dave3006

Being critical is good. It helps you find the FLAWS in things. You were given a brain for a reason. Use it. If you can't see how the style of sparring they practice WILL build bad habits that will get you hurt, I can't help you. Good luck with your dentist bill should you ever get in a real fight.

I have no doubt Kyokushin fighters are tough. But, I have to say training to fight where an you and your opponent can not strike to the head is about the silliest thing I have ever seen. You will fight in real life how you train. If you train unconcerned about punches to the head, you will develop habits that a good boxer will DESTROY you with. You would have been better off never training at all. Fighting without allowing punches to the face ignores the most basic of all martial arts principles - you attack your opponent were he is weakest and you defend where you are weak. Martial arts are about the chance of the weak to defeat the strong through intelligent fighting. It is so ridiculous that I am almost speechless. Kyokushin is a tough guy contest. It is not a martial art.

I guess that is the toughest part of the striking arts, "how to best simulate real combat?" If you hold back too much, it is unrealistic. If you don't hold anything back, people get injured and can't train. I guess it is all pros and cons. No perfect answer. Just recently coming from a grappling background, it is kind of a startling difference. In grappling, your opponent resists your attempt to submit him 100% from a grappling perspective. But, even grapplers limit some moves due to risk of injury. Most BJJ schools do not allow heel hooks because, if they are done wrong, you can be wrecked for life. I have been choked unconscious 4 times. I woke up. No big deal. I had by arm broken in an armlock. It healed in a couple months. Heel hooks scare me to death.

Please take my comments as my attempt to have a friendly debate. I don't have all the answers. These are just my opinions. Most importantly, I could be wrong (I am all the time!) That being said ... Yes. Head kicks are to "attacks to the head". But, it is much, much more difficult to kick someone in the head. What I have seen is that guys close the distance and then just start pounding on each others midsections leaving their heads open to punches. The distance protects them from a head kick. I am just saying this is an incredibly bad habit that could get your face wrecked on the street. I like the Shotokan approach that allows kicks to the body but face punches are controlled to stop shy of contact. And, I believe the essence of a martial art is to train for a real street attack. I am not clairvoyant. So, I can't say that I will never need my skills to save my life. I have to train like I will.

I could make a strong case that a person would be better off sitting at home watching TV rather than sparring in a system that does not allow attacks to the head. It will teach you not to care about defending on of your most vital targets. This would be fatal in a street situation. It is not about fighting tough. It is about fighting smart.

The thing that concerns me the most about kyokushin is that they do not target the head in sparring. My opinion is that this would cause a person to develop some very bad habits. Fatal habits. The essence of martial arts is using your strength to attack your opponents weakness. I don't see how two guys blasting each other on the chest realizes this ideal. It is more of a "worlds toughest man" contest. It doesn't seem the most intelligent way to fight.

Are the Kyokushin people the ones that spar and don't allow punches to the head? I trained like that one sparring session. I quickly decided that I would be better off staying home. Not defending your head could be a habit that would get you killed on the street. Kyokushin seems to be the antithesis of Shotokan. Shotokan trains with the ideal of ending the encounter in one blow. Kyokushin guys just pound on each other in a war of attrition. One of my complaints of Shotokan is that they do not stress attacking the opponents vitals enough. Kyokushin takes this flaw to a new level.

Thanks. Dobbersky, you are right. I can see how you would have got the impression you did. My experience with BJJ is that you need to be on the mat 4 times per week to be on top of your game. And, when I trained Shotokan, I would go to class 2-3 days a week and self train every single day kata, kihon, or bag. For me, it would be difficult to do both the right way at the same time. I miss the "martial art" part of karate. BJJ has become a lot like judo in the sense that the focus is constantly on sport tournaments. It has also become watered down for the purpose of gaining new students and making money. Ground fighting is great for dueling (two willing participants in a cage). It is not the last word on fighting skills.

I did not treat Shodan as the end point. I understand that a Shodan just means you understand the basics. It doesn't mean "you have arrived". I spent 8 years training Shotokan. I received my black belt from Sensei Nishiyama. I changed to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for reasons that had nothing to do with Shotokan. I have spent over a decade at BJJ and trained with several Gracies (including Rickson) and earned a black belt. These are significant achievements over long periods of time. They hardly make me a flake. I personally think I am a better, more rounded martial artist as a result. Now, I want to train Shotokan again. There is nothing wrong with that.

I have a shodan in Shotokan Karate. I received it in 1995. Not too long afterwards, I left Shotokan and started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I ended up getting my black belt. To make a long story short, I stopped Jiu Jitsu a few months ago and would like to start training again Shotokan. The only problem is that I do not have anywhere close to train. In your opinion, do you think self training would be a waste of time? My thought is to train kata 2 days a week, kihon 2 days a week, and bag work 2 days a week. I currently run 5 miles a day. I plan to continue to do this. My concerns are that I would not have any outside input on my technique and it would be easy to build bad habits. I am also concerned that without a formal class structure and a good instructor, motivation might suffer. What do you think? I know it is not perfect. Do you think it is worthwhile?

They don't collapse under force and they do not move on your head. If they move on your head or collapse, they can make it EASIER to get califlower.

These are the best I have tried http://www.wrestlingone.com/productdetail.php?idProductIDBase=CK-F5T All the others don't even compare.

When you think about buying a training dummy, you feel stupid. When, you actually buy it, you know you are stupid. When you first start using it, you feel like the term stupid is just not strong enough for the silly thing you are doing. When you catch someone in a leg lock you practiced all morning on your stupid dummy and have never before done on a resisting human being, you feel good. I guess I would rather feel stupid at home than at class.

http://www.trainingdummies.com/delux.shtml I have the above dummy. I bought the dummy unfilled and filled it myself. The more expensive version they sell is too stiff in the legs. There are many ways to progress. For a newbie, the plan suggested by Andrew makes sense. I have been rolling for years. My way works for me. Bottom line - do what works for you. I was lucky enough to train under Rickson in the early 90's. He would always say "take the move your opponent gives you. Not the one you want to take." The dummy works for me.

I received my Shodan in Shotokan. The fact that I could train on my own 7 days a week enabled me to progress. Self training made my class training 1000x better. I only train two days a week in BJJ. I self train every day on my own. Buy a grappling dummy. Get a book series like Machado encyclopedia and start at move #1. Drill that move for 5 minutes. Move to the next one. Do this every day for 45 minutes. It will make your game better. I guarrantee it. I am a purple belt and it works just like kata and kihon drills you would do on your own. I can't tell you the number of times in class a move "just happened" that I had practiced earlier in the day on the dummy.