreed that the crime in question really WAS a Horrible Nasty Evil Bad Thing. Like prostitution? Nah, I don't really actually object to that, so long as everyone is a consenting adult and not being forced into it. My very visual imagination is trying to force my instructors into miniskirts with fishnets now, and I am filled with horror at the thought of it. LOL. OSU!

Ahh, quite different from our dojo. A brand new student is assigned an assistant instructor, or maybe the main instructor works with them while someone else leads the class. We usually have two instructors in class anyway. The "why" and "how" is explained often and well, but succinctly. New students are made to feel welcome. Sorry the class environment didn't work out for you. :/ it's a great style! Not all schools or teaching styles are the same. When I started out, there were a lot of things I just had to follow along with, but if I needed help, I got it. We are also always welcome to ask questions after class, which I do often. Good luck on your search! OSU!

Found out more about our mat- it's three layers of inch deep foam, with plastic between each layer, and then kind of slick mat material on top of that. Got the foam from a gymnastics flooring place. We can sweep and throw people plenty, but the mat is hard to balance on, heh! It's so soft. It's hard on my knees. I love it when I get thrown though!

OSU! Welcome back!

Kyokushin is a great option. Am I biased? Oh yes. But Kyokushin is also well-respected... and a lot of dojos do, contraty to popular belief, also train with controlled head punches. Mine sure does, haha! It really toughens you up, and has alive sparring that is a lot more realistic than point sparring, or sparring where you are wrapped in a ton of bubble-wrap. We just wear mouthguards in my dojo. Some people use shin guards, but most don't. If we are doing face and head punches, we wear MMA gloves. I only know some Kyokushin folks in Queensland, pretty sure.

In my area, the police train in BJJ and Kyokushin. We have probably 6 officers or so at my dojo. The basic hand to hand training they give to law enforcement officers is really not sufficient. For a law enforcement officer, they should learn how to handle themselves on the ground, and also how to handle themselves when they very much do NOT want to end up on the ground, like with a crowd or multiple opponents.

What would your goal be? What do you want to accomplish?

The most effective style is the style that works best for you. The style that resonates the most with you, but is also realistic and good for practical application. As for "deadliest," are you looking to kill someone? Killing doesn't really take a ton of skill, and there's more efficient ways to do it, but it's generally illegal. Or do you mean most effective?

Solid thinking, Liver Punch! In my class, in my dojo, which is the much more formal one, everyone pretty much wears the same uniform, though not identical. Some have silkscreened kanji on a cheap gi. Some have it embroidered on a much more expensive Kyokushin-themed dogi. Some of us are poor. Some saved up and got something nice. But it's a white gi with the kanji on it. The other class is a lot less formal. They don't care too much about rank there, and they don't care too much about uniform either. One guy wears a black dogi that he bought years ago for some sort of demo for another style at his high school. You can still see the spots that used to have silver flame appliques on them, lol! Plenty of awesome fighters in both classes. There are actually more serious fighters in the "rank and uniform don't really matter" class, now that I think about it. The formality, the high protocol, and the uniformity all have their merits, for sure. The heart and spirit of the training matter more though, in my opinion. But we don't tend to approach Kyokushin as sport karate at my dojo. OSU!