Hawkmoon

Imo .... not that many films do show or depict MA in anything close to the real world or its true nature and execution! For example: "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" A truly awesome piece of entertainment, loads of action great fight sequences, an easy to follow story and a certain amount of 'zen' about its view. Great film! I enjoy immensely and have the DVD in my collection. Is it real? Or Is it showing off MA ability truthfully? Nope. I get its a fantasy story and that's part of its appeal to me, but did an Martial Artist do things like that, do they (we) do things like this today? Nope. Did a fight war in days gone past have the enemy respect fully stand in line to fight the other guy? Not likely, hack slash chop shot...next! ...just like it is today! Another example would be: "The Punisher" A version you may not be aware of, it was a 'B' movie when it was released back in 1989. Shame really , I do like and enjoy the Frank Castle story!! This version of "The Punisher" is one of Dolph Lundgren earliest films, his acting is ...what it is... the story is one as I say I enjoy, but the fights (not the gun play, the fights) are simple direct, brutal and to me reflect how a fight between professionals (SWAT, military forces, FBI, etc etc) might go when push comes to shove!

11/6 2hr kihon & kata

Practice is always a good thing. The more you do it the better the easier it becomes. Always push, but not to far,if its hurting it hurting for a reason! Breath, always breath deeply and in a controlled fashion, try to stay as relaxed as you can! It will come in time, its not a race! Edit: recalled another thread along the same lines, had a search for it, have a read: http://www.karateforums.com/flexibility-vt46917.html

Thanks Dwx! One of the fights I enjoyed was watching Sam (Shiro/white) fight Chris (Aka/red). Sam is from our club and is a fighter who I trust, respect and fight with often, he has hurt me (my ribs) a couple of times doing what he does at about 1.16. So I feel for Chris, and have respect for Chris for carrying on! 'That' punch form Sam is really powerful! The day was awesome, I cannot get over the buzz and the action of the day. Truly enjoyed it all!

hehehe ..well you'll love this. My ribs fine, no concern, I was caught in the tournament and no complaints, all was well, no pain, no worries! However, I have managed to break my toe...again, same foot same toe! ... can't piece together when it happened, just that as I stood in the line up at the end, my toe hurt I looked down and it was purple! I nudged the guy I think I broke it on and suggested it was his fault, (in fun) he laughed and mentioned his elbow....yeah I'd agree with that, seems logical!

Good words: ..which ever phrase that appeals to you its the one that that connects with you matters. Consider this maybe go through the katas you know and work with the one(s) you like the one(s) that come easy to you, the idea is (sure repeat - repeat - etc ) this adds to you and so your confidence come the next competition! I mentioned my fist kata tournament being a complete failure, well second, third & forth were better, but no silverware, no placings! Took me nearly a year to make it to the second round, and even then I was still placing 4th or 5th. It was the fact that in that year I'd graded to 3rd kyu that I had a selection of kata I could choose from, I liked Pinan sono ni and go, so I worked on them! That when I started to bring home trophies!

I'd agree with all the above, seems to be a good match, each giving more or less what the other lacks (if that makes sence) I'd do it if I could find an Akido club near me, as it is I might pick up Ju-Jitsu again as my second art to compliment Kyokushinkai...I doubt that i will to be honest, but I'd like to think I might! LOL!

hmm... Pride, Politics...and the expert otherwise known as a newbie will not give a full account of the situation. How many times have any of us stood in the line, or spread out over the hall heard command done as instructed and quickly realized we heard wrong? A chat with this guy is far better than say sending him a letter, less formal, and more personable, why not 'pop' over and simply work with him for a few sessions over the coming months, get a feel for him his ways and wow and what he does. Every story has two sides, and 'newbies' don't always relay the facts as accurately as they think they are.

9/6 Light session 2hr Kihon! 100 situps 75 pushups 50 squats

Yes, there is!, (none of mine thankfully) On Youtube Search for: 2014 bkk regional 10 Videos on show In FaceBook search for: British Kyokushinkai Karate. Videos and pics from the Knockdown as well as pics from the Wales v England competition. Enjoy! It was a good day loads of fun, caught up with some friends as well which was a surprise! (Although I have to admit having my 3rd place handed to me by Hanshi Steve Arneil himself was a real buzz!) Thanks all for your kind words!

Well I'll add this as a minor update. It relates to my tattoos (or rather the one on my forearm) I was walking around a store the other day, and was aware of a couple who were whispering and pointing. There was no giggling, no malice in the sounds I could catch ...to me it was excitement, it was respectful. Really not really sure, they spoke Japanese! Eventually I had a basket of stuff and stood in the 'q' for the till, this is where it became apparent to me what and why. I caught them looking at me and my arm, the penny dropped in my head, so I smiled and gave a little bow to them, kyokushin style. They both stood proud and bowed back and came over saying the only two words pointing at my arm "Kyokushinkai?" & "osu!" An odd chat, not sure who got more out of it me or them, but they seemed happy enough, especially after they inspected my knuckles.!!! (Others though it was funny...but then they had no idea what 'Kyokushinkai' or 'osu' meant or why this Japanese couple wanted to inspect my knuckles and what the meaning of that check was! East meets West....

I agree with your sentiments here. Not everyone trains for the same reasons. Were good!! Its all good!! There is a thread in here, can't seem to find it, maybe one of the others can, the thread talks about modern MA (MMA I think it was) vs Traditional MA. Anyone recall it please? I call myself a 'traditionalist', and as Kyokushinkai student I do have the same approach to MA as all Kyokushin students have and take...a very deliberate and even serious approach to combat! I train to win, we all do, but ...and hence the other thread that I mention there is to me a certain loss to the way some people view or approach combat. I'm not saying what you do is right nor am I saying it is wrong, what I would ask is that all consider that if its not working or the results return is not as good as you expected or wish...clearly something is not working or needs tweaking or modification.... It may not be the work rate or effort it might be the mind set.....

7/6 Tournament......sharing ideas and exchanging views all day long!

3rd place! What a great day six of us went and four of us brought some silverware home! 2x 3rd places 1 spirited fighter 1x 2nd place 1x 1st place I'm so looking forward to the next tournament!

Congratulations sir! Good for you well done! Nice to be back isn't it? I'm years old (your a whipper snapper to me ) and was regraded a few months back to 1st kyu!

Ah! my all time favorite saying in the world ever...."boards don't hit back!" .....its like a five year old trying to think of the biggest number they can think of and and proudly announces to everyone... "Eleven'tee-hundred and one!" Put simply Boards (AKA: your opponent) hit back all the time! The math :wink: is simple, you train hard to be the best you can be and hit hard.....so does the other guy! oh! I so love that little saying makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Putting my love for the comment to one side..... Conditioning. I do pushups on the front/first two knuckles I have done so form very early on in my MA career, it took a few weeks but its well worth the commitment and focus! Its not a slow process you measure in years, but it will take some time one that you build up to, and by that I mean do pushups palm of the hand sort get upto 40-50 then add 10 on knuckles, get used to it, and then increase to 20 and so on. Give yourself a week at 10, then go 20 etc In a month your at 40 ....... well done keep it up! So why a push up and why that way? The knuckle develops a callus (for the want of a better word) and all the muscles used by you to hold that specific position become highly developed and that punch shape becomes natural and very strong! I'e done breaks, as others in here have I've not done many but wow its a great rush, the knowledge your hand is not made of glass, the 'thing' you always new was hard, was solid, now broken and your hand did it! Awesome! My first break was 5 'roof tiles', it was done open hand (shuto), sensai explained it was easiest break to do first! My second was empi (elbow) 13 roof tiles, that one hurt, I got the angle wrong, and hit with the elbow point not that flat area on your elbow (have a look run your hand around your elbow) Third break was two boards, seiken, easy so I moved to my forth break 3 broads! ...then I was told to stop, and let others have a go! My last break was a a single board, I held it in one hand and punched it !

Gradings I have always felt are a matter of demonstrating a set/defined collection of standards, and via consensus and senior grade agreement (by senior I refer to Dan grades) and awarding of the rank being sought? [Dan Grades:They at least have worked to such a standard, as such they alone can judge the same.] Sorry I can only offer my own experience with gradings and then only form one Ryu, for all the Ryus I have worked with, I never graded with them, I've only ever graded with Kyokushinkai! A general rule is the grade being sough can only be 'judged' by a person who's own rank is at least 3 levels higher. If no such rank is available a BB panel is set up, where at least one is 2 ranks higher sitting on it. When seeking promotion to ShoDan (1st grade) a panel is always setup to test you! [As I'm in the BKK this means Hanshi Arneil himself will be running the grading!] BUT!... for all the ceremony, honor, politics Ps and Qs, the student/person when they are awarded the rank there name is 'added' to 'the book'! (Historically it was a real book, nowadays its a dB! The modern world has so much to answer for) My own 1st kyu grading certificate makes reference to my name and new rank 'being added to the book'. I assume/guess other systems do something like this? That said, these guys appear to have no knowledge of this and its meaning to there future!?!?

Practice as everyone has said! If you are lucky enough to be near a Dance studio then see if you can borrow a corner and watch yourself in the mirrors! Else a video camera (smart phone or two!) watching you at odd angles. Seriously! Not the normal head on or side on views, but up and left (for example) and just right of center (for example). These sort of views should give you a real sense of what the others (the judges) see!

The BKK regional Knockdown is almost upon us! The Regional Knockdown Tournament 7th June! C.M.C Sports and Social Club, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff . My name is on the list, and to be honest I'm looking forward to it! Thankfully, unlike last year I'm only carrying one injury! YaY! ....mind you there is plenty of time to pick up a couple more before the tournament!

....life is a risk, fighting by its definition is a risk! Its going to hurt we train to reduce the risk of injury we train to be fit we train to not fight! Conditioning, its purpose is to get you used to the hit you failed to stop/block or evade ! Core , core and more core!...and when you are bored with that do core, core and more core! ...and make sure you move around and not be hit at all, be fluid be water! Its easy to stand still and let people hit you, maybe even bounce around ...and let people hit you, its conditioning for sure yes I agree, but its worthless on its own! Look at each fight and fighter as the guy that will tear you apart, that said if you now let him hit you.....when you come out of ER you can get your own back! Its not a way of fighting! There is an honor code, a quiet reserve, a certain level of respect and a quiet confidence to a true 'fighter' a Martial Artist! This sounds aggressive, it's really not meant that way I am saying this as simply as I can nothing more than that; Rethink your approach to combat, consider each strike you suffer a failure, then .. don't fail! ....life is a risk, fighting by its definition is a risk! Its going to hurt we train to reduce the risk of injury we train to be fit we train to not fight!

For me it was ; Enter the Dragon I just loved the idea of being able to fight like that! I was 8 it was cool, what did I know! Years later I was working though an apprenticeship and was chatting to one of the guys who invited me to a dojo. I knew nothing about different systems or styles and schools, I watched and was amazed! (the 8 year old came back) Soon after I learnt there were other types of karate and the one I had joined was called Kyokushinkai.

I'm being serious when I say this! Familiarity through repetition! My first kata competition had me (to my shame there is a picture of me in that competition) standing all lost/deflated about half way through the kata. My arms at my side my head turned up to the roof as I tried to pull it together! I was so nervous when I was told what I did, I didn't believe them and laughed at the comment as some kind of joke that I didn't understand. The picture roll was developed and the picture shown to me to prove to me what had happened! I promised myself then that I'd not embarrass the club like that again, so when we entered tournaments I made sure to add my name to the kata part of competition as well!

Hi guys, Do we punch differently? I guess so, as mentioned above we do punch form the guard, as we also have a boxers approach to punching! Its more application and focus to punching rather than some secret do this not that type of thing when we train. So an important point to make is Kyokushin take fighting extremely seriously as such we fight form the guard to reduce the chances of being hit, this means we need to generate as much (or more) power to have the same effect as a punch that comes form 'way' back in the bodies posture! (The traditional Karate punch if you like) The result is we tend to focus a great deal of time, effort and energy in our training to create that power and so the boxers approach to punches, hip rotation and so on comes through in our fighting! In our dojo we have some Tang so Doo students working with us, we have kick boxers work with us, both systems love what we do, both say they are learning to fight better because we fight so differently to what they have done before! One guy has even started to bring home silverware from his tournaments that he competes in! Previously he had said he felt he was at the end of his fighting career, so he'd come along to our dojo just to experience Kyokushinkai karate to gain a broader knowledge of MA so he could be a better teacher now his fighting career was coming to an end. He is also now considering entering some knockdown tournaments coming up later this year! Do we punch differently? Answer: Maybe. I'd offer a better question is do we have a different approach to fighting (and so punching)? A typical session at the dojo, about 2hrs long, will have a student spend 70-80% fighting! (100% if a tournament is coming up) Answer: Yes absolutely yes!

Hi there, This should help! http://kyokushinkaratescottsdale.com/product/ichigeki-kyokushin-uniform Enjoy!

My mum had some china bird ..things that sat near the fireplace. A spinning foot sweep ........ set them free! (my brothers reflexes were way better than I thought)