TJS

true, the same is true of boxing gloves. but like you said you just have to look at the ratio of help vs hurt. And Yes we do wear shoes when we spar, we always wear shoes. actually most of KM's escapes from the gaurd or mount, etc have a groin strike in there somewhere, most dont rely on it but it's an added incintive yes, knees to the groin are also pretty common I would say. although I have not personally done it yet i belive we do spar with those later on.

the same reason you wear gloves, headgear, mouthpiece etc..to allow realistic training without injury. I understand the point you are making but I dont think it quite applies for this, You can get your shins used to kicking..you can condition your knuckles for punching, you can to taking a hit, but Honetly i dont think you can get used to getting kicked in the groin..it's going to hurt no matter what..but you can get used to blocking/countering. well groin punches are not really very applicable from a standup fighting point of view. There are some tecniques that are difficult to practice with ie biting, eye gougin etc.. but I was speaking on groin kicks particulary because as I said they are a common technique from avg "joe thug".

it's diffrent because they fight full contact. Kyokushin has been the only stlye of Karate that has been able to compete in the top levels of Mixed events Like K-1 kickboxing. Kyokshin has also Fought Muay Thai fighters From Thailand and has won in more than one occasion, thats more than anyone else can say. As far as standup fighting is concerned Kyokushin is defiently up there on the list. Kyokushin+Wester boxing and you have a deadly combination. Just goes to show the best fighters in the world are the ones who train full contact..and thats a fact.

since wing chun lacks grappling then it would proabably be useful.

sure there is "punching" in TKD that dosent always mean it is effective or emphasized. i think most peopel "do" these things but just beacause you show someone a wrist lock and the gaurd dosent mean you teach groundfighting and grappling for example.

If you dont spar with things to some extent then you proabably wont be good at applying them under stress in a real fight. You can have perfect techniqe on straight punches, hook, and uppercuts but if you have never sparred with them you are not going to be able to use them effectivly against a resisting opponet. the same goes for groin kicks..in reality people dont stand there and let you kick them and if you never get good at blocking them thengood luck doing it in a real fight. in KM we were shingaurds with instep protetion and we also wear shoes when sparring, so getting hurt usually isint an issue, can you drop someone with a groin kick? sure? ccan you with most techniques? yes.

obviously people wear cups... is the the same reason why people dont spar with leg kicks, punches to the face, etc.. sure it's not fun, taking a thigh kick isint either...but it's about becoming a good fighter.

Does anyone else spar with Groin kicks? Krav Maga is one of the only stlyes i have seen that spars with groin kicks...and i do mean real sparring not slap fighting. it's pretty much Muay thai type rules but with groin kicks.. This is very importat thing in my opinion. Getting good and proficent at blocking and countering groin kicks can be very useful becuase it is one of the most common attacks around even by untrained people... not to meantion the benefits of learning how to deliver them in a real fight. so why does no one do it?

The problem is 90% of people think they want to learn self defense so automaticly they think "karate" and schools sure dont tell them they are not learning effective self defense. like i said There are better ways to learn effective self defense and fighting. headlock-tuck you head in tword their body to avoid the choke and strikes..strike them in the groin eith you right hand and there is a techniqe to crank them back using their nose or hair/forehead etc...thats assuming its a side headlock...but thats just one way...there and billion of ways.

No one traines harder than someone preparing for a fight, fighters are extremly motivated in most cases and have the desire to go above and beyond, it forces you to expand and better yourself to stay above the competition. for that reason i would have to think the exact opposite..

BJJ

I dont really se judo getting picked on commonly.

If you want to learn realistic self defense/fighting there are better ways than taking karate. Check out a Krav Maga school if there is one near you.

Thats a pretty big statment, I dont know how you could justify TKD having more effective kicks than say Muay Thai. and thats just one example. TKD kicks are for speed and snap they are deffinetly not as powerful or effective as say ,a Thai Stlye roundhouse.

he is fighting in the next pride.

Kyokushin karate, Krav Maga, Muay Thai

thats a pretty broad question...

I would also encourage finding a Kyokushin School and testing your superiority theory.

beat them up and take their blue belt. <------see how pretty a blue belt is.

Thats a pretty big statment, I dont know how you could justify TKD having more effective kicks than say Muay Thai. and thats just one example. TKD kicks are for speed and snap they are deffinetly not as powerful or effective as say ,a Thai Stlye roundhouse.

generally i would say it does not matter if the instuctor is overweight BUT Just make sure it's not a dojo filled with overweight people with no skill or ability=Mcdojo...if you see alot of blackbelts like that..then run.

thats fine, But usually people have proof/reasoning why an art is "superior" to all others. You may prefer it over others but thats diffrent. and saying, is absoulty rediculous.

dude, that was great.

Kyokoshin is the most effective style of Karate IMO.

I think Judo would be one of my top picks.