Safroot

For some yes, In my Kyokushin career I had to fight for each grade I attempted, my last grading I had 20 fights! It is however, (nowadays) a club desire, some do fight for every grade, others only fight at high grades, say 4 or 5 kyu and above, it really depends on the club. What you have most likely watched is national, European and most certainly world tournaments, which means you have been watching the very best fighters in the world, guys at the top of there game compete to be "the" best fighter in the world! We do fight 'bare knuckle', where most other wear pads, we do not, Kyokushinkai was the very first 'official' system to fight 'bare knuckle'! Dedicated teachers and students who will work with you, push you to be the very best you can be. The result will be a rewarding wholesome feeling, assuming it is what you are looking for. We call the pinnacle of Kyokushin combat 'Knockdown', its called knock down because that is the whole point of the contest, to 'knockdown' the other guy. There is a points aspect to 'knockdown' fights, an example would be a fighter is 'swept' to the floor and hte attacker follows up with a controlled attack. (Not a full punch for example) demonstrating there complete dominance of the other fighter. A point , A wasari' might be awarded to the attacker. This guys name and title was Sosai Mas Oyama, he was 'upset' about how 'fights' were performed, and famously undertook to change that and to that end he worked hard to develop a new fighting art, which for a while was called 'Oyama' karate and he went around other dojos to test it and him self. In time he changed the name from Oyama karate to 'Kyokushinkai'. A truly great system that if you persist in will reward you and fill you, you body, your soul with a massive sense of achievement. There are rules, my first tournament had me study a booklet, 5 pages or so talking about what could be done and what was not allowed. They are clear and as there are different groups of Kyokushin organisations, the rule do vary between them, so the real answer is it depends on which one you join. As to equipment, well thats a Gi (karate suit), a box(protect the man bits) and you... yup that's it covered all your equipment! Osu!! I always liked your in-depth posts Hawkmoon

Biomechanics is how you move. Muchimi is how you keep in contact with your opponent, along with releasing techniques with power. So starting off slow then building up and exploding. Refer to: http://www.karatebyjesse.com/the-two-sides-of-muchimi/ Gamaku in essence is about Hip Usage and power generation. Refer to: http://asaikarate.com/what-is-gamaku-%E3%80%80%E3%82%AC%E3%83%9E%E3%82%AF%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E4%BD%95%EF%BC%9F/ Thanks Nidan Melbourne for the explanation , first time to read about them & thank for the links

Wow, that's what I expected from the karate session. When I first started Karate I lost 8kg in the first 2 months with no gym (attending only 1 class a week) but when I stopped karate and started gym workouts I lost maybe 3-4 kg in 18 months (Diet was nearly the same in both periods). It's amazing how karate training is good & effective

That actually makes sense !

why is that the normal in the majority of dojos ? it makes life harder for beginners like myself

I had the same problem & that's why I used to hate kata !

Excuse my lack of experience but what is Mumuchi, gamaku & biomechanics ?

I think that will be rare to find !

I am still a very beginner & currently not training in dojo but should start back in January after the Christmas break. Currently I am trying to remind myself with the katas I have learned before which are Taikyoku Sono Ichi & Taikyoku Sono Ni, I am trying to practice it at home. My problem with not liking the kata started when I was training in the previous dojo though.

That's describes what I feel to a great extent, I would only add that it's very hard to remember Break it down into manageable sections. Concentrate on the first 5 or 6 moves, practice only them until you've got it in your head, then move on to the next 5 or 6 and so on. Once you've got to the end, put it all together and practice the whole thing, after a while it will become second nature to move through the whole kata. I often take a particular part of a kata and practice it over and over until I find I'm better understanding it. Practice once, practice twice, practice "Mo Ichido" - One more time! Mo. Thanks mazzybear. I will try segmenting the kata & work on each segment by itself. I am happy to try anything to get this kata problem sorted out

Thanks for sharing. I will try it

Definitely I will try this way & hopefully it helps. Thanks JR 137 for the advice

That's describes what I feel to a great extent, I would only add that it's very hard to remember

It seems like a kyokushin problem ?! Do anyone have the same problem with Kata in any other style ?!

That gives me hope thanks strangepair03

What a solid post ! Thanks so much sensei8. I don't want to give up on kata for sure but at the same time wanna like it so I can improve & get the best out of it

Hi RGCKarate, thanks for the invitation & sure I will come to visit your dojo when I visit Canberra & thank you for your detailed reply. I guess understanding / breaking down the kata is my main problem & will try to work on it

Thanks for such a solid post & recommendation. " The way of kata " will be my next book then

Thanks ashworth, I will try

Good to know that I am not the only one

Is the bunkai of each move should be explained in the dojo or it'/ something you have to look for ?! It was never explained to me before

Is it normal that you don't like KATA ?! Most of the time I feel like I don't like practising KATA , feel it's not that important ! i know I am wrong & KATA is important as all practitioners say so but is it normal to feel like that when you are a beginner ? How do you get yourself to like it ?!

Welcome, hope you enjoy the forum

Sorry to ask but I am just a beginner, what is the " Reactionary Drills " ?!

How do you develop a " Fight Plan " & when ? I mean do you have a basic plan you use most of time / modify it some times or your plan will differs from one opponent to another & in this case will you put the plan while you are sparring or before (in case you know your opponent) ? I can't imagine myself planning while I am sparring, I usually am already overwhelmed (I am just very beginner in sparring).