Kyokushin

I train Kyokushin, but I'm in the IFK organization founded by Hanshi Steve Arneil. I see what your trying to get at in your question, but it really doesn't matter who was "original" or the "true" heir of the Kyokushin organization. What matters is that people are learning and training in this great style. Organization is not important. Kyokushin is Kyokushin. OSU

I know that Aikido and Judo come from Jujitsu, but what is it that really sets them apart. Is it better to just take Jujitsu? (would you just get everything that Aikido and Judo have to offer?) I had a brief run in with Judo and found it to be a lot of fun, and also met an Aikido BB who showed me some things from his style. I was really impressed with the gracefullness (fluidity of motion, etc.) that he had. I'm just trying to decide which of these styles is better since I will have a chance to dabble in them when I go to college (free training at the University clubs )

There are five areas in Kyokushin in which we work on in training: Kihon (Basics) Kata (Forms) Kumite (Sparring) Go-Shin Jitsu (Self Defense) Renraku (Fighting Combinations) Tameshiwari (Breaking) This is always the areas I've trained in as a Kyokushin karateka. It's not just all sparring.

Osu, Sounds like you've been through alot. Although I haven't been through anything quite as traumatic as you've mentioned. I also had to make a similar decision about training. Train alone in the style you love, or in another dojo. Here's what I've done and I really think it's been working out. I go to a dojo which I decided was the best out of all the ones in my area. There I'm able to learn skills that I didn't always get as much work on in Kyokushin, and also it keeps me in shape. Then at home on my own I work my Kyokushin katas and anything else that is important in my style. The hardest part is finding a balance between the two. I don't worry about rank in the dojo I'm at. Only about learning new techniques or improving areas I'm weak in. When I'm finished at this dojo I will find another style that I think could help improve me, and so on and so on. Each style has something to offer and will make you a more well rounded karateka. While at home you can still stay true to your roots and visit the other instructor you mentioned whenever possible to train. I also like the fact that being in other dojos people will notice something different that you do that you got from your original style (Bushido, right?). Then you have a chance to tell them about it and spread awareness of your style. Hope that helps:) Osu!

My advice is to just do your best to focus on your training. I had a guy I liked in my dojo for awhile, but I knew that it would be a bad idea to try and pursue anything. For one, I would get nervous around him and he was a great sparring partner so it wasn't worth losing quality training over. It's really hard at first to just stop liking someone, but I would just go in and while doing warmups think about how I wanted to train and be serious, and visualize myself doing karate really well. It tended to help, and now I can train w/o losing focus. Anyway that's just what worked for me, but it's worth a shot

I'd have to say I prefer Japanese. In my class we would use a mixture of English and Japanese (for new words or lower ranks), but for the most part it was Japanese. I started at a new place and all the instructors use is English so now I have no idea what they're talking about until I see it done b/c people call the same technique different things in English. However I've trained with other instructors who do use Japanese and while it's a little more diffucult when they pronounce things differently it's much easier then the totally different English terms, but if you train Korean style then you should speak Korean, if a Chinese style, Chinese, etc, etc. Just my 2c

There's a kata in my style called Tensho. It's a Shodan kata. I haven't learned it yet so I don't know much of what it's like, but I do know that it is one of the Southern Kata, or the Kata that Mas Oyama learned from So Nei Chu. That was Goju-ryu style so I'm guessing it's the same. Hmm, I should look in my kata book just for fun too and see about those techniques you mentioned.

Well for explosiveness in the legs you can do fartlek runs. (alternate jogging and sprinting sparadically) It's a great way to work your aerobic/anaerobic in the same run too.

Nope, I've never been to a dojo like that and I hope I never do.

Ashihara, Enshin...

I was always taught the kiba Dachi should be a low stance. It's mainly for building leg muscles and such so that other techniques will be strong. I would personally never use this stance while fighting, but looking at Funokoshi's high stance it could be useful. His way is more practical.

Osu! No arguments there.

Oh, I missed that post. Well then I don't see the problem. There's no harm in being confident in your skills. I would'nt suggest having a big guy who is lower rank spar him. Usually they don't have control, so that would just be a painful lesson .

I used to have that problem, and it does get annoying. I always ignore that when I'm sparring. If my belt is falling off I just toss it to the side and keep on fighting. Get a heavier weight gi middle-weight or heavy-weight. You won't have that problem as much. I just got a Century Middle-weight gi and it doesn't open up even when sparring. Now my only problem is when my belt comes off, but that only happens when I'm doing really spirited kumite .

Don't know what his rank is, but would'nt it be a better idea to have your Sensei spar w/ him. That way he can learn a lesson w/o getting beat up. I've sparred my Sensei before and his footwork is so good that he just gets out of the way from all my attacks and then throws in a few combos of his own. It's very humbling to realize your not as fast as you think and it's a good way to see what you really need to work on. I personally think that's the best way. Plus your Sensei can certainly understand that situation. Your friend is definately overconfident. It's alright to want to spar people better than you. Fearing them is only going to prevent you from learning from your seniors, but not recognizing that they're better is certainly not good. Hope that helps.