EvilTed

Don't know yet m8. Saiko Shihan specifically chose our Polish Kyokushin black belt to fight me instead of the World Oyama black belt who was facing me for one of my fights. I got roundhoused in the face by him which rang my bell a bit and bust up my mouth. As I was dazed he mae-geried me in the SP and put me on my back, but I got up and kept fighting. At the end of the fighting and in front of around 100 people, Saiko Shihan asked me how long I'd been studying. When I replied "2 years Saiko Shihan" he said "You're doing pretty good". That was good props to get I have to take a written test sometime this week and my body is sore from top to bottom, so I'll have to wait and see how I get on. Today is my 40th birthday, so pass or fail, I did what I wanted in testing for my brown belt b4 my birthday. The nunchaku clinic was excellent. Saiko Shihan Oyama is an amazing Karate-ka and it was an honor to be tested by him. Osu! ET

Fish, Yeah it's sometimes hard, but that's what makes it interesting. Doing full-contact karate with 20 somethings at my age keeps me fit and young. I tend to injure easier (break things) but you've just got to know your limitations and stop sparring while injured in order to heal up properly. I may not have as much stamina as some of the younger guys, but I keep up pretty well and punch harder than most Osu! ET

The best fighter in our dojo studied TKD with a really great teacher in Seatle. He is also a world famous kickboxer and has fought a lot of the top fighters in Japan. I cna get details if you are interested? Osu! ET

Saiko Shihan Oyama is honoring us in San Francisco on Sunday 19th. He is coming to perform our advanced belt promotion test, followed by a clinic where he is going to teach us some Nunchaku - I can't wait! I'm testing for my 2cnd Kyu brown belt, two days b4 my 40th birthday. Wish me luck! I have 6 gruelling full-contact fights at the end of the test Osu! ET

I think one of those cute multi-color rainbow flags like I see all over San Francisco would look great ET

We have two types of class - normal and fighting. In the normal class we start with warmup, followed by basics. We then do kata followed by two-man drills using pads, followed by fighting at the end. In the fighting class there is more fighting (obviously) but more fighting techniques are taught as well as much more aerobic and stamina training, like running uphill, up steep steps etc or shadow boxing holding weights. Osu! ET

It's the Winter 2004 newsletter. Osu! ET

I don't find it strange at all considering the three founders of World Oyama were the leading instructors of Kyokushin sent ot America. There is an interesting news letter by Siako Shihan on the WOKO site which shows him running next to Mas Oyama and talks about his early days as a teenager training at the original Kyokushin dojo with Mas Oyama. If anything, I'll wager World Oyama is truer to the original Kyokushin than a lot of Kyokushin dojos in the US.

I forgot to mention - the Muay Thai fighter went on to win the senior division. Osu! ET

I lost my only fight (senior division) by decision to a Muay Thai fighter with 5 years experience and 1 year Karate experience. He was a big guy and very strong but he didn't hurt me that bad. I watched a video of the fight afterwards and I landed more kicks on him and the punching was pretty even, he just had a lot more stamina than me. But I didn't train for the tournament at all, I was on vacation in Scotland and only trained two days before the tournie which was the first workout I'd had in almost 3 weeks The fact I was able to get through it without significant injury, without getting knocked out and without embarrassing my sensei gives me more hope for the next time. This was also my first tournament. I think the rib is actually bruised, not cracked now, so I'll be OK in a few days. Osu! ET

KF, That link is old. The new WOKO home page is here: http://www.worldoyama.com/ Osu! ET

Stay calm... if your oponent comes hard head-on, move lateraly. Keep your head and your feet (and hands) will follow. Osu! ET

I'm sorry KF, it read to me like you were bashing our style? If you were simply questioning on-line instruction then I do apologise. If you are interested in fight based karate, you really should take a look at World Oyama. Supa, I'm 3rd kyu and going for my brown belt next month. Only Saiko Shihan (and Soshu) can test brown belt and above, further proof to me that this is a serious style. If anyone else doubts the heritage, take a look at the Kyokushin video, "Strongest Karate Vol 2" from the early 70s, where you see all three founders of World Oyama training the best American Kyokushin fighters (and Miura getting trained by Saiko Shihan for his upcoming all Japan torunament). Defensive about my style? You better believe it m8, I live and breathe it I think I came away with a cracked rib from the tournie Osu! ET

So supa, Where do you train and what rank are you? Osu! ET

OK, enough of this bullshit Krunchy Frog, I told you last time you raised this... World Oyama DOES offer Internet lessons but these have to be backed up by real lessons and a real physical promotion test. Each kyu you have to fight one more full-contact fight at the end of the promotion test, with 10 fights at first kyu and a minimum 15 for first dan. I know of Shotokan instructors (under K. enoida) in remote areas of Scotland who did their dan grading via book learning and written tests remotely, backed up by real physical testing at one time later. World Oyama Karate was founded by Shigeru Oyama, his brother Y. Oyama and M. Miura, none of whom can be called weak or light weight. I just fought in a knockdown tournament in San Diego attended by World Oyama, Kyokushin, Muay Thai, Siedo Kai Kan and Karate Juku fighters. I watched my team mates demolish both a 1st Dan Kyokushin that has just qualified for the all Japan championships (broken nose by knee kick to face) and a Seido Fighter. The winner was an amazing fighter (World Oyama) from Atlanta who fought our top fighter in the final (it went three two minute rounds and was so close it went to the judges). World Oyama Karate is as hard as it gets. We have lots of ex Kyokushin fighters in our dojo, from Japan, Poland, Lithuania, Russia and the US and all say the World Oyama is almost identical in training. So before you knock our style I suggest you go and train at a World Oyama dojo and get some respect or better still, bring your bad attitude to one of our tournaments and see how well you do. Osu! ET

I seem to continually jam my thumb by hitting someone's elbow or other hard parts during kumite. It always swells up and hurts like hell I have to fight in a tournament in two days and jammed it last week and it still hurts. Will I risk further injury by using this hand? Any quick remedies for fixing this type of injury? Thanks ET

I had an MRI and have had a torn meniscus for months now. I'm waiting until after a tournament on Saturday and my brown belt test next month before I go for the surgery. Just wear one of those neoprene braces everytime you train and you'll be fine. Also, try not to get kicked to that knee Osu! ET

Bird, Yeah, a lot of our guys are students and seem to spend more time at the dojo than they do at class I couldn't physically train that much... Osu! ET

Bird m8, Now you know how I feel on a daily basis Osu! ET

$70 a month sounds fair to me. Most martial arts in San Francisco are around $100/month. I know of some that are $150. My dojo costs $89/month for unlimited classes, which is a great deal because if you have the time you can train two or three times a day, six days a week! Osu! ET

Bird, I'm originally from the Shetland Islands (born in Edinburgh and moved there at 5). I went to university in Sheffield and then lived outside Leeds for a few years before moving to California in 1997. It's going to be weird as hell going back after all this time. I wish my girlfriend could come with me, she is from Tokyo, but she got her passport stolen last week Yeah the tournament is going to be tough, but I'll just give it my best and try not to let the dojo down. That means it's going to get ugly in there I've developed a mean shita zuki now, especially with my left to the liver. I hope I can land one good one. I'll let you all know how I get on. Osu! ET

Hey Bird, Hope yer finger heals quick m8 I was off for almost a month with a screwed up back. I've been back two weeks and I'm getting back into shape again. Sensei talked me into competing in a knockdown tournament in San Diego on August 14th but first I'm going back home. It will be my first visit to the UK since I move to California 7 years ago and my first visit back home in 15 years There won't be much time left for staying sober... Then I get back on the 6th and have 7 days to get ready If I get through that I get the pleasure of my brown belt test on September 18th, graded by our Seiko Shihan. Osu! ET

What about Enshin? If you are in Denver Colorado, you should check this out: http://honbu.enshin.com/ more schools here: http://www.enshin.com/index2.html Enshin, like World Oyama, is a first generation Kyokushin derivative. Osu! ET

We had a guy in our dojo - great fighter 'n' all who would shout "KITES!!!!" at the top of his voice for kiai. Funny as hell that was Osu! ET

A great story ZD and one that's probably common to all of us. I've been through the pain, emotional and physical and keep coming back for more. At one time I felt like this student and almost quit myself. I now know a little more about my sensei, a little more about myself. You can't look around the dojo at others and how they are treated or how they are favored. You can only look at yourself and give your heart and soul to karate. Once you do that, the rest is immaterial Osu! ET