Meguro

Ahh, that explains a lot. I have several shotokan friends. Whenever we get together for drinks we always have lively discussions on the merits of our respective styles. We never seem to see eye to eye, but always part friends. Since I've trained in different styles, I'm quite willing to question whatever orthodoxy a style promotes. Others who have invested quite a lot of time, identity, etc, in their style find it difficult to challenge conventional thought. In so far as this is a forum whose participants practice many styles and not just Shotokan, or Chidokan, or Kyokushin, it'd be nice to learn from one another. I'm tired of the style-based slagging that goes on, and try to avoid it. Sometimes it gets away from me. Oops. Did you google daidojuku yet?

Broken ribs, ouch! Been there, done that, about 4 times. The first two breaks, first left side, then right side were from hard shots. The last two breaks were from relatively "light" taps. The reinjuries probably resulted from going back to training too soon after injury. As long as your going to be participating in karate, the risk to injury is there. I'm trying to work on my aerobic/anaerobic conditioning. I find that as soon as I start gassing-out my defense/avoidance skills flag. Try doing interval training, running 10K each day, whatever it takes, to get you through the distance of your fights, for however many rounds and min/round you do.

Anonymousone,I'm enjoying this exchange, and respect the 41 years you've put into your style. I'm new to this forum so I'm not sure if you indicated what style you do. While I'm enjoying Kyokushin karate now, I've been around long enough and trained in other styles extensively to know that there is no perfect style- just guys/gals who try real hard. I should mention that I'm very curious about Daidojuku. If I were 20 years younger I'd like to give it a try. It really does look like the most well rounded style with lots of pressure-testing. I encourage you to google daidojuku, find the honbu site and check out their videos and let me know what you think. Every style has its All Japan Championships, and world Chamionships, perhaps you weren't aware. The best kyokushin karateka fight in kyokushin sponsored events. Competitors come from all over the world to fight at the Kyokushin All Japan. The strongest competitors are currently from Russia, Brazil and Japan. Note that there are factions within Kyokushin that have their own All Japan. You mentioned kyokushinkai karateka doing poorly in your competitions. Kyokushinkai karateka don't usually fight in unaffiliated competitions. You actually have to obtain permission from the organization to participate in unaffiliated events. Nicholas Pettas is currently in the process of obtaining permission to participate in K-1 again, after recovering form his injury. Don't know who you saw representing kk in your tournaments so can't comment further.

How does that work in war or a street fight? Just what are you testing in war or a street fight? Seems to me that war and street fights aren't about testing but are about violence, dominance, survival. How do you prepare for violent encounters? You try to make training as realistic as possible. Hard fighting competitions, like Muay Thai, Kyokushin and its various offshoots (Enshin, Daidojuku,Seidokaikan), and some others come as close to the violence one might find on the "street," certainly more than point fighting competitions. People who train in hard styles have no illusions about how much power their technique has or how much abuse their bodies can take. Some boast about how many boards, tiles, and bats they can break with one deadly blow. Impressive, but hardly an indication of how well you would fare on the, here's that word. . .street. As Bruce said, "Boards don't hit back." On the street, you will not have the opportunity to take your best zenkutsudachi, take a couple deep breaths, unleash your blood curdling kiai and throw that killer punch. The best Kyokushin karateka are phenomenal breakers of inanimate objects. Ironically, their opponents rarely fold after the first shot (we don't pull kicks and punches in competition). With proper conditioning the human body can be quite resilient. Perhaps this is the real difference between Kyokushin karate and other styles-self knowledge. It's not that Kyokushin karateka are the best technicians, the strongest , most aggressive, blah, blah, blah. It's that we get behind the wheel and take it to the red-line, whereas others may keep their revs below 3,000.

Rules and standards are the only way to accurately test anything. Ignoring the story of the tortoise and the hare, races are won by the fastest. Whoever wins a competition is the better competitor. If there is a statistically significant number of winners who have the same style, school, coach, etc., one can conclude that there is a causal relationship. Anyway, I'm curious what the op thinks of daidojuku karate. Daidojuku was founded by a former kk champion who also had a yondan in Judo. Daidojuku tournament fighters sport head gear and knuckle protectors but otherwise look like and fight like kyokushinkai karateka. However, punching to the head is allowed as well as groin strikes, throwing, and grappling, but no ground & pound. It seems to make a complete system, kk, more complete.

In order to survive as a business, schools have to make a black belt attainable by the average gal/guy who works hard at it. Are all black belts equal? No.

Osu! New around here and I'm surprised by the number of kyokushinkai karateka posting. We seem to be outnumbered by other stylists particularly shotokan karateka in the forums. Nothing is perfect and kyokushinkai karate is no different. My biggest gripe is that after Sosai Oyama passed away the organisation broke up into a bunch of factions. Is it inevitable that a large organization splits up into rival factions? It's true with Shotokan karate, Aikido, etc. Curiously, Judo seems to have maintained its integrity. I suppose the fact that it's an Olympic sport explains its cohesion, a topic for another forum. I'm also amused by the incredulity other stylists have about our tournaments and traditions. Shotokan guys in particular (don't mean to single you guys out, sorry- I just happen to have lots of shotokan buddies) always criticize kyokushin as either too brutal or that our punches and kicks must not be powerful. For the people who are under the impression that our techniques lack power, I invite them to any kyokushin dojo to find out first hand. It seems point fighters and light contact sparrers equate the loud crack of a dogi and a menacing kiai with power. Kyokushinkai karateka's dogi rarely make that loud snap in kumite-usually because the arms and legs are still bent and pushing through the opponent. (I've heard cracking sounds on the mat on occassion, usually it's my ribs or the other guy's breaking) The high incidence of injury is a fair criticism of Kyokushinkai. I would counter that it is karate after all and not tai chi or what a many of my friends practice. I suppose its like the difference between rugby and soccer-one is inherentyly more physical. It helps if you are rugged. If you aren't, then kyokushin is the place to be to get rugged.