Hi guys, I'm a native English speaker with minimal Japanese ability and I live and work in the inaka/countryside of Japan. That means there isn't an English speaking dojo for miles around. I have been practicing kyokushin karate for about five months now, and I'm certain it's something I want to stick with, but as you can imagine there are a few things holding me back. First I'd like to take you through what a typical session is like for me, and then I'll list a few things that I could use some help on (if you don't mind!) 6:45 I arrive at the dojo 15 minutes early to talk (I use the term loosely) with the other guys, change, and do a bit of running. I get on great with pretty much everyone. There is one guy who goes a bit hard on me, I imagine he's trying to show me how strong Japanese are, but it's not a problem. 7:00 We all get into seiza (I'm still struggling with this, I'm not so flexible so my butt doesn't rest on my legs but rather hovers above them) and listen to the master. At the end of his talk, we put our fists to the ground, bow, and shout "OSU ONEGAISHIMASU". We then immediately stand up and start jumping ("ICH' NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH, NI NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH"), reaching to the side ("ICH' NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH, NI NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH"), touching our toes ("ICH' NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH, NI NI SAN SHI GO ROK' HITCH HATCH"), etc, etc. 7:30 Fully stretched, either one of two things will happen for the warm-up. * We will all move to one side of the dojo and partner up for various races in our pairs. Wheelbarrow, piggy back, running backwards, that sort of thing. Or, * We will stay standing where we are and practice punching air, kicking air, blocking air, that sort of thing. 8:00 At this point we usually get into a "circle" (oval?) facing the person opposite us and take turns kicking each other, punching each other, etc. One thing we sometimes do is take turns standing and gently bouncing up and down on each other's stomachs. This worried me when I saw it in my first lesson but now my stomach is my strongest point. We also occasionally just do push ups, sit ups, etc. 8:30 We put on leg pads, gloves, and start sparring. People will fall down, bleed, injure themselves or take an accidental hit somewhere painful every week or so but it's all very civil and, I'm sure, not a world apart from how it would be done in the West. 9:00 One last activity is the group race. Occasionally it will be a different game but it's usually just a straight out team relay race. Then we get back into seiza, listen to some announcements, shout "OSU, ARIGATOUGOZAIMASHITA!" and I'm cycling home by 9:20. This is the most common lesson format. We do also do moving techniques/exercises and practice on a punchbags or with pads. Last week we even learned a kata (it was pretty long though and not understanding the language I could only follow the basic movements). Anyway, the reason I am posting here is because I could really use help on a few things!! <<>> When we line up and take turns kicking each other, the way to "take" the kick seems to be to bend your legs slightly. What's going on here? How does it help? I am not sure I'm doing it correctly because I occasionally have trouble walking the next day and once I needed to go to the doctors for an injection and was out of action for 3 weeks. Do you stand on each others stomachs over there? Is there any danger involved in this? I think my stomach is strong enough to take this and I never have any problems there but it does seem kinda crazy. How do you remember the kata? Any mnemonics or memory techniques out there or is it just doing them so many times until you remember? Could you guys recommend any Youtube tutorial videos or anything? I saw the poll on here that said practicing at home without a teacher was counter productive but I do need to do something in English language I think. Aside from these points, I am also interested in how kyokushin practice is... er... practiced... in dojos back in the West. It will vary from dojo to dojo, of course, but I'd be interested to hear your stories. Finally, I may have more questions I want to append here, I hope that's okay? For now I can't think of anything. OSU!
