Meguro

Quickly and cleanly with no flailing, huh? Twist your head and look over your shoulder. This keeps your COG over your pivot foot. Looking around your shoulder tilts your head forward, messing up your balance. Keep your hands high and close to your body. This protects your head and helps you spin faster.

incompetent !!!! we are talking about street situation here , right ?? it dosent matter , if this is the case , wether one is competent or not . sometimes street thugs can proove to be a real deal even to a trained guy .. moreover , in a tournament , less trained can prove to be a real deal as well , for instance , there was that second degree blackbelt ,the son of a shihan , highly experienced , participated in many international tournaments , who was defeated by a YELLOW belt .. belive it or not .. I think I saw that match. America's cup? The yellow belt was bigger, stronger and more aggressive, wasn't he? Plus, he wasn't keen on taking promotion tests and was all about the fighting.

How do you know that yours isn't already perfect? What is wrong with your kick? What criticism does your instructor make? If you list some problems you have such as balance, power, height, etc. it would be easier for us to make recomendations.

Working out with your friends is a good thing. It's better than working out alone and unsupervised. As for the home-study black belt course, what do you expect to get out of it, a black belt? Toss the home study course. Keep working out with your friends or join a school/club.

More than anything you'll get from us, you've got to spend some time with the instructors and the students and get the right vibe. Ask yourself if you want to hang with the students and instructors. Look at the senior students and instructors to see if there are any abilities or traits you'd like to acquire yourself. As the three schools are different styles of martial arts, ask yourself what you want to get out of your time and money spent. Personally, I'd go with Kyokushin Karate. The school you picked is part of the biggest Kyokushin organizations. The instructors are former and current knock-down competitors. The idea is bettering yourself by conquering your opponent, or at least trying to.

jarrettmeyer, for the few months you've been studying martial arts, I think you have a good grasp of what kata is all about. I like your musical analogy. If I may take it further, practicing kata is like practicing scales, chords, and playing other composer's work. Repeated practice will give you muscle memory and a fluidity. However facility with scales and chords doesn't make you a great musician, just as sole practice of kata does not a karate master make. Fighting and developing self defense ability are like jamming with a jazz ensemble. You've got to be able to react to the moment, deal with the spontaneity and surprise. You can't develop this ability in isolation. The limitation of kata is it's a solo act.

Kata is an easy way to remember and perform a bunch of technique. I think people sometimes get carried away believeing they can learn the secrets of the universe through kata. A punch is just a punch. On the other hand, there is something very zen to performing kata. If this is what you're after, fine. It won't necessarily make you a better fighter, but it may make you deeper. ohmmmm.

order it online from https://www.isami.co.jp

When you do your lunge, step backwards instead of stepping forwards. This will be easier on your knees. You can also do squats with a back pack full of books, bottled water, whatever, when your own bodyweight isn't enough. When these get too easy, try doing one-legged squats.

A tourist visa lasts 90 days. If you can get all your training done in that time without running out of money, good for you. More than likely, you'll want to stay longer. In that case you'll need a job. How old are you? Many young people go to Japan to be English instructors. It helps but is not necessary to have an English degree. Check out the JET program. If you don't go the English instructor route you'll need marketable skills and fluency in Japanese to get employed. Finding a dojo will be the least of your problems. Good luck.

How about restricting your street clothes to things you can fight or run in: trousers with leg room and sensible shoes.

3Hit, is that why you're posting so late? Get some sleep young man. Young guys should be naturally amped. The old dogs like me need the jump start in the morning.

Maybe your sensei did bang them out every day for 20 years. A bb doing a white belt kata and a white belt doing a white belt kata are two different things to behold.

Sounds a little fantastic, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Haven't heard anything about it though. What kind of vibes are you getting off the instructors? Does your gut say McDojo?

"Kung fu Fighting"

I remember Sensei Kimura as being very quiet. He'd let his Karate speak for him. I remember him having very powerful techniques. He'd always be knocking over the guys holding the pads for him as he punched or kicked them. I was only 12 or 13 years old at the time so I don't have the kind of insight as someone who may have shared drinks with the man after hours, or indeed his deshi Mac and Jeff.

I studied under Sensei Shigeru Kimura in the US many years ago as a kid. At the time he had two deshi, Mac, an American, and Jeff, a Brit. The deshi wore black dogi, very cool I thought.

DS, I wasn't singling you out nor did I call grappling "flash technique." In fact, I agree with your definition of the term. I was merely stating that any ma will have a number of techniques to select from. Strikers will strike and grapplers will grapple. What may determine the outcome of a street fight may hinge not on any magic technique but on fighting spirit. I distinguish fighting spirit from competitiveness. Point fighters, kata competitors, and kendoka try to defeat their opponents by a superior accumulation of points. The points are often won pain-free with little consequence of injury. Of course there is a desire to win, competitiveness, but at what cost? Kyokushin karateka risk pain and injury to win. They must contend with the fear, with the continuous attack that doesn't stop so that points can be awarded. They must contend with opponents who may be 50 lbs heavier and half a foot taller who won't be pulling punches. Kyokushin karate is not simply practicing a style specific skill set. It's about overcoming adversity; about getting knocked down seven times and getting up eight. It's about continuing the fight after fear, fatigue and pain have drained you of your skills. This is my definition of fighting spirit. This is what I believe may tip the balance in favor of the Kyokushin karateka. I'm not asserting that this fighting spirit is exclusive to kyokushin-just that it doesn't come easy and it's not obtained by points.

Squats, squats, and more squats. My gym rat buddies swear by them, plus I've read that people experience more muscle gain from their work out by starting with squats. Even though your main interest might be in developing a beefier upper-body, a few squat sets incorporated into your routine might yield the desired results. Consider your diet too. Increasing your protein intake may be counter productive. Remember, the Atkins diet is all protein.

Deceleration is what you get when you punch air and want to get your dogi to make that "pop." It's the same principle in point fighting, pulling your punches and kicks. Why not just hit a heavy bag, or attach elastic cord to your hands and feet when practicing punches and kicks? AO, I like the medecine ball drill.

I've been wondering how many critics of Kyokushin have ever practiced it or seen a competition, or how many of the members on this have forum have used their ma training in a life/death situation. Fortunately, I have not had the misfortune to need my training outside the dojo. If I wre seriously concerned about my safety on the street I would move, get a dog or buy a gun. Before taking up Kyokushin I had already earnined a bb in TKD and studied other styles such as Shukokai, Judo, and for a couple years Kendo and Iaido. For the people who question how hard the training in Kyokushin is, it is harder than all the other MA I studied (To be fair, Kendo and Iaido aren't physically demanding). I've competed in Judo, TKD and Kyokushin tournaments and have to say that Kyokushin tournaments are the toughest of these. At the very elite level of competition, Kyokushin Karateka possess a combination of excellent technique, physical fitness, toughness and agression. Whereas point fighters seem to rely on speed only(I'm simplifying here for the sake of argument), Kyokushin Karateka, must be able to contend with power and pain as well. Pain is a dimension often dismissed, but is a true test of your fighting spirit. It is this fighting spirit, that I think helps one in the street-not the flash technique, grappling, etc. Anybody can get sucker punched or kicked in the squishy bits and go down. No amount of preparation will overcome the lucky shot. But maybe, if you can take the other guy's best shot and still have more of your own to give, you'll do alright.

Good for you! You defended yourself without resorting to extreme violence, where's the conflict with Christianity?

Only a Yondan Dude get a grip. Where I come from a bb is not guaranteed and a yondan is quite an accomplishment. Of course at your McDojo's I suppose you can get your yondans with ketchup to go. It sounds like you were impressed by the people at Delta as they seemed like "martial artists." Why not be a martial artist like them instead of worrying about the quickest path to a black belt. Be the best martial artist you can be and forget about the color of your belt. 30 years old!? That's not too old to learn new tricks. Go with Delta.

That's true. What happens on a mat, no matter how painful, is still consensual and not "combat." I'll leave combat to the men and women in uniform, afterall they've got the body armor and cold steel. Even after all the ma I've studied over the years, what's kept me safe and unharmed is avoidance. Not being there is the best defense.

It's not about hitting hard and it's not only about h2h combat. Consider putting the different ma on a spectrum. On one extreme you have totally benign encounters such as in one-step sparring at the other end is lets say some guy swinging his fists, biting, gouging and trying his best to send you to the hospital if not to the morgue. Kyokushin knock down tournaments are closer to the hospital end of the spectrum than point sparring tournaments. If you are actively training to knock someone out while trying to avoid having the same done to you, you might stand a better chance on the street than someone trying to out-tag his/her opponent. Or not. Results may vary.