brickshooter

Also a factor is the adatption of "high-points" Karate tournaments that promotes tap-tap scoring. Consequently the tap-tap system influenced the way Karate was taught. Karate dojos replaced their more serious training for tap-tap training. Techiques that can do great damage was replaced with techniques that can score points. Strategy also changed. Once upon a time, people were scared of getting swept. Now. Everyone bounces because the worst thing that can happen is losing 1 point.

You're right, Thai front kicks are more of a thrust...now to your other reply...TKD is Karate, since General Choi Hong Hi developed it after learning Karate during his college years in Japan, which most Japanese college karate clubs are either Shotokan (Shorin-ryu) or Goju-ryu. Both of these styles use a front snap and a front thrust kick. So was it karate? Some may say it was Kung-fu, depends on how you look at history, but I'd look at it from a training standpoint at which I'd agree with you...easily a TKD front kick. Yes, the front kick is a basic TKD kick. But TKD people don't use it. Nor do they cultivated the way the Karate people do. The front kick is the bread and butter of (and often the only kick taught in) Karate. It is Karate's signature kick. BTW, they quickest way to give a Korean TKD instructor a heart attack is to suggest that TKD originated from Shotokan. That's a real taboo subject.

Latest front kick: Justin Buchholz against Steve Lopez. The vertical guard used in MMA (the "cage") is having serious issues stopping the front kick. Notice that Lopez anticipated the kick with a block. Unfortunately, like Randy Couture, he anticipated a round kick. Anyone notice the angle of contact? It's like an uppercut. But at long range. BTW, anyone else notices that in all of these fights, the guy eating the kick isn't understanding the range of the front kick? It isn't only that they're anticipating the round kick. It's that they're late in raising their guard.

One thing that you will find in a judo dojo and not on video nor books is a giant matt. It's about 2 feet deep and looks similar to the kind you see track and field pole-volters land on after leaping 20 feet into the air. This extra thick matt is generally used when students go into their throwing drills, and allows the thrower to throw uke with a full force without having to worry about not hurting their partner. I think 3-4 sleeping very soft mattresses can be tied together to get the same protection. I recommend the use of this in supplement to standard matts. You can throw uke 20 times without him/her hating you.

Daito Juko was officially available even before the 1st UFC back in the early 90s. It just haven't been popular in the USA until recently. Mixing styles have been around at least since the 50s on a personal level even if it wasn't officially sanctioned. Guys like Kanawaza (JKA) etc, all have dan grades in Judo before they ever entered the Karate dojo. A large number of these Karate masters were mid-dan Judokas.

I came from the Japanese schools so Bunakai was foreign. But I know that the Okinawan styles particularly as practiced in Okinawa have always taught Kata application as more than just a collection of strikes, far before any MMA influence. They didn't go to the ground. But locks, chokes, joint manipulations were included in their syllabus. The big difference was that they prefered to remain in their feet while appling these locks. Hence the use of low stances. To me locks, throws, trips, chokes appear legitimately in Katas. But to me, Kata is strickly a stand up affair. Regarding modern equipment such as mitts & punching bags, they were standard equipment in most Karate schools even before MMA. The reason is that it takes 5 minutes to get one from Big 5 Sporting Goods and it takes 3 days to build a makiwara assuming that you even have a place in the dojo to stick it into the ground.

I've notice that some organizations (not just individual dojos) have added ground curriculum to their syllabus. While other organizations have been more open minded to Kata interpretations, or searched out their Okinawan roots which interprets their Katas more than simple bunch of punches and kicks. Personally, I've taken up Judo training... or rather, returned to Judo which I've long ago erroneously dismissed as useless. Several years ago I've tried a couple of MMA gyms but found them all to teach exactly BJJ + MuayThai rather than a full spectrum of martial arts. And when not doing Judo, I tend to migrate back and forth between different Karate styles. I will likely dabble in BJJ. But at a dedicated and reputable BJJ school rather than a jack of all trait MMA gym. However, I'm not seen a school with reasonable fees nor without an outrageously long term contract that I have no intention of signing.

If I was the emperor of the TKD universe, the 1st thing that I'd do is to take all my chief instructors and make them white belts, then take them down to the Kyokushin or Shotokan (Shorin, Goju etc.) hombu dojo and have them relearn all their hand strikes & punches, and stances. NASCAR uniforms, toddler blackbelts, and poor instructors damage TKD. But the first thing that I would fix with TDK is what is listed above.

It's not a popular style in the United States. Even on youtube, it's difficult to find.

Brentyj, MOVE ON to Kyokushin!

Wait till ya hit 40.

Personally, I'd rather see Karate remain predominantly a striking art. I just think that specialization pushes the envelope more and allows instructors to become better experts. I guess that's why I do avoid the MMA gyms. I prefer to seek out the best Judo, Karate, and Aikido instructor I can find. And when the time is ripe, I'll seek out the best BJJ instructor I can find. If there is one thing I'd want to change about Karate, it's to make it more Budo and less tournament oriented. I'd hate for Karate to become the jack of all traits and master of none.

Well, there's professional MMA. And there's weekend warrior MMA. Professional MMA fighters will look at Machida and say "hey, that's Karate. I want to learn it." So fighters like Vitor Belford after getting his clock cleaned by Silva, added a Karate trainer. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the Weekend MMA warrior. He's stuck in his 2 year iron-clad contract. So the best that he'll do is stay in denial. Machida's kick isn't Shotokan, it's a high MT push kick. It's not a foot sweep, it's a low thigh kick & trip. Etc.

From my experience, as one gets older, one's joints are more sensitive to weight gain. In other words, walking around with a weightlifter's bulk is fine. But stomping around in them and doing all sorts of Karate motions tend to put more pressure on the joints. I'm 5'7". 160lbs. At one point, I bulked up to 180lbs. And at that weight, Karate training started to irritate my knees and feet. I changed my lifting routine and came back down to 155lbs and the irritation went away.

The Daido Juku guys have done a pretty good job laying the foundation for you're describing. I've never trained with them, but their syllabus looks solid. Rather than attempt to teach you everything from day 1, they focus on karate for the first 2-3 years wiht a little Judo sprinkled in. Then as you move closer to dan grade, they pour in Judo instruction. And they do a nice job of using each art to support the other. I've seen them use kneeing techniques as kuzushi for ashi wazas. And I've seen them throw uke then punch him senseless before he recovers rather than going to the ground. Your idea of teaming up with a Judo school is a good one. The biggest issue I see is that you guys have to make a living. And the Judo instructor isn't goning to wait 2 years down the line for you to prep your students. And compelling the student to learn both styles at the same time is a bit much to chew on for a beginner.

I agree with Sojo. But it's just not the instructions, it's the amount of practice one gets in randori that one can't get in kumite. And on top of that, one gets deeper instruction in throwing. For example, in Judo, I'm not getting instruction on a soei nage throw, I'm getting instruction on 10 variations on that single throw. Plus instruction on left and right side. Plus more instruction on throwing a smaller or heavier uke. I understand that in pure Judo, one can't break uke's balance with an uppercut. But overall, one gains a better understanding of manipulating balance. It's the same in Judo. Outside of competition, some schools will teach a complete system that includes striking. But that level of striking will never reach the same level found in Karate.

IMO, the three major factors are: 1. Karate got watered down to fill the needs of its biggest customer - children. And those children grew up, became instructors and passed on their own watered down version of Karate. 2. Incompetent instructors who teach technique rather than application. For example instructors should have made it clear that all Karate stances are "1 second snap shots" during a fight to leverage weight, transfer weight or retreat while maintaining balance. No one is supposed to hold a particular stance as a guard throughout the entire fight. Not only does it limit mobility, it tires out your legs. "How to do" is taught, but "how to use" is not. 3. Karate got killed in the marketing wars.

In the 80s the open tournaments allowed groin kicks. And the result was that people were more conservative with kicks. But it didn't disappear. Participants started to set up their kicks instead of throwing them out there without thinking. I suspect that if groin kicks were applied in Kyokushin tournaments, the same would result. In other words, they'd change their strategy to punch someone in the head first before kicking him in the head to finish him off. This is because it's fairly difficult to try and groin kick after taking a punch in the face.

Hey that's pretty good. One thing I've always been apprehensive about is a novice not finishing his throw and dropping me in mid air while I'm upside down. I've almost separated my shoulders a couple of times because of this.

That's mostly tournament training which isn't the norm for all Kyokushin dojos. Kumite rules depends on the individual dojo's chief instructor.

With this throw, a beginning uke often lands on his head. Furthermore, beginning students have not developed the skill of assisting his partner in falling. Consequently, they like to "throw" their training partner into the ground. I'm sure that as a group of students improves in skills (particularly falling), the instructor will adjust and teach throwing over the shoulder.

Before I teach someone how to punch, I have them throw a (American) football around for a while. For a kick, I have them kick a soccer ball around a bit. I have them do it both right and left handed. When they're throwing and kicking, I point out all the key features and tell them to remember that whipping motion and that weight shifting. When they understand those body mechanics, I teach punching and kicking. I find that it's far easier to teach someone to convert a throwing motion into a punch (and a soccer kick into a front kick) than starting with a blank sheet of paper, where people often look like they're doing the robot dance.

I know. But if you give a white belt an answer that it takes somewhere between 3.5 years and forever, then it's a large pill to swallow. Give him something that he can understand like the number of hours, then he'll more likely train every single day. And by the end of every week, he can say "hey, I've moved 7 hours closer to my black belt because I've trained an hour each day this week."

IMO, it takes about 500 - 900 hours to in class training to earn a black belt. If you're nonathletic, it'll be the higher end. If you're athletic, it'll be the lower end. If you're relatively athletic, heal quick, and can squeeze in 500 hours in one year, then you may earn it in one year.

I think that if you spend 20 minutes per day doing Kata, all that you'll lose is timing from Kumite. And that generally comes back within a month of training with others. BTW, that 20 minutes goes by real quick ... generally between waiting for the coffee to boil and finding your car keys in the morning.