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Not necessarily ,what ever works from any other school ,based on the foundation of shotokan basics that we work on.

Back to the topic ,sparring is an aid to enable you to be effective in the street. Sparring in our dojo was done at all ranges ,including grappling ,take downs and ground work .basically anything and any target .but obviously with respect and control for the training partner as they both help each others progress week in and week out . to find out if your technique has enough venome ,rather than finding out on your partner ,it is done on bags and makiwara or pads ! with patner you work on strategy, ways of delivering your technique correctly ,evasion ,posture . when we get near a tournement then our sparring would be geared towards tournement techniques and the speed of movements and delivery. so to be effective in the street there are several factors to be observed and sparring is just one of them. the most important one in my book is correct mental attitude . after this comes good technique . in shotokan we go back to basics and I see it as a great aid to sharpenn your techniques.

this is not the way we trained in shotokan ,but there are shotokan clubs like that ,just like anyother style that , but to generalise them all together is wrong . shotokan the way I learned is about Ippon. there fore great emphasis is put on the perfection of the technique .to achieve that you need speed and power ,so thse dead lock stances that you have seen in hawaie would obvoiusly not work ! but believe there many shotokan guys that can move very fast .through the process of my training I hav had my first hand experience .

you are absolutley right about the technical points you mentioned but these also exist in a good dojo ,zanshin or awareness is avery important part karate and that includes always observing never turn away from opponent.but it all depends with who and how you sparr , like a musical instrument ,there is a diferrence between me playing the giutar and Eric clapton !

Best place to practice it is in the swimming pool ! that where I did a few many years ago ! yes it does feel very strong and if it hits something it will for sure cause considerable damage but as someone else mentioned the risks are too much .

it is hard enough with one foot off the ground ,never mind two !

I can't see any use with this kick ,but in the beginning of my karate I thought this was the ultimate ! I think the double maie geri jumping kick in kankodaie is much more effective than this tobigeri ,this is only good for camera !

you do understand how adrenaline works, right? It saps your energy. It increases sight, strength, etc. TEMPORARILY, then it leaves you sapped and tired. Since you guys are big on talking about multiple opponent fights, we'll use that as an example - adrenaline won't save you there. this is where conditioning comes in handy. What if you have to run? there's more benefit of conditioning. Also, not all fights last only a few seconds. To prepare yourself for the ideal is not a smart thing. you should prepare for the worst, no? yes I do agree with what you said ,conditioning is very important but quality of your technique is more important .think of this someone could be as fit as a fiddle but if his strikes are not effective he won't last long . with a good technique, one always has a chance to end the conflict quickly ,but as you rightly said there is no best .so maybe my best won't be as good as opponents best ! but who knows ! you never know until you produce your best and for that first you need to be calm and relaxed in the mind ,like an state of emptiness .once this is achieved one can flow and blend in with the opponents moves and take advantage . learning how to fight in martial arts is like having a weapon like a gun .you may know how to use a fire arm and even carry one ,but it is the mind that has to initiate pulling the triger ,karate is the same .how good your gun is depends on the quality of your training and instruction ,not the style .

I agree totally ,A good karate or martial arts school must prepare students for the real thing and that is street fight .Sparring partly attributes to developing the ability to street fight should the need be. quality defers from one school to another .conditioning to improve the quality and power in the technique is of great importance ,once it is achieved then confidence developes and the ultimate aim in karate one technique finish ! is the goal .just like a piano player ,you can hear some one with 2 years of experience and a master with over say 15 years ,obviuosly their quality of training and number of years training will be evident from the sound they produce .karate technique is the same ! lets not forget most street fights are over within seconds ,so stamina is not the main concern but quality of the technique is !

Ki is the root of all martial arts ,KI is the spirit and energy when combined with breath AI at the moment of impact makes kiai ! the mouth should not be open too wide ,the starting point for it is the stomack.this should be taught by a experienced instructer ,it is very important part of training in karate and not something that could be appreciated at low grade ,it takes years to understand and master .

what a good answer regarding tekki katas ! Personally I thought there were 27 shotokan katas , can not in hounesty say i know them all by heart ! there are some who do and they are called master , but it takes a life time to learn them perfectly , I can not imagine how one can master 50 katas ,but there could only be a few .for most of us is important to have an understanding of all of them and then choose the ones we like best and suits our bodytype and fighting attitude and then try to perfect those by concentrating on them.

yuo are absuloutly right ! i thought of exactly the same before I read your reply ! We practice that in basic form and free style form ,,once the mechanics of the technique is grasped it's distance and timing which makes it win.

Very well said ,I coulden't agree more ,not because you do shotokan ! b.t.w would you care to say something about your school and instructer .

Nintai ,you put it to words very nicely ,so did ninjanuse,angela,G95champ and cross ,I just want to draw your attention to some moves in katas nidan,sandan ,yondan ,godan . In hein yondan there is a part when the left hand performs a palm hand wpeeping block across your face and the right hand makes a palm hand stike to the side of visionary opponent ,same with double block and strike in hein nidan .these are some examples into why it is trained in basics , in agreeing in principal with all of you I just add improving body coordination between different limbs and the brain ,doing diferrent things at once is better than doing them randomly ,that millie second could one day save your life !

What are you going to do to correct this and when? to be honest i dont think i will bother, i think it is a daft technique, and i do not see the point of wasting my time training a technique that i will not use. Dear friend ,like you I found kekomi very difficult to do ! It was like hitting a brick wall ,I got stuck with this and could not make it work ,but then I constantly watching my sensie delivering powerful kekomis and I knew I can learn to do it better . It diden't come over night ,but with lots of repetitions and good instruction I now have a relatively decent kekomi that I am confident of ,it does not matter if the kick is not high ,this kick done properly can do a hell of a damage to the legs ,groin ,middle section and i have seen people knoked down with this kick . So don't get disappointed ,keep at it and it will happen ! Doing it from horse stance is the initial training method of improving this kick , however once the mechanics are achieved it can be delivered from front stance or fudo dachi ,or even shorter stances . once a karateka reach a certain competency he should be able to move from one stance to another naturally like second nature without conseous thought.

Once your knee is up and have good supporting leg and balance you can change your kick to another as need be ,like front kick to side or roundhouse ,or a round house to reverse roundhouse .

Thank you for taking time to answer , my experience with kyukoshin is from a few competitions I have seen , My point about evasion is that you mentally always do your best to avoid an attack ,of course you are not always able to do that and pick up a few shots but that must be your ultimate aim not to get hit and find opportunities to hit your opponent . My idea of karate is not with competions and entering rings ,there is nothing wrong with that ,but mine is purely for self defence ,and for that I don't need to condition myself to go 10 rounds in the ring , most street fights end in matter of seconds ( in the unfortunate situation of having to fight some one ) , for this I try to perfect my techniques by doing kihon ,broaden my horizen by learning katas and gaining experience and learning tactics and strategy by doing kumite, also by doing kumite i try to build a stronger spirit evry time . Avoiding to get hit by taie sabaki (body evasion ) is a skill on its own and is what I constantly try to improve ,is part of strategy and manipulation that is vital to a good self defence system . I am positive that what i have mentioned exists in all good kyukoshin dojos and any other styles of karate and it is not unique to just one style , as martial artists we must look beyond competion arena ,competition is a good experience but is only a small part of martial arts.but it must look realistic enough to prepare the person for the real thing .

We more than anyone believe in the one strike one death mentality, but you must always prepare for this not to be the case. because sometimes that hit wont phase your opponent as much as you thought. You know wat im saying? I just feel that kyokushin stresses the mechanics of a fight moreso than dojos of other styles, FROM WHAT I"VE SEEN. Im not going to argue at all about whether or not there are some really tought ahrdcore shotokan, or other karate style dojos outh there. but generally speaking, this is my concensous. Also the reason would a blue belt from my dojo could dominate tope fighters from other dojos (seen it). btw, i would not like this to come off at all as an attack against your style ora boasting up of mine. Its just my prespective on learning the arts, whatever the style may be. You are 100% correct about using the 3 parts, kata, kumite, kihon. But if you do kihon and kata a 100%, then you must also do kumite at a 100%. I agree with what you say about being prepared to continue incase your technique don't do the job ,but I am saying the ultimate aim is to have such a good and perfect technique to finish it with one blow. You have every right to think that your style stresses most the mechanics of a fight ,but I think tha same way about shotokan ! and I can tell you that most visiting karatekas to our dojo had a hard time against people of lower grade ! so what does this tell you ? Now that you brought it up ,I must say from what kyokoshin competition I have seen ,I was not impressed by the way that fighters square up and exchange blow for blow without any evasion and effort not to get hit ! My idea of karate and martial arts (self defence ) is to hit and not to get hit ! by not being there ! this is the way i have learned and the concept of kyukoshin does not suit me and my beliefs ,the fact that there are no head shots doesen''t prepare you for the street ,in the street you can not afford to stand up to some one and let them hit you and then hit back ,no matter how tough you are and how much conditioning you have done ! Avoiding to get hit must be the first on any martial artists agenda , The only way a small person can overcome a much bigger opponent is to have enough skill to avoid his attack and hit him with faster and stronger technique .not easy but true masters are able to do this. regards

Dear friend ,If you read my post carefully I have said it takes much effort to master the techniques ,by that I meant exactly the point you are making about point scoring ! the perfect technique must have correct bio mechanic,s perfect timing ,distance(peneteration) and speed and power . When you have all that and can hit some one with it ,that is the perfect technique ,one blow and finish ! What I stated about kihon,kata and kumite is that they are all part of the traingle ,without one the other two are weak ,they are integral parts of each other. I do not underestimate the importance of kumite ,it is just as important as the other two .But one must first learn to walk before he can run and kihon is the preparatory work and the base to be able to do kumite well !

The diferrence is with the people doing them ! and teaching them ! all this talk about kyukoshin being tough and buliding spirit is true ,but you can find that in shotokan ,wado ,goju ,or any other school of karate ,providing the instructer knows what he is doing ! I speak for shotokan which I have trained in ,it is a combination of speed and power and emphesises on a perfect technique to end the conflict quick .it takes a lot of hard work and effort to master these simple looking techniques to make them effective and deadly ,I believe all diferrent styles meet at the same destination but the ways to get there may be diferrent. To be able to do good kumite you must have perfect kihon ,to be able to do kumite you must understand and be able to perform kata well , to do kata well you must have perfect kihon !

Hey thanks man ! Sensie Hazard has been my instructer since 1985 and I am very grateful to him .great interview at shikon.com ,thanks for the link ! oss

Good answer !

Each kata is important for developing your karate ,they all have a purpose .You learn them one by one and then acoarding to your body type and attitude you may prefare the one's that suit you best ,but all katas complement each other.My favourite is hangetsu as I enjoy the health benefit of exercising internal organs by its breathing techniques.

good post !

I have never done yoga ,it is some thing i like to do but i think you are right ,it will improve your well being including your karate .