Dijita

You're 7th Kyu in under 6 months??? That seems really fast! I started beginning of December, so therefore I've been doing it for 5 months and I am only 10th Kyu. Weird.

Hehehe, I was thinking the same, but kept my mouth shut because he seems to enjoy the style that he is doing right now. Though yes, in Kyokushin, it's not too often you will be told to lighten the contact, unless of course you are doing something stupid.

Right now, every class. This is because Canadian's are next weekand so we are concentrating on fight training. Normally though I would say at least once a week we do pad work.

That's preety cool

I live in Canada. This means cold winters, but warmer summers. Summer is approaching, hehe and that means less clothing will be worn. Being a girl I often times wear skirts or dresses during the summer months. Funny thing is, I do martial arts... my shins are always full of bruises, and sometimes my arms. My boyfriend laughs and says people will think that he beats me. Ahhh... martial arts is great! Be proud and show those bruises off with pride this summer! You earned them.

We did an interesting drill last night. What we did is with a partner, one person closes their eyes, while the other person punches them in the stomach. The key is the punches have to come in random and not rythmiclly. Some of you might think this is odd, but it really teaches you how important it is to breath properly while always having your stomach tense. In a tournement, you can't always predict when you are going to be punched, and good fighters will watch the breathing of their opponent. When their opponent takes a big deep breath, the fighter punches in the stomach to wind them. It's difficult, try it sometime.

Hahaha, White Warlock.

Links can be found in the following thread: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=13076

By the way, what made you leave kickboxing?

Hehe, it's spelled "Osu". Glad that you are enjoying Karate. I have heard a lot of good things about Goju Ryu, and it seems that a lot of people I've met who do it are all very nice and humble. As far as the hard contact, it's probably going to take some getting used too, to lighten up your techniques. Your instructor is probably going to have to remind you a half dozen times to lighten up

Hehe... sorry that my opinion is biased. I wish I could offer more advice but I do not have the knowledge of other styles. I just wanted to share what I like about my style. I suppose I could also tell you about Kuk Sool Won which is a style that I used to do a long time ago, it might be much different then when I used to do it. I enjoyed that as well. Tournements are minimal contact. You wear full protection and are allowed light to medium contact. They also have a lot of variety in their tournements. They have forms, sparring, and self defense. Oh yeah, Kuk Sool Won is very heavy on self defense moves, but they also do a lot of the basic kicks and punches, plus a lot of break falling and forms. One thing I liked about Kuk Sool Won though is the variety of weapons that you learn. One neat weapon is the fan which I never got to learn cause it was for the higher belt levels, but it looks very nice. Anyways, I hope that you find a school that you really enjoy... and I'm sure that this time around you will go the distance.

This movie is impossible to find on DVD! Though I checked ebay and found it going for like $60.00!! So I suspect it is out of print now. Too bad, I like this movie and would love to own it.

Yeah G, that's harsh the original poster didn't have a problem with it, so why do you? Bigbird.... I always feel like a klutz, but maybe it's because I'm only 10th kyu But I imagine everyone goes through a period where they feel off. Get lot's of rest, because more than likely your mind is tired.

If you want to do full contact martial arts... then go into MT, or Kyokushin Karate. I'm not sure of other full contact Martial arts. If you want to be in a more "traditinal" martial arts environment, then Kyokushin. If you strickly want to learn to fight, and don't want to do things lke Kata's or forms, or self defense... then take MT. I'd suggest more but like I said my knowledge of full contact MA's are limited. Both would be good, and both would be demanding yet fun. PS. I like Kyokushin becaues I don't like getting punched in the face.

Same with Jiyn. I wouldn't want to fight on the street. But I enjoy fighting at martial arts. Sparring is fun, and it's hard work, but you learn a lot. I also like tournements, even though I'm usually very very sore for the next few days. The injuries will happen, but hopefully you learn how to minimize them to just minor bruises and such.

I posted these video clips in another thread that didn't have a title relating to Kyokushin videos. So I thought I would repost some links here for anyone who is interested in seeing some Kyokushin clips: Here is what I could find on the web for Kyokushin video clips. There's not really one site that has a tremendous amount, and a lot of these are just amateur fights but I hope you enjoy it: http://www.kyokushinmail.com/ http://www.adnantarsha.com/video_clips2.htm http://www.musashi.nl/multimedia/Films/films.htm The following are some open tournements (some of these may take awhile to load): http://www.warbozz.dk/HavingFun/images/sport/kyokushin%20karate%20fighting%20(wheelkick).mov http://w1.194.telia.com/~u19309857/Videos/kyokushin%20karate%20-%20Kurosawa1.mpg http://w1.194.telia.com/~u19309857/Videos/kumite%20-%20kyokushin%20karate.mpg http://w1.361.telia.com/~u36120483/filmer/knock1.mpg And here's an animated gif: http://www.fightingsecrets.com/images/v_ko.gif

If you're wondering whether or not your instructer will allow it, I feel quiet confident that he/she will. It should never be forced under certain conditions. Congrats on getting married by the way!

Couldn't you just ask for no contact to the head?

Woot that's awesome! Congrats!

Killermiller, Yeah I understand the fact that a lot of students when they are new and are given the oppurtunity to free spar, it looks more like a brawl then a martial art. However, myself, and others that I've seen... in their first tournement, did very well. They used the combos that we were drilled in class to get openings. For example punch punch, shuffle, kick to the leg, (hopefully by this point the hands dropped) and then a quick kick to the head. It's not like I went into the tournement cold. Sempai trained us very hard every class with combos and various drills. He even added an extra class during the week specifically for fight training. My first tournement was when I was 4 months into Karate, and I didn't do to bad. I placed 3rd. At the tournement though, I learned that I needed to work on moving a bit more rather than fighting toe to toe. So now in class I work very hard at how to circle properly and how to "cut the ring". Sempai thought that I was ready and I trusted him. Though, I have to add, a very long time ago I used to do a different style of martial arts... so my basic technique came back quickly. Not to say that I have mastered them, because I don't really think anyone masters a technique unless they've been training for like 10 years. Anyways, thanks for the discussion... I think it was very constructive. Osu.

I'm not sure if I get what you are trying to say. I think what I read is that you feel that a student shouldn't participate in both free sparring as well as tournements before 6 months because they have not developed their technique and such. Am I correct? I suppose, personally, I don't have a problem entering tournements prior to 6 months. I know that my technique is developing, but I love the experience of the tournements. I learn a GREAT deal at them, and find a lot of things that I need to work at. On top of it all, I have a really great time. I believe that every student will develop at a different rate. This is why I am very confident that my instructor would have advised me to hold off on the tournements for a little while if he felt I was unready or at risk of serious injury. Instead my instructer asked if I would want to compete as it is very good experience. I was excited, and I trained/train very hard for them. I'm not trying to say that your opinion is wrong. I respect your judgement in your class. It is your class, it is important to make sure your students are taken care of, and I applaud you for that because you obviously care about them. I'm just glad that I've had the oppurtunity to enter tournements at the early stages, and I personally feel that if the instructor feels that a student is ready (which is the MAIN key), and the sparring is taken place under strict supervision, then I think it is ok. Obviously for someone who backs off from Kihon Kumite then yes, they are not ready yet, and making the free spare would be the worst thing you could do. Just out of curiosity, I assume you teach Shotokan. What does your free sparring entail? I'm under the assumption that Shotokan tournements are not full contact... do your students participate in full contact sparring? Please correct me if I am wrong, as I do not have a vast knowledge of Shotokan.

KillerMiller, What if the said student is competing in tournements? Shouldn't the student then be alloted time to practice free sparring under the guidance of the instructer? I have been practicing Kyokushin for less than 6 months now and have done 2 tournements so far (smaller local ones). I have decided that I want to fight at the Canadians in May. Therefore the bunch of us in the class that are going to Canadians have been doing a lot of fight training, which involves a lot of different types of drills, and yes free sparring. I do not fault my sempai, he is very careful and good about keeping a close eye to make sure that we are well taken care of. I really like the free sparring because it lets me practice my combos in a more realistic situation rather than strictly doing bag work. I do not believe there should be a set time frame as to when a person should be allowed to free spar. I think it is up to the indivdual. If the person is under good supervision and has the confidence then I think it is ok. I agree though, throwing someone into a situation where they have to free spar and they do not even have the confidence to do so, is a big mistake.

Hey I'm from Calgary as well. I'm not sure of where you can find a jujutsu or ninjitsu in Edmonton though. What are you looking to get out of martial arts? Do you want to become a good fighter? Do you want to challenge yourself? Or are you looking for something more traditional? If you want to be a good fighter and do some tournements, Fat Donkey is right. The Mike Myles kickboxing is a great place to go. They are very well reputated to creating some really high caliber fighters that do well in national and international tournements. Here's a link to the gym in Edmonton: http://www.mikemiles.com/gym/edmonton.cfm If you want to be a good fighter but also want the atmosphere of a more traditional martial arts school, you can try Kyokushin. That is what I am in, and I REALLY enjoy it. It's a form of a karate, but it is much different because it is considered a hard style because we practice full contact and our tournements are full contact rules as well. The Edmonton dojo is small, but the sensei there is VERY good, and the Edmonton dojo also produces some very good fighters that do well at the tournements. Here's a link to the Edmonton dojo: http://www.kyokushin.ca/dojos/edmonton.html

That's awesome on your results, you must be really happy about that. So there was a tournement in Elora eh? Hehe, it's such a small place! What style of martial arts was the tournement?

Again, like everyone above, do not learn from books. Some of the disadvantages are as follows: - You don't have someone to show you the proper way. - You don't have someone to correct your mistakes. - You don't have someone to let you know when you are improving. - You don't get any hands on practicing with a partner. - You may be motivated now, but for many people it is hard for them to continue the motivation of learning at home, compared to having to go to class at a set time and date. - If you are not shown the proper way, you are at risk of injury. As for the best style. Well, I don't have much knowledge of a lot of different types of martial arts. However I will say that I do Kyokushin Karate and I think it is very useful because we practice doing full contact. As a result on many instances you are practicing more on realisitc fighting. The one disadvantage though, is that we do not practice doing hand strikes to the head or face for safety reasons mostly. But we get conditioned to take the hits as well as kick and strike with speed and proper technique. You may want to look at Mui Thai or kick boxing as well. I believe they practice with full contact once you get experience, and they also focus strictly on fighting, where in Kyokushin you do other stuff like Kata's and self defense techniques as well. When it comes down to it, I believe that practicing with full contact will make you a better fighter because it makes you respect the power of your strikes, and it helps you learn in a more realistic situation, plus in some ways it makes you learn how to deal with pain and what to expect when being hit. Often times when you practice pulling your strikes and kicks back before contact, if you were in a real situation you would tend to do the same thing because it has been engraved into your mind. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone of course, and it is not meant to belittle any other style that doesn't use full contact in it's curriculem. This is just what I believe works for myself. Plus, full contact tournements are fun and challening!