yamesu

The only thing I could find out online is that they are expensive....

Sounds like a great opportunity! Have fun!

I think this is the way to go too. In just a few short months of Judo I feel my takedowns and throws we occasionally do train in the Kyokushin system have become noticeably better simply due to a little schooling in those throws that showed me what I need to do to maxmize effectiveness. Agreed, I can say the same. As for the statement regarding finding someone who has knowledge of applying throws in active drills- I think the same can be said for all techniques, striking included. It is one thing to learn to punch through a kata, but a different thing to be able to actually strike in Jissen Kumite.

Kuma has given some insightful info on Kyokushin. My personal experiences are the same. There are many goshin-jutsu techniques we practice in a self-defence vein within Kyokushin. Out of 3 lessons a week, in at least one of them we do grappling/throws.

Then by the same token I'd consider it to be Indian...

22 April 2013. -Taught 60 min kiddies Kyokushin class. -9min circuits: Mountain Climber; Shuffling Pushups; Tuck Jumps; Plank; Twist ReversePlank V-Ups. (Rest, Rinse, Repeat). -Kata (10min). -Active stretching (10min). -120min Kyokushin class.

19 April 2013 -45min Kyokushin class (afternoon, rocked up a little late... traffic grrrr...). -Active stretching, 10min. -120min Kyokushin class (evening). -Light sparring after class.

Sounds like the style of training utilised in the Kyokushin dojo I currently train at. After an ~5yr break from karate, I found the extreme repetitions extremely difficult, but you will (like me) build up tolerance to it. By the same token - if you are pushin yourself at 80-90% effort levels, it will always be a challenge, no matter how good you are, because as your skill and tolerance increases, so does your ability to increase effort levels. As far as muscle building, I thik ther is some great responses above, which I wholeheartedly agree with. Strength training is great, and not to be over looked, but MAKE SURE you understand the difference between doing weight training for strength building OR muscle building beore embarking on continual weight sessions!!! I do however agree that being bulky can be restrictive in Martial Arts. Speed and Timing (Ma-ai) are key in karate. This will come with time, but I have personally found that being lighter and quicker (less bulky) has benefited me personally. If your goal is to move up a weight class, then muscle building through weight training is the way to go, as opposed to taining to move up a weight class through eating cheeseburgers and fried chicken Best of luck with everything! OSU!

15 April 2013. -60min Kyokushin Class (afternoon). -Kata, Pinan Yon, Yantsu. -Static and active stretching, 15min. -120min Kyokushin class (evening), also ran overtime, so got an extra 20min or so in! -Practiced a few aerial kicks after class, mainly 360 uch and ushiro.

12 April 2013. -2x 2min rounds heavy bag full intensity. -Active stretching, 10min. -90min Kyokushin class.

And 2nd Dan Kyokushin prior to his Muay Thai experience, just quietly. Grappling works great in reality situations, if it is a one on one situation. Anyone who has been out on the town or makes bars a hangout will tell you that this is RARELY the case. Think about it. What would any "real" person do if they saw a friend getting punched or put in a headlock? I know what my response would be! I strongly agree with this, as well as previous comments about training to be hit hard. Getting over adrenal dumps is a major factor in survival, and has been since the dawn of humankind - even shaping evolution to this day. ^^^YES! This! Any sub-par club or school is still only going to be teaching sub-par martial arts. Its 6 of one half-dozen of the other, and can happen within any martial art, MMA, traditional or RBSD. I think this is a solid point, and made me laugh! Thank you for summing this up so eloquently tallgeese. I was trying to word something similar, but you've done it better already! For me to sum up in my own opinion - most martial arts that hve been around for a while are obviously effective to some degree or another, as they are still around. Particularly when you take their purpose. Krav for instance, is obviously thought of as valuable by some, as they still use it for Military instruction. If I was spending billions on training an army, I sure as heck would not be technign them garbage!!!! But I have seen garbage MA schools everywhere. Even Kyokushin and Muay Thai, which I both hold very dear. MMA is the same. Proven effective in some situations, but that does not make every MMA'ist an effective fighter. For instance, how many people from Joe Blogs MMA gym have competed in UFC? (Rhetorical question....) This is the reason that people need to seek out what works best for them. For instance, I train over 90min travel from home, 2-3 nights a week, simply because I think the dojo's closer to home are garbage. To each their own. Fit for purpose, and my purpose is not going to be the same as everyone elses.....

11 April 2013. Endurance circuits: - Chinups, 2x sets (10/7). - Mae Keage 20reps. - Jog, 2min. - Kin Geri 50reps - Mae Geri 50reps. - Jog, 2min. - Hiza Ganmen Geri 50reps. - Combination (Inside thigh, front hand, rear hand, outside thigh) 20reps. - Chudan Mawashi Geri 30reps. - Jog, 2min. - Chinups 10reps. - Active leg stretches.

9 April 2013. -Jog, 5min to warm up. Circuits (30 sec each, 15 sec rest - Full intensity). Mea keage to stretch up. -Skipping, both feet. -Squat kicks. -Starjumps. -Half burpees. -Skipping alternating feet. -Switch front kicks. -Combination (Inside thigh kick, front hand, back hand punches, outside thigh kick).

8 April 2013. -90min kyokushin class (afternoon). -8x 1.5min rounds on heavy bag with 30sec breaks. Full intensity. -Kata: Pinan Yon and Go, Yantsu, Gekusai Dai and Sho. -2hr Kyokushin class (Evening).

Haha, sounds exactly like the last few rounds of my last 10 full contact rounds! Just cover and move, cover and move!!! 7 April 2013. -Pushups (wide arm), 2x sets 20reps. -Pushups (knuckles), 2x sets 20reps. -Kettlebell supersets: . >Swings, 12.5kgs, 20reps. . >Bicep curls, 12.5kgs, 10reps each arm. . >One arm swings, 12.5kgs, 20reps alternating each arm - catch at top. . >Swing to clean and jerk (holding kettlebell up straight at peak), 12.5kgs 10 reps each arm. . >Round body, 12.5kgs, 10 reps each direction. . >Fig8 through legs, 12.5kgs, 20 reps. . >Swings, 12.5kgs, 20reps. . >Bicep curls, 12.5kgs, 5reps each arm. . >Wrist curls, 12.5kgs, 10reps each arm. . >Swing to clean and jerk (holding kettlebell up straight at peak), 12.5kgs 5 reps each arm. -Leg stretching, specific for round/side kicks. -10min interval jogging and sprint training.

5 April 2013. -2hr Kyokushin class. -10 rounds, high intensity full contact.

2 April 2013. -Built a fence at home to keep in our puppy, 40metres worth. 4 April 2013. -Volleyball warmup with team, 30min. -Volleyball game, 25min (Grnad Finals - we won First Place!!!) More to come for today later.

In a similar outlook as has been posted by others, I dont see any problem in "skipping low Kyu grades (up to about 4th kyu, and certainly not above there), IF the practitioner has skill requisite to the level they are being brought up to. In my experience this has mainly happened with persons who have previous experience in Martial Arts, before coming to a new Art, where they may be accellerated through lower ranks a bit more quickly. On the other side of the coin, some people cannot make their gradings, and so next time round will go for two - they have still done the time, and built up the technical knwoledge and conditioning required.

29 March 2013. -5min jog with my puppy. -Ab Ripper. 1 April 2013. -Front kick drills, 5min. -Pushups, 2x sets to exhaustion. -Knife work (solo practice), 10min.

:D Agreed, and for the record, unless I have an esoterical Japanese name for them (as I do for my katana), they usually end up with female names. ^^^ THIS! I am the same, all of my weapons have a name that I have found befitting of their intended purpose, or the way they feel when I handle them. I feel it instills a level of realism to the weapon, further begetting respect, that just calling them "bo" or "katana" does.

Kyokushin, MuayThai/Kickboxing, Judo and Arnis. Definitely assisted in some sticky situations over the years, but more over, I think that the de-escalation techniques I've learnt have helped more than anything. Being able to punch someone "correctly" is a skill, but nothing compared to being able to walk away home to my loved ones without blood on my fists (mine or otherwise). The more I have (and continue to) learn about violence, the less I want it to be a part of my life.

^^ This. Note, the applying in "any situation". I am not going to argue that being well rounded is a bad thing. Quite the opposite. More to my point - I can throw a killer Ushiro Mawashi geri (spinning back kick) and land it a good proportion of the time, but its not my staple, and I would prefer to focus on something like chudan mawashi. Agreed. A very good point. However, once we have become well rounded and drilled/learnt applications to all techniques within the art, when do we say, ok, my body type/structure and the way I personally move is better suited to techniques x/y/z than a/b/c??? Exactly. Look at Muay Thai - most of the fighters Ive seen (in Thailand particularly) utilise a few techniques with GREAT results. This is great - I know you are a well seasoned MA'ist sensei8, and this is the general point I was intially getting at After years and years of learning multitudes of techniques, we then have the opportunity (and I stress OPPORTUNITY) to make some our staple diets. I have a great front hand stop hit, and utilise it regularly. This doent mean that I simply throw it at any occasion, but when I do throw it, I expect (for the most part) it will land, do damage and recieve the expected outcome. I dont disagree that long-term more techniques means more options. But I also would like to point out that even single techniques (take a rear cross for example) have a plethora of applications outside of simple basics. One can stand head to head and throw a punch, or while moving in-out of distances, or while on ones back being mounted etc etc etc. I appreciate your point here, its a double edged sword, but I personally am a big advocate for reaction time vs. muscle memory - its actually quite sound scientifically. I wont go into this too much as I guess it can get a bit subjective. Success under stress is a great point Tallgeese! Its highly difficult to pull off complicated techniques in the heat of the moment, especially after having already been punched in the jaw or if adrenaline is at full-pump. So why not focus on a few moves you know suit your body and drill these to the point you knwo that you are comfortable utilisng them? I am not saying that we should stop training broadly by any means, but just that it may be worth putting that littel extra into certain areas we know we can gain "comfortable competence"...? Good point on negletcing other areas. I am not saying that this should be done in point, but rather that once gaining some competency in "the whole" of your system, that there will be some standout tech's which suit your means to a better end. True that too much focus on gendan may have left joday weaker, but in reality, would you be more inclined, and feel safer utilising gedan as a primary technique? Another interesting point, and one that I had not though of. Most movements can be boiled down to variations on a set of simple movements. I guess this is where kata and interpretation of bunkai comes into play.

We do almost exactly the same variations in my current dojo. Great conditioning I think. OSU!

Just wanted to open something for discussion here. I'd thought about writing this as an article, but figured discussion would be more constructive. Basically, I have for some time now considered myself a well rounded MA'ist. I've had formal lessons/classes in: 20yrs Kyokushin, 4yrs Kickboxing, 4yrs Modern Arnis, and approx 4yrs of Judo/JiuJutsu under my belt (pun intended). Recently I have been getting into some rather in depth conversations with Martial Artists I consider to be very much more seasoned and experienced then I am, and they all raised a singular good point. Some of the BEST Kyokushin fighters in history have found two-three techniques and really drilled them until they become "their own" so-to-speak. I have recently started to do this, looking at what techniques I am best at pulling off effectively in Stand-up, Wrestling and Groundgames to get me into the position I want to be in. My point here is not to ask everyone name techniques, but for argument sake, Ive been looking at: Chudan Mae Geri, Mawashi Geri, Kage Tsuki and Front hand stop hits, Flower Sweeps from being mounted, Shoulder lock (Omoplata) from guard, Uchi Mata, and one particular kyokushin takedown I dont believe has a formal name. I know that listing off that many techniques looks like a lot, but in the scheme of things its not really that much (in Kyokushin alone we have over 50 takedowns to chokes and locks as part of Bunkai, let alone all I have learnt through Judo/JiuJutsu). As MA'ists we go through the ranks learning a multitude of techniques, but may only utilise a select number of them. My point is, that in drilling out technique after technique, we may actually be conditioning ourselves to falter in times of need. Muscle memory dictates that the most conditioned response will be the first choice for the body. If there is too much conflicting information spamming the nervous system, it may cause reactions to falter or be delayed. So, is it better to focus on learning one thing well than 20 possible things basically? I think most would say yes. But how many of us actually do so? Ill bet not too many. I for one would, at this point in my training (knowing that I have knowledge of an arsenal of different tecniques that I know, but certainly have not mastered), be able to rely on one kick and one punch, than falter as my brain chooses what punch is best for the situation. Opinions???

26 March 2013 -Pull ups, 3x sets to exhaustion. -Stretching, legs - 3 sets alternated with: -Mae Geri 50reps. -Mawashi Geri 50 reps. -Shadow Boxing 5min. -Pushups to exhaustion. 27 March 2013. -90min Kyokushin class (afternoon). -Heavy Bag 5x rounds @ 2min, full speed/power. -Kata: Seipai. -90min Kyokushin class (evening).