Charlie

I'm moving to western Kanagawa in September (Yamato-city area). I wrote to the Daido-Juku organization to ask if they had a dojo in that area, but their response was kind of vague, I think because of language difficulties. Do you know if there is a Daido-juku school in that area (near Atsugi Naval Air Station?). If not, do you know of another "full-contact" style that has a school in that area?

Does your dojo belong NIKO, AKI, or neither? I'm moving to Japan in September to western Kanagawa (Yamato-city area) and I've heard that there's a NIKO dojo in that area, but don't know for sure. If so, I hope to train there.

Sure, the website of the dojo I go to is: http://www.virginiakarate.com/. I've never been to the honbu although I would really like to go sometime. I'm going to Japan in August and hope to train in one of the Enshin dojo while I'm there. My instructor here is Sensei Nima Mazhari. Your sensei probably knows him since I understand all of the Enshin teachers have met each other at one time or another. Osu!

I train in Enshin which is centered on the Sabaki method. I haven't really been in a "street" fight or heard of any stories of an Ashihara or Enshin student being in a street fight. However, I've seen or experienced several times an Enshin fighter in a match or practice kumite with Kyokushin fighters. If the Kyokushin fighter isn't accustomed to the Sabaki moves, I've seen them get put on the ground. However, Kyokushin fighters do often compete in Sabaki tournaments and often do well, even winning their weight divisions. I think in those cases the Kyokushin competitors have familiarized themselves with Sabaki techniques so they won't be surprised and will be able to counter them.

A member named "Feels" posted, several months ago, a good clip showing Kyokushin tournament knock-outs. That post is probably still on this forum somewhere if you'd like to search for it. Here's some other good sites for Kyokushin info: http://www.australiankyokushin.com/ This site has good info on notable Kyokushin practitioners. The Wikipedia entry for Kyokushin still needs some work but it does have some information and links to other good sources of info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyokushin Some entries on Wikipedia for notable current or former Kyokushin practitioners: Mas Oyama (founder of Kyokushin): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mas_Oyama Bas Rutten: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bas_Rutten Katsuaki Sato: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuaki_Sato Miyuki Miura: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyuki_Miura Hideyuki Ashihara: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hideyuki_Ashihara Joko Ninomiya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joko_Ninomiya

I normally train in Enshin Karate, however for two months I'm going to have some extra time so I plan on training in a local BJJ school (2 or 3 times a week) and a community activity center Judo class (one time a week). I understand that my Karategi probably won't be able to stand-up to the stress that grappling would put on it. Thus, I want to buy a plain, white, grappling gi to use in both classes (Judo and BJJ) and was looking at the Mizuno line of uniforms since they appear to have a good reputation. Does anyone have any advice on what type of material, weight, or weave would work best for a uniform to use in both types of training?

It seems like the best way to find knockdown tournaments is to check the websites of the full-contact styles' organizations. I was trying to make a list of all of them I could think of. I hope others will add those that I missed (these are Karate, not Muay Thai, Jujitsu, or other full-contact styles): Organizations that sponsor full-contact, knockdown tournaments in North America: - IKO(1)/IFKK - World Oyama - NAKO (North American Kyokushin Organization) - AKKO (American Kyokushin Karate and Aki-Jujitsu International) - Seidojuku - Kyokushin Union/Kyokushin Canada - Enshin - Shidokan Knockdown tournament-sponsoring organizations outside North America: - Ashihara (NIKO) - Ashihara International - Daido Juku - Satojuku (Odo) - IKO (2), (3), and (4) - IFK (UK) - AKK (Australia) - Seido-kaikan - Kyokushin-kan I'm sure that there's probably some European and west/central Asian independent, Kyokushin-related organizations that I'm missing.

I've only personally witnessed one Sabaki event so far so I'm reserving judgement on whether that is true or not. I suspect that in a Sabaki tournament match if neither fighter is knocked-down or if the match ends in a tie on points, then many of the judges might be more inclined to choose the fighter that they think used more Sabaki method than the other fighter, no matter how many kicks or punches the other fighter threw. Nevertheless, in our tournament, several of the divisions were won by non-Enshin fighters who defeated Enshin fighters by judges decision.

I guess that leads to the next, obvious question...does anyone know of a company that sells martial arts plastic face shields that are made with anti-fog material?

I've heard that those plastic face shields Daido Juku-ka wear give them better peripheral vision than other types of head and face guards. However, I've also heard that they're susceptible to fogging-up. In fact, in the video clip, it looks like some of the competitors might be having this problem. Is it true that fogging is a problem with plastic face guards? If so, is there a way to mitigate the problem?

There's a short, but fairly good definition on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_contact_karate

Where in Tokyo is your Daido Juku dojo located?

I don't know if you've seen this Daido Juku compilation circulating currently on MA forums, but one of the clips appears to show a KO from a head butt: http://youtube.com/watch?v=RMjGQk-k2ZA

Use of the word "osu" is sometimes a controversial subject in the martial art's (MA) community, as shown in this thread on another MA forum: http://www.budoseek.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=14059. From what I understand, in Kyokushin and most Kyokushin-related styles (like Enshin) in the west or in Japan, "osu" is the preferred word for "yes," "I hear you," "I understand," "no problem," "hello, fellow karate-ka," "goodbye," etc. I've heard that it is short for, "Oshi shinobu" which means what Sensei Mark says in his post. It seems that many Japanese and others who aren't aware of where the word comes from for Kyokushin practitioners believe it's a contraction of "Ohayo Gozaimas" (good morning) or "otsu-kara-sama-deshita" (good job/it was nice doing something with you). Therefore, they believe that it's use in that sense is unmannered and crude.

In addition to the three IKO organizations headquartered in Japan, several other countries have their own Kyokushin organizations: Australia- AKKA UK- IFK USA- IFKK In addition to all of these, there are other separate Kyokushin organizations such as Seido Juku, World Oyama, and Kyokushin-kan. As far as I know, the karate taught in all of them is fairly similar and most of them allow members from each other's organizations enter into their tournaments. However, they probably don't recognize each other's belt ranks. I don't think that's such a big deal but if it is to you and/or your son then you might want to find out which Kyokushin-based organization he wants to "stick" with and train only with it. There's a good, Australia-based resource on the Kyokushin world at: http://www.australiankyokushin.com/sitemap.shtml

By the way, here's a clip that shows Akiyoshi Matsui from Kyokushin (IKO1) doing his 100-man kumite in 1986: http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...395825&q=karate It starts about 2-minutes into the clip. Notice the board on the right side of the dojo that is keeping track of the number of matches he has fought. By match #100 he can barely lift his arms and is basically just taking a pounding while trying his best to stay on his feet. This site goes into more detail on the mult-man kumite: http://www.masutatsuoyama.com/100mankumite.htm.

Any other doubters out there? It's inspiring to see someone engage in and pass a test like the one Adam describes. I imagine the sense of accomplishment one must feel once it's over must be tremendous.

From what I've heard most Kyokushin and Kyokushin-related styles (Enshin, Ashihara, Seido, Oyama, etc) basically follow the pattern Kyospirit describes, i.e. warm-ups, kihon basics from various practice stances, kata and/or kihon combinations, and some conditioning exercises. The bag training and "heavy" sparring are usually done once or twice a week, often in a separate class.

There are Ashihara (NIKO) and Enshin dojo in Auckland, but not Wellington. There is a Kyokushin dojo: http://www.kyokushin.org.nz/. If you do end up investigating the Goju-ryu school, please let us know how it is. I'm interested in John Jarvis because of his history with the early Kyokushin masters.

The New Zealand Goju-ryu organization (still headed by legendary Kyokushin fighter John Jarvis?) appears to be a very good organization. The website for the Wellington dojo is at: http://www.karate.org.nz/dojos/wellington. I don't know if they have children's classes but I don't know why they wouldn't. If that link doesn't go directly to the page, you can click on the "dojo directory" on the left and find Wellington listed in there.

I train in the Enshin dojo on Pimmit Drive and Leesburg Pike (behind the Whole Foods shopping center). I don't know exactly where your dojo is, but I understand it's not too far away.

There are several styles in Japan that don't have many, if any, schools in other countries so this might be your opportunity to train in one of them. Daido juku is one of them. Another two are Odo (Satojuku) and Seido-kaikan (I think this is the organization that started K-1). I understand that all three of these styles are known for intense training sessions. Also, the honbu for most of the larger organizations like the three Kyokushin (IKO) organizations, JKA Shotokan, Kodokan Judo, Shidokan, and Ashihara (NIKO), are located in Japan and I understand most have programs for non-Japanese students to come train with them. Whichever organization you choose, you probably should email them first to give them a "heads-up" that you're coming so that they can be expecting you. Where are you going to be in Japan?

Maybe for commercial dojos but I didn't see many (any?) of the smaller dojos that I know of that aren't store front based. I did a quick check on several very large dojos based out of health clubs or rec centers and they weren't listed. I guess I didn't test it well enough. I tested it for my local area. I thought that it had showed both my dojo and yours for our zip code.

Most of Kyokushin and its "offshoots" (Ashihara, Seido, Enshin, Shidokan, Oyama, etc) do at least some sparring without padding or with minimal padding (light gloves/shinguards). The tournaments they enter or sponsor usually are no pads/gloves at the advanced (black belts) level.

The Shotokan vs "full-contact" karate debate occurs in this forum all the time in one version or another. An example of one version is the "point-sparring" vs "knockdown" tournament rules debate as to which one is more realistic or better. Fortunately, I can comment based on first-hand observation rather than conjecture. I attended a full-contact, knockdown rules tournament last month. It was sponsored by Enshin, and like most Enshin tournaments (Sabaki challenges), it allowed anyone to enter who could show that they were advanced enough in their technique to be competitive. One of the entrants in the advanced (black-belt) divisions was from a local Shotokan school. He didn't win his match against an opponent from a full-contact style, but he representated himself well and was competitive in his match. Whatever his reasons were for entering, I hope and believe his experience was valuable and rewarding for him. Of course, as others have said in this thread, learning karate isn't just learning to fight or compete. However, I think it can be a valuable element in the learning process for many.