Wastelander

Well, my left kick is stronger than my right because I made it that way--I'm naturally right-sided, so it took some doing! The biggest key to fast, powerful kicks is having proper form--your sensei can help you with that, and then you can practice on your own (JZ's suggestion of slow motion kicks is great for this, as is Sensei8's suggestion of kicking underwater). After that, you'll need to do some serious impact training. Kicking pads will help you develop speed and accuracy, and kicking shields will help you start to develop power. From there, spend a lot of time on a heavy bag (at least 100lbs, in my opinion) to really get a feel for slamming a full-speed, full-power kick into a body-sized/weighted target. Jumping lunges and barbell squats have also helped me improve my power, but I've never bothered with resistance bands.

Tokaido makes a good gi, but they are at the higher end of price. Ronin is cheaper and still makes a good gi, but I don't know if they are available where you live. You can also check out KI/Mugen, as I know they also make pretty good gi at a reasonable price, and they have a European presence so they might be more available to you. Black Eagle is based out the UK, and I've heard good things about them, so that might be an option as well. If nothing else, there is a company called Gassho that makes heavyweight hemp gi in South Africa that you could try. Good luck!

I think that making your own training equipment is something that just about every serious martial artist dabbles in at some point. I've made sparring weapons out of PVC and foam, myself, and I know a Goju-Ryu guy in Canada who makes all sorts of stuff. He put together a blog called Martial Makers (martialmakers.com) where he collects a bunch of articles on making your own training equipment, if you're interested in getting ideas.

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you are experiencing pretty standard Kyokushin, from what I know of it from those who practice it. I've trained with some Kyokushin karateka once or twice in my area, and there were variations from what you describe, but every dojo is a little different. The stomach-standing and leg-kicking are normal, although I didn't think sparring with shin pads was terribly common with Kyokushin (not a bad idea, though). Your legs will get tougher as you get more accustomed to taking those kicks, but I will add a recommendation--bend your leg into the kick. Just bending it does take some of the shock of out if and protects your knee, but if you lean into the kick a bit, I find that it helps take out just a bit more. That could just be me, though. And, of course, shin blocks or "checks" a feel a lot better in sparring than just absorbing a kick to the thigh.

On the ground, I typically prefer the scissor sweep or the butterfly sweep, but more often than not my grappling partners are extremely difficult to sweep

Welcome to the forum!

Well, I would keep training with my instructor, but if I had that much money I would definitely be making a trip to Okinawa to train there. Arts outside of the one I'm doing would probably be Silat, Uechi-Ryu, and BJJ. Silat and Uechi-Ryu would really build on my karate, and BJJ would compliment my judo background. Outside of those, Northern Shaolin Long Fist looks fun, and if I can find someone who knows applications to the forms it would also compliment my karate. I couldn't give you a weekly schedule, but I could say that I would be taking trips to Okinawa, Japan, and China to train every now and then throughout the rest of my life, and continue with my sensei but start to cross-train in BJJ, then after another few years I would probably try to focus on Silat for a few years while still cross-training in BJJ, and then do the same with Uechi-Ryu, and then do the same with Long Fist.

Welcome to the forum, and welcome back to the martial arts!

I will preface this with the fact that I'm not a doctor, and you should really consult a doctor about this. To me, though, it does sound like weak hip flexors, but you could also have scar tissue in that area. Don't push yourself too hard, too fast, or you can injure yourself. For now, I would be stretching after every workout (only AFTER working out) and start doing some hip mobility exercises. High knees, outside-shoulder high knees, and leg lifts would be a good start.

Welcome to the forum, and welcome back to martial arts!

I'm not sure what drills are in the ebook you purchased, so I apologize if there is nothing new here, but these are some that work well with the kids I have taught: Karate dodgeball--throw pads at them to block or strike Basics races--who can get across the mat fastest with their reverse punch from a front stance, for example. Basics relays--make teams (with names like The Cranes, The Tigers, The Dragons, etc.) and have them do relay races with their basics. Monster in the middle--students circle around you and have to block when you try to hit them on top of the head with a pad, and anyone who gets hit is out. Clothespin sparring--everyone has a clothespin on the front of their uniform, and they have to take their opponent's pin without losing their own. Belt sumo--partners stand in strong stances and each holds onto the end of a slack belt, and when you say go they have to try to pull their partner off balance. Obstacle course--set up cones and pads to make an obstacle course they have to go through, and have people set up to try to hit them with pads along the way so they have to be ready to defend. Haunted house--set up "walls" like a maze (hanging dark plastic sheeting works fine) and put punching bags in random places for them to hit, then have a few people hidden in the maze to jump out and attack so the students have to defend.

Definitely a great accomplishment!

It doesn't necessarily sound like a McDojo, to me, but I don't have enough information to be sure. 1. Part marketing tactic, part bad blood between the two instructors. Unprofessional, but not necessarily McDojo material. 2. I highly recommend that parents be watching class, and parents should absolutely not interfere or otherwise distract their children during class. Cheering or clapping during sparring is one thing, but kids have a short attention span as it is, and having mom or dad telling them what to do takes that attention away from the instructor. 3. Students having to pay for everything is a sign of a commercial school, but it isn't an indicator of the quality of the instruction. Sometimes that cost is just rolled up in your monthly dues so you don't notice it, sometimes it's separate, and sometimes you're getting charged in both places, which is a shady practice.

My personal sparring style is largely to stand my ground and counter-strike, but I will readily change my tactics to suit my opponent. From a self defense standpoint, you may not have the space or time to get out of range and defend yourself from a distance. If you are training for self defense, I think some aggression training could be good for you--sometimes the safest place to be, for an instant, is right up close to them. I have actually been having trouble with a youth student in my dojo who spars the same way you do. When we work self defense drills (they require you to close distance) he always flinches back, which often results in him getting punched in the face. I've been working on it for a few weeks, now, but he constantly tries to dodge back, which just lets his attacker pick up a rhythm and when they reach just a little further he gets hit.

My name is not martial arts related, unlike most people here. I am a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre of books, films, and video games, which is one influence. I also live in Phoenix, which I consider to be in the middle of a wasteland (the Sonoran desert) compared to where I'm originally from. In addition, I do custom leatherwork to make a little extra income every now and then, and I'm known for my heavily distressed apocalyptic style, so I brand my work as "Wasteland Leatherwork."

Ah, so just a massive number of repetitions of a technique, then! When I started training, we would do that in class, but over time it got phased out of class-time in favor of partner drills and kata, and I started doing that on my own time.

When you talk about doing separate days for "skills" and for "striking," I assume you are talking about partner drills and solo basics? If so, I don't separate them at all--I typically practice my solo basics before and after class, and I try to include solo practice of techniques from my partner drills. That way, I get the best of both worlds. It is definitely good to have your muscle memory "programmed" to automatically do what you need to do, and impact training is vital.

Welcome to the forum!

Enter the Dojo is great stuff! We did have Master Ken do his first ever "seminar" at my dojo, as ShoriKid mentioned, and my Sensei's girlfriend is actually his tour manager for the seminars he is traveling around for at the moment. Definitely wishing them great success!

3-4 years is a pretty average amount of time to earn a black belt in Japan, as far as I am aware, and you can do it in less than that if you compete (and win) a lot. Outside of Japan it seems to be fairly uncommon, outside of McDojos, to earn your black belt in less than 6 years, but it isn't unheard of and doesn't immediately set off warning bells in my head. I would have to see their karate to know if they were watering it down.

I believe in those cases the stripes represent the titles of Renshi, Kyoshi, and Hanshi. If we're thinking of the same thing, that is--it could certainly be something else. My sensei told me about an organization where they give one stripe for every 3 dan ranks, so they could really be anything.

As an IT person, myself, I really don't have any need to use my training except for self control. That said, I used to train with a woman at my old dojo (who still trains, as well) that was a nurse at a home for elderly people with dementia. She was on the "restraint team" and had to make use of her training fairly frequently. She has since retired from that job to sew full time--much less stressful

Kicking the bag is going to be just as safe as punching it, as bushido_man96 mentioned. Just make sure the bag is secure (not going to fall down when you kick it) and check to see if the sandbags that add weight to your bag have shifted to the outside. If they have, then a kick (or punch without gloves) that lands on a sandbag is going to be quite painful. I prefer bags that do not have sandbags in them, for that very reason.

As long as you know how to hit the bag safely and effectively, there is no problem with using it. I train in Shorin-Ryu and regularly work on a 6ft 150lb heavy bag. Sometimes I do sparring-type strikes on it, and sometimes I work self defense techniques from kata on it. A good heavy bag is an excellent impact training tool, along with makiwara and focus mitts.

I'll be perfectly honest--I absolutely hate stretching. I'm not sure why, but I do. That said, I had to research it while I was going through personal training/fitness classes in High School, and then I've done a little more throughout my martial arts career. I do know how to stretch, and I try to do at least a little bit of stretching after every workout. Many martial artists tend to do something that really gets to me when it comes to stretching, though--stretching BEFORE working out! Stretching before you are warmed up at all can cause injury (I've subluxated a rib and torn a hamstring doing that, in fact) and stretching after warming up, but before your workout, makes your muscles less efficient, and you have to warm up again before you get into your serious workout or you can end up with joint issues. I know I'm probably going to hear from people who have been stretching before they work out for decades and have no issues, and that's great for them, but I'm going to side with science on this one. University studies have shown that stretching before your workout is a bad idea, and I'm not going to do it or advocate it.