Dragn

Its hard to put a percentage to it really. But one thing I've learned is this. You can be the best fighter in the room, but if you aren't mentally prepared you can loose to the weakest guy. And it goes the other way too. Just because you aren't as physically tallented as your opponent, if you go out there and fight with all your heart, you can still beat him. Physical training is of course of prime importance . Without the physical skills programed into your body memory, you dont have the tools to work with. But the world is full of talented athletes who never acheived their potential because their mind set was working against them. Knowing how to train your mind for success is an integral part of any competitive sport these days.

Personally I wouldn't take the meal deal. There are heaps of cheap places to eat around. I get sick of the same menu after a couple of weeks. As for tats, there are a number of tattoo parlours there. A few of the trainers there have tats so they will be able to send you in the right direction. Just ask Alex.

The basic rule is always circle to your left. This stops him from using his left straight punch and left kick. It gets you away from his power and puts you at a good angle to use your right punches and kicks. Left or right low kicks are good to his lead leg, which is an easy target. Just remember hit and circle, circle and hit.

16 for my first shodan, 18 for 2 dan. 36 for my second shodan

I've heard of Kickboxing schools using this kind of shorts grading system, but never seen it. Its not standard practise. So you're better off just asking the other guys at your gym.

Please post it! I'd love to see some of it. Especially curious about the sparring.

30 rounds! Man thats hard. I think tests that push your limits of mental toughness and test your spirit are a very important aspect of full contact training. When I got my first dan in TKD, it was more about technical ability. I never really got tested on my fighting spirit and ability to withstand punishment and still keep going. I wasnt aware of my inner weaknesses. So although my technique was sharp, I didnt really have a fighters heart.

Thanks bro. It really is a dream come true for me to earn my shodan in Japan. I originally came here in 1990 for that purpose, but i lost the plot somewhere along the way, and it took me a while to get back on the path. I ended up partying and drinking away the best years of my life, and almost ruining any chance I had of becoming a top class fighter. Now I'm almost at the end of my career as a fighter, in a rush against age, to try and have a good stab at making into the full contact fighting elite. If only I had kept training throughout my 20's! How many guys did you have to fight for nidan? I was nervous before the test. But I just kept reminding myself that Oyama fought 300, and some of the top kyokushin guys have fought 100 men kumite. So it made 8 seem pretty insignificant. If those guys could handle that many I'm sure I could get through 8! It helped. And now after going through that, it makes a regular tournament seem like a peice of cake. I'll have alot more confidence going for the All Japan trials in a few months.

Today I passed my shodan test. It was one of the hardest fights I've ever had. After 1 and 1/2 hrs of kihon I had to fight 8 guys. Usually its 10 but because of my age(36) I got it a bit easier. THis wasnt sparring but real fighting. Each opponent was fresh and came at me with full intention of KOing me. There were no breaks between rounds. As soon as one fight finished the next opponent would step into the ring and we'd start immediately. There was only one 2 minute rest after the 4th round. The rules were full contact. Head gear but no gloves. 1st 2 guys 1and1/2 mins MMA type rules, with ground fighting allowed. Next 2 guys 1min sanshou type rules with knees elbows throws allowed. Then 4 guys, 1min each under kyokushin rules. Man! by the 2nd kyokushin guy I was fighting just to stay standing. I wanted to press forward but my body just wouldnt work. I took a real pounding from low kicks and body blows. Trying to breathe and stay standing took all my will power. I had to beat at least 4 opponents to get the belt. I beat 3 of the first 4 then, it came to my last opponent and I had to beat him to pass. He came at me real hard with no mercy. Somehow I just managed to dig down deep and keep throwing techs. It was pretty even Then in the last 10 secs I threw every thing I had into a spinning back kick that clocked my opponent right on the temple. Didnt KO him but it was enough to win me the fight. So now I'm layed out at home. Both legs swollen and bruised.Cant walk. Kidneys and body hurt every time I move. But I'm happy as! 5 guys tried the test today. I was the only one who passed. I feel for the others who didnt pass. What a harsh Christmas. I sure wouldnt want to go through that again.

Sure its pretty inevitable that you're gonna get kicked. Being able to handle it is part mental/physical toughness and part just pure adrenalin. You can take alot more when you're really fired up in a fight than what you usually would in the dojo. But of course your focus is always not on taking the pain, but in avoiding taking a kick. Even if you can move slightly enough to lessen the impact it helps. I dont know any MT fighters who train to take the pain of leg kicks. We all take kicks in sparring. Even with shin pads on it still hurts. I often have large bruises on my thighs, especially when I'm sparring hard in the weeks before a fight. So you naturally build up a sertain amount of resistance to the pain through regular sparring. I dont know if theres any physical process of adaptation involved. You just get used to it. I think its more mental than anything.

You shouldnt be focusing on how to absorb/ handle the pain. You need to focus on not getting kicked! If you get kicked hard enough or often enough its gonna get the better of you sooner or later. You can build up a certain amount of pain tolerance over the years, but thats a by product of the training , not the goal. Learn to shin block. Your shins can be conditioned alot easier than your thigh. Practise foot work and feints that help you avoid getting kicked in the first place. If you are handelling the pain of thigh kicks its because your opponents dont know how to kick very hard or they're just being nice because its only sparring. If you take a full power thigh kick from a Thai trained fighter you wont be doing much with that leg for a while. Its gonna spoil your whole week!

There is http:// https://www.daidojuku.com but its all in Japanese. Its still very young, and there arent so many dojos outside Japan and Russia yet. So come on over!

I used to do alot of back fists when I was doing traditional styles. I thought it was more powerfull than the jab. But that was just because I didnt really know how to throw a good solid jab, using footwork, hip and shoulder, to really get behind it. Now that I do, I dont even consider using a backfist. I feel it pales in comparrison. At least from a boxers perspective anyway. But for some arts the backfist is an important part of the styles way of moving, countering etc. It just fits well with the styles flow. So which is faster or more powerfull becomes irrelevant. Different strokes for different folks.

Generally they should be behind the back of the head. It gives you waay more leverage to pull the head down. Also focus on driving your elbows forward onto his collar bone area.

Aaah, silly question but, where is Dubai? There were a number of reasons why I got into Daidojuku. I had a rather mixed training background so I was looking for a style that would enable me to use what I already knew, but make it more complete. I had done some kyokushin and Muay Thai, and I found them both to be very practical and enjoyed the hard training. I wanted a style that allowed full contact, because I had done some non contact styles, and I felt that they just didnt have a realistic understanding of what works and what doesnt. I liked the use of face gear because I didnt want my pretty face getting all beat up It also helps that I can fight with my contacts in and actually be able to see my opponent clearly! I didnt want to be restricted by cumbersome gloves. I wanted to be able to grab, throw and lock. I didnt want to get into pro MMA because i feel the level of contact goes a bit too far for my mentality. And I wanted something with a traditional Japanese Budo feel. Daidojuku filled all these requirements perfectly. I love it OSU

Yeah that fight was just awesome. Cro cop just gets better and better. Great defence against getting taken down. Powerfull rt hand. Sets them up with a few mid round kicks to bruise their ribs and make them drop their guard when he kicks, then BAM! Throws a high round kick and its lights out. Just beautiful!

Thats interesting. I really couldnt say whether its true or not. My knowledge of daidojuku history and politics is very limited. It makes sense though. I always thought it strange that Oyama didnt include grabbing and throwing in his tournaments, considering his own experience in Judo. John Bluming also develpoed something similar didnt he?

Daidojuku is the name of the organisation formed by Azuma Jukucho when he broke from Kyokushin back in 81. Kudo is the name now used to describe the Martial art we practise, rather than just Karate or MMA, because it has elements of both. So rather than call it full contact karate/MMA we just say" Kudo". So it is a style of MA on its own. It basicly means the way of emptiness. Similar in JKD in its philosophy of absorbing what is usefull without the enforced boundaries and limitations often associated with certain "styles". Its strongly influenced by its Kyokushin roots and practises basic drills similar, but not identical , to those found in Kyokushin. Muay Thai, Judo and Jujitsu basics and training methods are also practised, and tested at gradings. But above all else sparring is the most important element in gradings. We even have the option of competition gradings, where we are jugded by our performance in a particular tournament. Its very reults oriented. If you cant prove your skills in the ring, you dont get the belt. Different dojos emphasise differnt things depending on the instructors personal tastes and area of expertise. Kata is no longer practised. Personally I feel much of the real bunkai of Okinawan Karate is absent or watered down in most of the Japanese styles and is no longer the best method for perfecting fighting skills. Besides, with so much to practise in our training sessions there just isnt time for kata. I hope this answers your questions. Feel free to ask me whatever.

Lately I use 2 distinctly different methods 4 throwing my left hook. At close range i hold the fist vertical, arm bent 90 degrees and really using my hips to generate power. usually by shifting my weight onto my rear foot and lifting my left heel off the ground to allow the hips to rotate fully. A typical boxers hook. The other method is a longer range hook, where I hold the fist horizontal and shift my weight onto my front leg. Its thrown kinda like a jab but on an angle, really using the snap of the shoulder to generate power. Both ways are effective. But are used in slightly different situations and in different combinations.

I can see some dangers in this idea. I've been shown bunkai by instructors, with no real fighting experience, that was just lame, and obviously wouldnt work against a live opponent. Perhaps it was stuff they made up, or just watered down versions of the real thing. Thats bad enough. But expecting students to just work things out themselves? Thats where this whole mess started. People can come up with all kinds of wonderfull applications for techs that might work in theory, or against willing opponents. But not much of it will stand up in a real fight. For VERY advanced instructors who have lots of fighting experience and exposure to bunkai from various styles I can see how effective bunkai could be created, but students need to get very exact instruction. Thats how they are going to learn the concepts of movement and application for their style. From there they need to practise it against an opponent. Not many students are going to have the knowledge of specific vital points and the precise use of their body tools necessary to make alot of the techneques effective. Not many instructors do either.

I became very negative with kata practise, after years of learning unrealistic applications to kata moves which simply wouldnt work in a real fight. And thats for the moves that I was taught the bunkai for. Many were just a mystery. It wasnt till many years later that I discovered an Okinawan school that was teaching very different bunkai to what you see in the typical Japanese schools. As Aisley already said, alot of what is taught as strikes and blocks is actually locking, takedowns and atemi waza. Much of modern Karate is a watered down version of the real thing, aimed at teaching children. So of course alot of the movements are ineffective in a real fight, because they are completely misunderstood. To make kata effective you really have to look for those few teachers around who still know the authentic bunkai and then practise it with a partner, gradually increasing the resistance and diversifying the types of attack. Or you can just do it for the mental and physical benefits, and practise your fighting skills with a live partner, which is what I choose to do these days.

I trained breifly with a ryute school here in Japan under one of Oyatas American students. It was pretty full on. It really opened my eyes to how much Karate had been watered down in the Japanese and Korean versions. The bunkai was very different to anything I had been taught in previous Karate and TKD schools, and far more effective. Finally all those ineffective blocking moves started to make sense. Many of them arent even blocks at all! If you're into a no nonsense self defense martial art, I would recommend it for sure.

I understand what your saying. I think alot of MA teachers were thinking like this when they started adapting their teachings to suit various ages, levels and cultures. But, invaribly it does lead to a watering down of material. Thats exactly why there is such a low standard of teaching these days. In my system we also have "buisnessman"classes for the over 40 crowd and kids classes. They can test for shodan but its recognised as being a different class of black belt. They dont go opening their own schools and teaching. Unless they are only teaching businessman or kids classes. Its the fighters who have proved their ability to use their techniques who run the main dojos. We have a diet kickboxing class at my dojo for the ladies who just want to get fit. They dont get belts. I think there are just too many people teaching self defence arts out there who have never been in a fight. Its rediculous if you think about it. Would you want to learn swimming from someone who'd never been in the water? So while I agree that theres alot more to benefit from MA than just fighting, I also think that there must be a balance of both. Plus there needs to be recognisable distinctions between the real black belts and the restricted ones. Otherwise you get people with no hands on experience who are teaching theory, without the real ability to use it. Theres alot of garbage being passed off as self defence these days. All because of the adaptation of training techniques to accommodate the masses. I understand that there are people who arent interested in competition but train with gutso and want to teach. I think as long as they've done the same level of training as the fighters then they could become capable teachers. They'll still have to fight for gradings. Not everyone is cut out for competition. Not every competitor is cut out for teaching. Then some arts arent really suitable for competition. But they still need to have a certain level of practicality to their training methods which will produce people with realistic self defence skills. That requires hard training. Not something your granny, or your 7 year old can do. Well these are just some of my current thoughts anyway. I'd like to see a higher level of ability restored to the level of shodan.

I totally agree with the original post. I've seen soo many lame black belt wannabes, its depressing. I was once one of them myself. I was ranked as a TKD 2nd degree when I came to Japan but my fighting ability was pathetic. The standards here are so much higher. No instructor wants to give a black belt to someone who cant fight here cause it will give the dojo a bad rep and nobody would want to train there. Back home it seems the opposite. Many want the belt without having to really earn it. I'll be testing for my Daidojuku shodan in December. I'll have to face 10 opponents in full contact MMA rules. Each new opponent fresh. Each one trying to KO me. It aint no joke! I know some pretty tough guys who have failed. But those who pass know that they can fight. Know they've earned the rank and that they have acheived something beyond the reach of the average person. They are warriors.