Meguro

Kazumi definitely left Kyokushin to start his own style which incorporates some grappling. If you google kazumi dojo you might find reference to his new organization. This isn't a recent development. Many of the great Kyokushin karateka, and some of the not-so-great, have struck out on their own. You can't stop someone from earning a living. Kyospirit, there's the business/political side of Kyokushin and there's the karate side. Like you, I agree that once a kyokushin karateka, always a kyokushin karateka, no matter what the patch on your dogi says. The business/political side of Kyokushin has a different perspective on what Kyokushin means.

I didn't come here (Japan) especially for karate, but since I'm here I might as well train. I'm glad I have the opportunity. Like other big organizations, Kyokushin, broke up into smaller manageable pieces. I guess it's hard to keep all those alpha-male types in the same organization. I've also been lucky with the instructors I've had over the years. Some big names I trained under include Saiko Shihan Shigeru Oyama, Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura, Sensei Hajime Kazumi. I never studied with these instructors for more than a year, in the case of Kazumi a few days, but it was very cool being in the presence of such excellent karateka. Notice that these guys are no longer with Kyokushin. In the cases of Oyama and Nakamura, they've been gone for a long, long time. I'm very happy to be training where I am now. The instructors and students are excellent and friendly.

Hey y2_sub. Currently living and training in Japan. IKO 1.

Hey Kyospirit! Since you got your shodan from Matsui, why don't you get affiliated with the IKO 1 in the US?

Boxing. If you want the challenge of competition, pick up head defense skills, and hard-hitting you need not look further. Full contact tkd sounds like a very small pond to be swimming in, particularly since most TKD competitors are point fighters. If you can't find enough Kyokushin, kyokushin-ish dojos around you, I'm pretty sure you'll find a lot of boxing gyms that'll give more than enough of what you're asking for.

It seems that late shots happen with some frequency in your dojo. You mentioned that the instructor "drops" a shodan for a similar infraction. Perhaps your instructor failed in not instilling a sense of "fair-play" among his students, or else he failed by using violence to solve problems, and by his non-intervention in your case, caused you to resort to violence to solve your problem. I don't think you came off being the bad guy. Although you could have told the guy he was going over the line and if he persisted in the late-hitting, you'd have to put him down.

If you'd like to stick to the Kyokushin knock-down format, obviously you can choose from the several factions. Widening the circle also consider Kyokushin spin-offs (ie. styles founded by former Kyokushin Karateka): World Oyama Karate;Ashihara Karate; Enshin Karate; Seidokaikan Karate (K-1); Daidojuku Karate.

Technically speaking, it has to do with the concentration of stuff in solution. As it applies to this thread, think sports drinks, saline solutions, etc. but not plain water.

How old are you? What is your level of conditioning?

Banana or energy bar 1 hour before class. Isotonic beverage for the water breaks.

If you're going to run barefoot or use shoes designed to mimc barefoot running, make sure you're not stomping on your heel and rolling forward. You've got to be a balls-o-the-feet type of runner. I'm a heel stomper, myself. Old habits die hard. Still, I ran the NY Marathon, and stomped all the way to the finish. My running shoes are well padded in the heel. If you run on the BOYF, you shouldn't need extra cushioning, and with a nice layer of callouses should be able to run on tarmac barefoot.

I'm all for building up bone density, particularly in the shins and forearms-you never know when you'll need to break a baseball bat with your shins or block an axe handle with a jodan uke. If you use your makiwara for conditioning your long bones, OK. I'm concerned about the long term effects of makiwara training on joints-particluarly on your knuckles and of your toes. Aren't you makiwara afficionados worried about arthitis?

My advice is to stick with the TKD till you get your 1st deg. bb. This gives you a good base. Once you've achieved this milestone, you can try some other style and get more out of it (instead of being clue-less in two or more styles). Then you can answer for yourself how your bb fares with other styles. You may find that your TKD is all you need, or that even with a bb in TKD your are not quite ready to take on a Muay Thai guy, or go-ju karateka, whatever. Don't rush out and try a bunch of things. There isn't enough time in the day to have a life and do everything you need to do properly, especially if you're taking two styles of beginners classes.

Most people's impression of TKD is formed from the Olympic competitions. This particular style is WTF. The other style of TKD is ITF which is quite different from Olympic games.

2nd dan in 5 years, comes with the Happy Meal, no substitutions for the beverage. If you want milk you've got to pay up.

Don't understand how knuckle push-ups make it easier on the wrists. If anything, it places greater emphasis on stabilizing the wrist by tightening up your fist and forearms. You'd want this extra stability when hitting a heavy bag or your opponent right? How do adults do push-ups in your dojo? back to original topic. Kyokushin, 5-6 yrs.

Muay Thai, Kyokushin Karate, Enshin Karate are three style that come to mind, given your priorities. You won't be jumping all the time, but once in a while you can catch your opponent with a jump. spinning hook-kick.

I think you can do almost any style you want. The trick is to spend more time with a trainer in the gym before joining a dojo, if you've been out of shape for some time. Pay attention to your joints and heart. Lose weight if you have a gut. Build some muscle mass around your knees. Improve your flexibility. Improve your muscle tone. You'll also want the approval of your own physician. You might want to consider kendo, iado, or kyudo. Kendo gives you a good aerobic work out. In Kendo you're all armored up so you won't get hurt when you "fight." There's no contact in iai. It's all zen and sword waving. Kyudo is basically archery-again old-guy friendly. I do Kyoukushin karate with some guys in their 50's. They're not as spry as the young folk in the dojo, but they're tough guys with a lot of heart.

Hey 2_sub,congratulations. wazari + wazari=ippon! Russian dudes are some hard, hard guys. They seem more immune to pain than many others. Why did you switch to IKO 3? Hey Kenpo fighter, Why the switch from kyokushin to kenpo? I almost walked into a Shorinji Kenpo dojo today just to check it out.

Unless it was an ippon, the ref wouldn't have stopped the fight. But a decent punch like that should have got you a wazari. Nice. How did you place?

Encouraging anyone, children or adults, to settle their differences in the street is wrong. Cheering your little brother on, does not build his character. It only reinforces the misperception that violence is acceptable in all circumstances. Obviously there will be situations when people will need to defend themselves. Thankfully, these situations are very rare for most of us. Adults, MA instructors, teachers should inform kids how to recognize when violence is appropriate and when it is not. If you want to build your brother's character, spend some quality time with him, invite him to join you in the dojo, have him join a sports club or team. There are better ways for children to build character than brawling.

It's mildly amusing when someone ages a belt to acquire the look of experience. I don't object to it, they're only fooling themselves aren't they.

Many of you might be familiar with K1. How many of you are aware that there is K3 and K2 as well? I recently caught a K-2/K-3 tourney on tv. The numbers correspond to the amount of protective gear being worn by the competitors: K3, big gloves (16 0z.?), shinpads, head gear, dogi, mouth guard & cup; K2, gloves, shin pads, dogi, mouth guard and cup. For the most part, I was underwhelmed by the level of technique, which seemed to be lacking. Virtually all the winners of the different weight categories were white belts. They lacked the rudiments of blocking and footwork, and for the most part did not kick. What the winners had in common was a non-stop punching attack, and aggression. In contrast, the losers were often high ranking karateka, although not always. They seemed to have better technique, from an esthetic perspective. They just could not win. The matches did not look like Muay Thai or K-1. They looked like brawls. While the experienced karateka tried to stick and move, the lower ranks advanced on them with arms pinwheeling, ugly but effective. I suppose a professional fighter could dismantle these amateurs. For the average Joe Shodan-Godan, I wonder. . .

Don't use a shotokan fighting stance. Keep both hands up, forearms almost vertical. Don't stop because you think you scored a point. If you can't avoid or block the gedan mawashigeri, tense your quad and lean into the kick. Good luck.

So we were, it seems. In a point tournament, I can see getting wanings and dq's for excessive contact.