brickshooter

I think that one of the problems with "The Strongest Karate" is that some people interpreted as the "best" Karate system. It's actually interpreted as the "strongest." As in one has to be literally "physically strong" to participate. Many participants actually pump weights to supplement their training. It's not a coincidence that the Kyokushin guys are a little "beefy" as a result. That being said, it's not for everyone. IMO, it's probably easier to start with another style to get proper beginning instructions. Then as you get your basics down, you can move into Kyokushin. BTW, they don't use pads. You get a mouth piece and a cup as protection.

LoL. Your instructor has a sense of humor. One kick is circular and the second is linear. You'll probably have to pay attention to your core and how your body weight is leading your kicks. The heel kick requires a lot of ROTATION. Your hips are open to help you spin. The jump back requires transferring of your weight to the target with very MINIMAL rotation. Your hips are closed. The purpose of the test is to check to see if you understand the mechanics of the back kick. Most people will screw up because they're using the same rotation mechanics of the heel kick when applying the back kick when doing it in succession. I would actually practice them separately. 100 spin heel, then 100 back rather than both at the same time.

It usually depends on the makers. But they usually warn you about it. From my experience, the Gi will shrink the first 2 times you boil them. Thereafter, they will shrink extremely minimal. You probably won't notice shrinkage thereafter until after 1-2 years of washing. In other words, boil twice. If it's still too long, use scissors.

I think that much of the body conditioning have been supplemented by weight lifting. You lose some paint tolerance. But you gain more safety. Frankly it's just easier to get students to weight lift than tolerate body conditioning.

One way to help lower the fear is to wrap the kid up in protective gear and lightly hit him to show that it doesn't really hurt. Then layer them up with gear from head to toe before their match. Lots of MMA sparing is done in this fashion and it's amazing how much punishment the padding can absorb.

To put no-contact dojos in perspective, I've a broken nose and chip tooth from a no-face contact dojo that didn't use protective gears. The theory is to pull your punches in head shots. In practice, the no-contact is extremely difficult to do. Oopsies are very common.

He's still a 10 year old boy. So I'd really ease him into Kumite. If it were up to me, I'd have him do a lot more 1-step sparing until he's 100 percent comfortable with someone charging him. Last thing we want is to leave a mental scar on him as a result of pushing him into it too soon. Funny but I didn't enjoy Kumite until I hit puberty and got all the aggression from the extra testosterone boost.

I actually started using the makirawa at about 11 years old. Looking back it may be too young of an age. However being 11, I certainly didn't have a thing for macho pain or bleeding. And my instructor knew it when providing instructions. Essentially I didn't strike at full power. And I didn't corkscrew after contact. Contact was made at 80 percent of maximum extension. I also applied hand lotion ony knuckles after training so that the skin didn't dry and crack (Hey I was sensitive!). I don't remember bleeding other than one single occassion. The only pain I recalled was in the elbows when I wasnt punching correctly. So the answer should be a no. There shouldn't be bleeding in makirawa training.

You probably need to start with the intent of the take down before searching for any particular take down techniques. Do you want to take an attacker down and apply ground work? Do you want to take them down to put them in a vulnerable position so that you can kick them in the head?

Punching bags, makiwara boards, punching pads. Or gear up your dojo buddy and get him to agree to be your human punching bag.

My criticism of sparing is that the way it's set up in most schools where you have one instructor who acts only as the referee leaving the student to figure out his own mistakes. Ideally I'd assign one instructor to one student and his job is to provide hands on coaching (as a personal corner man) during the sparing session itself. I think that immediate (during sparing) feedback is vital to help the student progress. This is probably more beneficial than the issue of full or semi contact.

For shorter fighters, I do look at the eyes. For taller fighters I don't look at the eyes because I've eaten head kicks. So I tend to look at their shoulder-chest area (if they're taller.) I also try to not stare at a particular point. The reason is that once I stare, I lose my peripheral vision regardless of where I look. But regardless of the height, I'm not that concern with their hands and feet. I'm more concern with their angle, distance and stance which clues me in on how much leverage they'll have even if they get me. For example, if a fighter already is fully committed to a deep front stance, his leverage is pretty much already committed. If he's coiled, his first step can cover the distance and run me over.

I think that as a white belt, you're sampling things and getting your feet wet. It's too early to come to conclusions on what works and not because you're not sure of what your physical limits are. Therefore at this time, just keep an open mind and open ears to what your instructor has to say since he can see you better than you can see you.

I think that it's very difficult to do so. Sometimes one has to trick the mind. Hence there's an incredible emphasize on the pulling hand. Part of the intent is the actual pulling to hold the target still. But the other intent is to take the mind off of the punching hand which allows the punch to be without tension.

It depends on the fighter. Some guys can hide it well. Instead of bouncing directly into an attack, they bounce into an angle before launching their attack. And that angle breaks up my defensive rhythm. I think that if you fight the same guy over and over, you pick up his body language. But for tournament versus a new fighter, it's really unpredictable unless you've done some pre-fight scouting. I used to bounce for the first 30 seconds with probes just to see how a fighter will set up his defense. Then stop the bounce before getting to the serious fighting.

I think that there's a clear distinction between mental and physical exhaustion. And I treat each differently. With the physical, I generally willpower my way past it. But right or wrong, I cease to train when it's no longer fun rather than push it to mental burn out. When I run into a mental wall, I take a couple of days off to recoup before restarting.

Dojo - bouncing allows one to use the ground as a springboard and explode into the attack. It keeps you more alert. But it's tiring and opens one up for sweeps. Street - bouncing is dangerous. In such a high threat environment on unpredictable grounds, maintaining one's balance is a challenge even if one is not getting swept. A simple crack in that smooth sidewalk is enough to take a person down, and one tends to stare at the attacker rather than down at the ground.

One big side effect is ... urinating in one's gi. Yep. Not kidding. It's very common as one's body goes into deep relaxation when one blacks out. It is extremely common. Doubters are welcome to drink a bottle of water prior to randori. Then test it out. Hint - wear a diaper because it will occur.

Imo, the best thing about Kyokushin is the quality of the instructors in general, then followed by the physical fitness of the students. I never really bought into the "Stongest Karate" concept which I saw as propaganda to keep students from exploring other styles. IMO a clean strike will drop your typical attacker regardless of style. I know that my strike don't have to be stronger than the strikes from another style. I just need my fist to be stronger than my attackers face, because upon impact one of the two will break. I remember being critical of the sloppy punching techniques of my TKD friends. Then I saw them breaking bricks with their flawed punches and I quiet down real quick. Back to blocking, I completely agree that on the streets a decisive block is a nice stern warning particularly when it temporarily paralyze the aggressors arms. On the streets an aggressor often tests out their boundaries by putting their hands on you and invade your space. A heavy handed block often draws a clear line. In addition, if one is attacked by a person wielding a weapon, a strong block is the often the only way to break their rythm long enough to counter attack. The parries and soft blocks that one picks up during sparring will fail. My 2 cents.

IMO, the first thing that people should do is take the word "spinning" out of this kick. Instead call it a turn. Then kick like a mule. Literally kick like a mule, with the kicking foot almost brushing against the supporting leg before extension. Then think "linear" even though there's a lot of turning. When executing a right back kick, think as though one is going to hit the target with the right buttock. This should transfer the body weight. Then it follows with the actual kick. I generally also avoid the word "chamber" because people tend to pull their leg up like a side kick. Anyways, the motion is like putting one's back against a door. Then picking up one foot and kicking through the door at shin level. Anyways, this is how I learned it.

If you want to get better fast, it is better to pick out a single favorite technique and drill it until it is perfect. Then drill it until failure (you're so tired that it becomes sloppy). This is preferred to working on a lot of techniques at one time. Even the higher ranks will do this. They drill on a very few Kata until failure. They generally don't do all Katas in a single training session. What about the risk of doing it wrong? That is what your instructor is for. Take him aside after class and ask him to help you perfect one technique that you can drill at home. So train as usual, but commit on perfecting a single technique each week. This is how you avoid accidentally messing up your muscle memory.

I prefer seeing powerful techniques over quick snappy techniques when Kata is executed. I understand the need for quickness for competition. But testing is an entirely different matter. If people rush through their Kata, they'll likely flunk their exam because techniques will likely be poorly executed. This is magnified the higher the grade. People think that their Kata is being judged. It's actually their technique that is being judged. Just my 2 cents.

IMO, you're really going to struggle business wise. It'll be difficult to attract and sustain a following without a clear identity. I think that you're going to have to work on creating a better brand other than "I'm teaching my own hybrid Karate style." Let's face it, a large number of Karate schools are linked to their organization for the required marketing purpose.

Kyokushin is sparing based. They tend to draw young men. So you get to train with peers who are more receptive to contact sparing. But if you stick your head in a school and see kids and old ladies trainig, you're not going to get contact sparing regardless of what they call themselves. And conversely if you see a lot of young men training, you're going to see a lot of contact sparing. Testosterone seems to be the biggest factor rather than style. Many Kyokushin school will automatically bump you to blue belt if you tell them you're Dan graded in Shotokan. Don't take it as an insult. It's for safety reasons as they want to gradually introduce you to contact rather than drop you in the fire and use you as a punching bag. And it protects them as well as you're not accustomed to Kyokushin sparing rules and may crack someone's head open. People who are new to contact sparing tend to take things really personal when they're hit for the first couple of times.

I think that correct alignment is the most important thing. Whether you're a runner, weight lifter, martial artist or hiker. Essentially your knee needs to be directly above your feet at all times. Sounds easy in theory. In reality many of us over or under pronate, consequently this puts too much pressure on the inside or outside of the knees. Over time this will wear out the knees. So if you run, get a proper foot bed. Same if you weight lift. And if you practice Karate, you have to make sure that your knees are on top of your gfeet when executing stances. Deep stances won't harm knees. Deep stances with improper alignment will harm knees.