Meguro

Sauzin, I agree with you completely that karate is about self-mastery and that it is more than self-defense. Where you and I differ is that I don't believe the main objective of karate is proficiency in self-defense. Any proficiency in this area is a by-product of hard training. For me, the objective in karate is the journey, the exercise, rituals, and fighting involved in every-day training, and not some unattainable goal of un-armed invincibility or numerous dan grades. Lets face it any twelve year old girl armed with a taser can turn a bone-crushing black belt into a twitching spastic mass on the floor. This is reality, and has been so since early man discovered that it was easier to pummel one's opponent with the jaw-bone of an * than with bare-hands. So is karate a waste of time if the main objective is not self-defense? No, it doesn't hurt to know a little something, to be physically fit and to know how to react in a stressful situation. As for training in Okinawa, never been there. But I live and train in Tokyo, Japan. My style is knock-down karate, not street fighting.

So long ago I don't remember. If I were to do it all over again, probably have drinks with the guys and gals after class. But this is what we do after every Friday night class (I mean food and beer not dan grades).

What fights are we all training for? Training to fight a fair fight in a ring or a mat may give you some transferable skills that you can use if you're fighting a school yard bully or a drunk slob. However, should we be fighting in the school yard or bars in the first place? Another scenario might be when you are facing a mugger or robber. If I were to bet money on the outcome of an encounter between an unarmed martial artist and an armed criminal, my money goes on the armed bad guy. There are people who train for encounters with armed criminals: cops. If unavoidable, cops will respond with greater and deadlier force (ie. mace, baton, guns and more cops with guns) not karate or some other martial art. So, if you're not a cop or don't normally carry a gun, a good pair of running shoes is a better investment than karate or grappling classes. If self-defense is your main objective I would consider studying something that gives you proficiency in weapons (improvised or not). This is not to say that karate and other martial arts are useless. I just don't do martial arts for any of the perceived the self-defense benefits.

Haha, thanks for the thumbs up Shotochem. I was actually going to edit that post because it sounded too "evasive." But after more than half a life-time in the martial arts, it's my best response to the self-defense question.

The last thing on my check list is street practicality. You want to be safe on the street, do the following: 1) stay away from dangerous places 2) stay away from dangerous people 3) keep your wits about you 4) try not to stay out late Pick a martial art you will enjoy doing for a long time. After consistent practice, because you like it so much, you might pick-up valuable street-worthy skills. Just about any martial art will give you something. Many years ago, the fencing coach at my uni was attacked by some thugs. He fought them off and disarmed them with his umbrella.

Very sensible. The consumer has a right to know, unless you're the type of consumer who believes that the street corner bought Rolex is equivalent to the real deal.

Are strength and technique mutually exclusive? I think not.

So you're saying your training and posting, but not working?

Welcome. It seems the less I train, the more I post.

Sure it's called "taisabaki" and it's everywhere in kata. Excellent! But why be so cryptic about it? Still, wouldn't it be better to practice taisabaki with a non-compliant opponent instead of an imaginary one?

Elbows and knees makes a good observation. Train the length of the round. I like to alternate between short and long interval training. Say you want to train for 2 minute rounds, work the heavy bag or sprint intensively for 2 mins. and rest for a minute. Do this 6-10 rounds. For short interval, try 20 secs intense work followed by 40 secs of rest for a half hour. This type of training gets your body accustomed to short bursts of intense activity and speeds up your recovery time between work periods. Also, what you eat and drink, or don't eat & drink, will make a big difference in cutting the fat.

I'm not laughing, more like shaking my head and going ,"tsk, tsk." Since the op was looking for a "quick" way to kumite effectiveness, would you mind pointing out the kata technique that makes one untouchable? I'm not knocking kata. For this particular application it's kinda like the parsely that garnishes the meat and potatoes.

So, what did your little excursion to the spiritual and kata side of karate get you, a couple smacks in the face in exchange for inner calm? Just kidding. But seriously, get your cardio back up. Some of the exercises previously recommended are a good start. I've also found interval training helpful, especially if you're going to be fighting opponents one after the other. Also, nothing improves your fighting skills better than lots of fighting. Get in there and keep your guard up. Good luck.

For all his prowess as a fighter, Kazumi is a pretty good technician as well. Back when he was still running a Kyokushin branch, also called Kazumi dojo, I had a chance to take one of his classes. He gave me some kata pointers, most of which I forget. Shortly after Kazumi left Kyokushin, Kentaro Takanka was awarded his own branch. Recently he has been bulked up. Looks like the organization is trying to beef him up to fight Texiera, Kurbanov, etc. He is a very strong, but conservative fighter-no flashy technique like the Brazilians and Russians.

I didn't vote because I don't think it has anything to do with age. A lot of it depends on what shodan means in your dojo. If shodan means the memorization of a certain number of kata, attendance, and display of a certain skill set, there are plenty of 13 year olds who deserve a shodan, and many younger than that. Other dojo might expect their shodan to be able to teach, in which case some other criteria might be used. Some dojo give out a jr. black belt for young students, requiring them to retest when they get older to get a senior black belt. I think it should be left up to your instructor; whenever he/she decides you're ready.

The practice of drinking alcohol is as old as civilization. Some anthropologists believe that hunter gatherers became farmers just to grow the grains used in the production of beer. Drinking alcohol, whether it be in a pint of beer, glass of wine, or shot is not a bad thing. Alcohol abuse, like abuse of any kind, is bad and shouldn't be tolerated. A drink or two after class does not constitute alcohol abuse. However, a drink or two with breakfast may be a warning sign.

Pity the poor kid who dies in baseball practice, and his parents who lose a son to a game. The manager should be hung from a tree.

Yeah, it can get a little crowded at times, but not so much so that you're restricted to only forward and backward movements. It does improve one's in-fighting skills, though. Since you're just starting out, don't worry about full power. Your senpai will be taking it easy on you in the beginning. If you have a thirst for the real hard stuff, you can join the fight teams later on. This is where bones are broken, not often, but not infrequently either. I know you've been anticipating this, but try not to have so many assumptions about Kyokushin that you end up feeling unfulfilled. Relax your shoulders, look at everything as a newbie and enjoy the ride. Pretty soon you'll find a way to mesh the stuff you know and the stuff you're good at with the new things you're learning.

All black and brown belts line up, followed by other senior students until half the class is standing in line. Then the lower belts partner up with the line of senpai. After each bout, every body shifts to the left, except for the most senior black belt who stays in place.

Our 90 min class goes like this: 15 minutes of stretching, 15 min kihon, 30 min of combinations, pad work or kata (depending on the day), 30 min of sparring, initially light-contact, gradually gets harder. After class we hang up the heavy bags. Many students stay after to work the bag, lift weights, spar, etc. Have fun.

The first few tournaments will be tough to draw a big crowd of spectators and a decent field of competitors. First you've got to consider how many karateka in your area do knock-down. If everyone is a point fighter, you'll have a lot of trouble coaxing them to switch formats. How many people on this forum can you convince to switch formats, never mind your city? If there is an adequate population of knockdown fighters, you've got to shmooze their sensei. Establish a friendly relationship with them so that they don't view you as a threat or competition (not so easy, it's business afterall). For the first few years you may end up sending out open invites only to have your students fighting each other. If the level of competition is good, and the crowd is pleased, word of mouth will draw outside fighters. Maybe you should have a point competition, with knock-down matches for exhibition purposes only. This way you get outside point fighters interested in your tournament. After being 'educated' by your knock-down demos, they might then want to give it a try next time around. In the end, you may have to knock down the doors of the other dojo and issue your challenge (just like they do in the Kung Fu movies).

Lineage and affiliation don't mean anything for what Sensei Mike is attempting. A Shotokan school can claim Funakoshi lineage. So what? There are good Shotokan dojo's and not so good ones. Same with Kyokushin, although the big organizations (IKO1 & IKO2), have a pretty tight control over who can set up shop, promotion of dan grades, etc. If you look at the successful Kyokushin spin-offs, you will notice that none of them maintained their Kyokushin affiliation, they set out to make their own mark: Seido Kaikan, Seido Karate, Ashihara Karate, Enshin Karate, World Oyama Karate, Tiger Schulman Karate. Note that the founders of these successful dojo were quite accomplished when they left the organization. It didn't matter whether these guys had breakfast with Mas Oyama or not or paid association dues.

Are you wondering whether joining a Kyokushin based organization will give your shotokan based karate legitimacy? From a Kyokushin point of view, the answer is no. From a Shotokan point of view, the answer is also no. Since you wish to teach a hybrid style of karate, why not dispense with affiliations altogether? Forget about using Kyokushin trademarks, allusions to affiliation, roots and let your karate speak for itself. Get creative. Put some serious thought into what makes your karate different/better than your competitors. Then come up with your own kata, techniques, rank, etc. Enter your students in open knockdown tournaments. When they start to dominate the tournaments, your reputation and business will grow. Soon other independents will want to be affiliated with you.

They own the America's Cup. This year, the Russians didn't show, and Texiera didn't participate. The Brazillians took the top three spots. Could it be something in the water?

I was wondering why I never see him mentioned in IKO news or attending tournaments.