Dobbersky

I totally support this advise, with my diet I checked with my Doctor before and during my extreme weight loss need to see the Doctor again in a few weeks for a check-up

I hope you enjoy yourself at the new club. Don't worry about rushing through the belts to get to black belt just enjoy the journey. Remember to listen to your Instructor and if you have any questions, as you already know, ask on here

Another way around portion size is get a smaller plate. if the plate looks fuller even though the portion size is smaller you will "feel" better about the portins you're eating

PMSL Its things like that, that have caused Karate to become a "Soft" art, where the instructors are too scared to let their students make physical contact lol. I dish out pushups when a student has done wrong, and its amazing how many don't show up the next lesson because of this. Never mind, atleast I'm left with the best (or most idiotic or gluttens for punishment)

Garyu Out of ALL the Kyokushin Kata, Garyu Kata is THE kata I would love to learn the most! My reason, this was Sosai's Kata and I want to be able to continue his legacy OSU!!

Previous Styles Muay Thai 2+ years then Tang Soo Do 4+ years then Ashihara Karate 10+ years concurently with Wado Ryu 4+ years Jujitsu 1+ year Aikido 1+ year Although the last 4 years have been my Style Black Tiger Karate

My idea of kata is that it is the core, the heart of Karate itself. It was the founder's way of passing on the techniques of each school. It spent years practising the specified kata and most schools had no more than 5 or 7 kata. Its been said that if someone is taught the Pinan series they have everything they need to defend themselves Application, Bunkai or whatever you want to call it was an integral part of a karateka's training. Every Kata I teach is taught and Bunkai goes hand in hand with it. These days kata seems to be just for passing gradings. Not many karateka know genuine and authentic applications to the Kata. Also we have "Musical Kata" which looks more like gymnastics than Karate. What does Kata mean to you is it for just passing grades or is it something deeper, please feel free to elaborate as much as you want

I had issues with weight loss, since I gave up smoking I went from 90kg up to 132kg over the next couple of years. I stuck at that weight for the next few years. Apart from a stint on Oralstat from the doctor where I lost 40kg but put it back on again with the year. This year I decided enough was enough, I got Oralstat again lost 6kg within a month then nothing for the next 2 months. A friend give me a Meal replacement programme (https://www.be-yu.com) shakes where I had 4 shakes a day, nothing else except Tea or water, for 2 weeks then re-introduced food over the next week, therefore in 3-4 weeks I've lost 17kg an I've not finished yet, my target weight is 105kg so 10kg more to go. After a diet a complete lifestyle change IS needed etc no more stacks of biscuits, cakes or sweets etc. My portion size has gone really small too, good luck on yours

Dare I say (as a Christian I will not judge him), it shows and proves that senior graded martial artists are people too, they have similar strengths and weaknesses too. From reading and speaking to martial artists all over the world some tend to hold their Dai Shihan/Soke/Kaicho/Kancho/Sosai/Arjan/Shifu as a type of demi-god they're not, they're just people! People are shocked because they put him on a pedestal where he was considered without fault! I'd still buy his book if Shotokan was my Ryu. Osu!!!

OSU Excellent topic, and I would love to add, I will wait until we've had a few responses from kyu grades be joining in Osu

Now I know this isn't just a Kyokushin/Ashihara/Enshin/Muay Thai technique. What techniques do you all use? Also what do you recommend for treating Bruises? When I'm kicking pads heavy bags its awesome and sparring without shin guards etc feels so natural. One story, I thought had really hard shins, I love snooker cues etc, I was doing some light sparring, seriously light sparring and ended up with a huge bruise on my shin and its been a week, gone through 1/2 bottle of Thai Oil, I'll try Dit Dat Jaw tomorrow, lol.

Shizentai-san That is the best explaination of Japanese I have heard on this board OSU!!!

I remember this story too, its an excellent analogy of what the question is about, one is ready when one is ready, not before, if one is ready 6 months after 1st Kyu/Gup or 3 years after. I feel that black belt is more about mental attitude although some perfection in techniques is required. Now with regards to this story moving it on to Dan Grades, should one wait for 2 years fro 1st to 2nd and 3 years from 2nd to 3rd etc or should it be when one is ready?

I would say sauna - Olbas oils and a week off, with a Hot Toddy or 2 during that time but not in conjunction with cold remedies

Pre emptive striking is an excellent medium and works well with Karate's ethos, countering your opponents step to prepare to strike is still Karate ni sente nashi but at a different level

I would replicate this question in the Kyokushin for Life0forum as there are some senior Kyokushin Shihans who will remember what it was like and you can add the response on her OSU

But they are represented in the Kata, I don't disagree that a lot of influence comes from the interaction with the Thai's but there is also influence from the chinese fighters of SanDa or SanShou (Chinese Kickboxing)

Very True, If I was to choose TKD as my main Style ITF would definately be my choice, I don't care if I'd never get to the Olympics atleast its more effective for transition to Street situations Although ITF is "Semi-Contact" I can gurantee that on some competitions there are no pulled strikes between the competitors The only thing I'm not too keen on is the Sine Effect on the Poomsae.

Its ok but a Heavy bag is much better as you can practice LOW kicks on a heavy bag I think they're ok if you can't get a training partner but save you're money and get a heavy Bag

What you need to do is look deeper into the core of Kyokushin to see its roots. Oyama Sosai practiced Goju Ryu AND Shotokan before formulating Kyokushin. If you look at Goju Ryu, a lot of the techniques are found there. I have been sharing techniques with a Goju Ryu Black Belt and its amazing how similar they are. I know I am an Ashihara Karateka but Ashihara came from Kyokushin as Ashihara Kancho was Oyama Sosai's Uchi Deshi and one of Soasai's senior Shihans. OSU

In Knock-Down Karate like my style, we don't use gloves although some of my students do use MMA style gloves. We start with like contact on the Focus Mitts/Heavy Bag then as you get used to it increase the level of contact. This way you don't get the torn knuckles etc. I have been told so many times about Boxers or those who are used to using boxing gloves/wraps breaking their hands/wrists the first time they punch someone in a street confrontation because they've never trained to hit someone without gloves/wraps. I compare using gloves to trying to learn to swim on the sand. We do use MMA Grappling glove when sparring in the Dojo (without Wraps) only to prevent damage to out sparring partners. but condtioning work is done without gloves or shin guards etc

That's vey true, Manchester is full of Shukokai/Shito Ryu and Shotokan clubs then you'll get a mix of Shotokan and Wado clubs, then you get Freestyle and the rare Kyokushin style club oh and quite a few Kung Fu/Tai chi classes loads of WTF clubs and a rare ITF school but loads of Jujitsu based schools too

All, I know some schools Grade their students to BB in 3 years or so and some will take 8-9 years from White Belt. I am purely specifying the transition from 1st Kyu/Gup (Brown or Red Belt) to 1st Dan (Black Belt / Midnight Blue) Should the timescale be less than 12 months around 12 months, upto 2 years or longer? Thanks

From another thread/response from Matakiant, made me think that I need to put this out to the rest of you and I briefly put my thoughts on the subject below so that others get the chance to respond plus give me the chance to add and respond to replies etc. In my school the average transition from 3rd Brown Belt (3rd Red Belt) to Black Belt, well the Minimum is 12 months from the previous grading but it is on invitation, I feel that it should be a minimum of 2 years and that the transition is a mental not physical one as the train of thought for a Mudansha (Non Blackbelts) compared to a Yudansha (Black Belts) is completely different. You never need to tell a Yudansha you need to do this or that etc whereas a Mudansha needs direction/instruction all the time. What are other Martial Artists thoughts on what they did or how they feel about their students and what is the minimum and average transition time they have for them to prepare for Black Belt?

I am the Chief Instructor, but I have trained with some excellent Shihans and Kancho's from other organisations, namely Gary Chamberlain (Head of Enshin UK) and Kancho Ninomiya (Founder of Enshinkai). I also had the pleasure of training with Tony Bowyer Kaicho of Seidokan Wado Ryu UK It made me realise that I NEEDED to move away from my Sensei as it changed my outlook to Karate. it changed my insight into the kata to the techniques to the What, Why, How and What-if to everything I do, my karate is completely different to what my instructor taught me and this is due to training with other Shihans etc.