Bloke

Its used to strike the throat and then grab you can alos use it to grab the wrist and turn it into a series of locks very nicely.

Osu - I do kyokushin.

Try Daido Juku

Actually there is quite a bit of punching in that clip but its a KO highlight reel and most KOs come from head kicks in Knockdown.

In Kyokushin we use the knee in sparring and competition. We use it to the legs body and head.

I cannot find any sites for Seido Kai Kan outside of Japan. There must be some dojos outside of Japan as Both Andy Hug (RIP) and Michael Thompson switched to Seido Kai Kan in the Aftermath of the 5th World Tournament in 1991. I will keep looking and see what I can come up with. Kazuyoshi Ishii is also the Founder of K1.

That Seido dojo in Chiswick is an offshoot of Kyokushin - Seido is Kancho Tadashi Nakamuras organisation. Seido Kai Kan was founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii and is also an offshoot of kyokushin

Ademir Da Costa - From Brazil - trained under Shihan Isobe and fought at the 3rd and 4th World Tournaments. His fight against Michel Wedel of Holland was one of the best of the tournament. I think he now has his own style called Seiwaki. Michael Thompson - for a heavyweight his speed and footwork were amazing as seen in the 1987 world tournament fight against Kenji Midori. Midori seemed surprised at Thompsons speed and agility. I will endeavour to add some more over time - this is an excellent thread. Osu!

Paul Weller.

Superfoot Go and train with Hanshi Arneil. You wont regret it. His attention to detail is incredible and at over 70 he still trains regularly and flies all over the world doing seminars. He was the first man in Kyokushin to do the 100 man Kumite and was actually adopted by Mas Oyama. Instructional videos are a good point of reference but when you need to ask a question you need a good instructor on hand to answer them. And you wont find very many much better than Hanshi Arneil. BTW He is hosting the IFK World Knockdown tournament at Crystal Palace on Saturday 8th October if you can get a ticket its going to be a great day. Osu!

Sensei Mike There is a great site (completely Apolitical) called http://www.kyokushinresults.freeserve.co.uk/ It contains the results of Kyoksuhin Knockdown tournaments regardless of affiliation. You should check it out. Osu!

SenseiMike I can understand your concerns about Kyokushin Dojo sparring but believe me in almost 20 years of training I got caught in the face hard enough to cut my eye only once. We can go hard to the body and legs but for safety sake head kicks are pulled - dont get me wrong - you may get dropped and you'll definetely know you were hit but other that that there should be no outward signs of injury. Osu!

Yes that is what I have heard. Without delving into the political situation too much it seems that Kancho Matsui is promoting the Ichigeki tournaments more and more. This may be in connection with having lost a recent court case but that is purely speculation on my part. Getting back on topic I would like to know who thinks Kyokushin is not known for its infighting (except Politically ). One of the criticisms leveled at knockdown is that after a couple of rounds you would see two fighters head to head slugging it out in a battle of spirit. Is that not infighting? Of course that may have been true in the early days of knockdown but it has been refined so much as have training methods that we can still see good close fighting without fighters leaning on each other. Lastly World Oyama Karate is an offshoot of Kyokushin and they have very similar knockdown rules - one of which is that you cannot make contact with the face or head with any part of the hand or arm.

Kyokushin Knockdown fighting has evolved over the years. In the 70s a lot of non japanese karateka were only competing in Sanbon Shobu rules. With the advent of knockdown worldwide a lot of the early fights were still fought at range moving in and out. The Japanese fighters tended to get in close and work from there constantly moving forward and pressuring thier opponents. In the 80s Knockdown became a lot more technical. The japanese adopted dome of the foreign fighters attributes and vice versa. In the 90s it has become much more infighting (so whoever said that was a weakness of Kyokushin is wrong). Most of the infighting techniques would be shita tsuki, Kake tsuki and hiza geri. I know in the past that hit and run fighters suffered at the hands of Japanese referees as they considered moving forward all the time to be the correct way. But look at the likes of Michael Thompson and his fantastic footwork. He would move in and out and score setting up his opponent for a knockout. As for Kyokushin giving up traditional teachings and focusing on K1 I have heard similar things but only in connection with one Kyokushin group and only in Japan. The rest of the world still follows that traditional path. Osu!

In our organisation it is mandatory two years from shodan to nidan and then three from nidan to sandan and so on. After Sandan grades are awarded to individuals based on work they do for the organisation (national and international), and for diligent training. Shodan actually means beginner grade. Sosai Oyama used to say that one becomes a beginner after one thousand days training and a master after ten thousand days. As for what comes after Black belt - besides the next few dan grades - time to perfect the techniques you have only really scratched the surface of. Maybe you will want to get involved in teaching in your dojo, training and coaching fighters- the list as as endless as the limits of your imagination. After almost twenty years training I am still finding new things to learn. Osu!