steve57 Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 The disadvantage of exclusively training semi-contact, is that it is likely that you would instinctively resort to this method if you were faced with a real altercation. However, consistant full-contact training would have the opposite effect of pulling your techniques, whereby you would instinctively land them at full power. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karateka Posted January 19, 2004 Share Posted January 19, 2004 Hmm, there are good arguments for both sides of the coin. I think that Semi Contact allows us not only to learn control but also to fight smarter and see how are techniques work on each other. Full contact allows us to truly feel what the Martial Art was used for. However, I think we all need to learn control. Even in the real world, where God Forbid if we have to use our Martial Art to defend ourselves or someone else, there has to be control. A lot of school's don't teach that your skills are to be used so much so that you have a chance to get away. That means, punch, kick, RUN! The police and the lawyers say that if we go all out on them, unless in EXTREME (and also very limited) circumstances, we will get charged with assault or worse. So, I think that control of one's emotions during combat is very essential. If you can learn that in either semi or full contact, more power to you. "Never hit a man while he's down; kick him, its easier"Sensei Ron Bagley (My Sensei) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
humblecanadiangojuguy Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 I think that full contact karate is not really full contact, ie no punches to the face. But full contact will help you get ready for a real fight better than no contact. But you will have many injuries, missing teeth, broken ribs etc. Now I do not make my leaving do karate sooo I don't want injuries or black eyes or fat lips every day. I think semi or light contact gives you the best of both worlds without undue injuries. Also I believe that Karate is about non violence, full contact karate is seems to be almost promoting violence (I should say all the full contact members I have seen). I have seen very very good full contact karate people, one is ranked as high as second in the world in Japan and USA. He has a very scary outlook on life and karate, one that is not in line with what karate is really about. But some people I understand are into karate to fight and to hurt people, but I believe that it is about Budo. It should be about learning the art, not just the fighting style, about bettering yourself, finding yourself, etc not just about learning to hurt people better. Rambling here so like I said I believe semi or light contact is best for us working day job types who do karate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilTed Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 I think non-contact karate is basically aerobics or at best, dancing. Having done several non/semi-contact styles in my youth (I'm 40 this year) I finally decided to start karate again a year and a half ago. After searching hard in San Francisco for a Kyokushin dojo, I was very lucky to find a World Oyama Karate dojo. World Oyama Karate was founded by Mas Oyamas top student for 30 years, Shigeru Oyama and his brother, Yashuiko Oyama (who Mas Oyama called a Kyokushin genius). The San Francisco dojo was founded by my Sensei, Takeshi Saito, who was Shigeru Oyamas best student and 'uchi deshi' for 5 years. World Oyama Karate is full contact karate and is basically Kyokushin karate modified to suit the larger American size. We fight full contact every time we train. If we are injured we can stay out of it, but we learn to work around injuries and how to avoid them. I have had three broken ribs, two broken toes and a cracked rib in the year and a half but it doesn't put me off. I know now what the result of my technique is. I know what works in a real fight and what doesn't. I know how to control my power so as not to injure my oponent. Control comes from knowing the affect of a technique, not from guess work. Knowledge is power they say. Full - Contact all the way for me! Osu! ET BTW - we have two Shotokan 1st Dans, a Tae Kwon Do 1st dan and a Mauy Thai fighter with over 8 years experience in our ranks. All love the style and prefer the full-contact training. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempocos Posted January 23, 2004 Share Posted January 23, 2004 Full contact and Full power does not have to be the same thing. you can go full contact and gage the power. Both are very important in training. "If you don't want to get hit while sparring , join the cardio class" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripper Posted January 24, 2004 Share Posted January 24, 2004 I know now what the result of my technique is. I know what works in a real fight and what doesn't. I know how to control my power so as not to injure my oponent. Control comes from knowing the affect of a technique, not from guess work. Knowledge is power they say. Full - Contact all the way for me!Sorry Ted, but this is just too stupid. Come on, what are you trying to achieve with so many injuries?? What's the use? I've always done semi contact and I also know the things you say above, but I hardly get injured. In competition we can go full contact on the body also; so it's not guess work. And when you say you know how to control your power as not to injure your opponent how come you have so many injuries?? René Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knockdown Posted January 24, 2004 Share Posted January 24, 2004 Full Contact dows not neccesarily result in constant frequent injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilTed Posted January 24, 2004 Share Posted January 24, 2004 Ripper, Because others don't know how to control their power I have never injured anyone, but I got injured frequently in my first 6 months of training. The 3 broken ribs were all in the same place, so maybe they never healed correctly (or I never gave them time). One of the broken toes was my fault when I kicked someone hard and hit their elbom. Toes vs elbows - elbows usually win The second toe was during mae-geri drills with a black belt and we were going very fast. Instead of stepping back and dodging the blow with tae sebaki he brought up his knee and blocked my kick, my toes got bent back over and one got broken. I stand by what I said. I did shotokan 20 years ago. Several others have done shotokan too. We also have two shotokan shodans in our dojo. All prefer full-contact over no contact. Light - contact is usually light until the first hard blow Osu! ET Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aefibird Posted January 24, 2004 Share Posted January 24, 2004 Ripper, I stand by what I said. I did shotokan 20 years ago. Several others have done shotokan too. We also have two shotokan shodans in our dojo. All prefer full-contact over no contact. Not all shotokan is no-contact. I'm from a shotokan dojo and we do a mix of light-, semi- and full-contact, but we mainly train in semi- and full contact, with emphasis on full-contact for higher grades. "Was it really worth it? Only time and death may ever tell..." The Beautiful South - The Rose of My CologneSheffield Steelers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotegashiNeo Posted January 25, 2004 Share Posted January 25, 2004 Wow it turned into a vs thread suprise! Well I enjoy my mental faculties as the are now. After doing kickboxing for six years and suffering many grade 1,2 and 3 concussions. I think prefer a little less brain rattling. Yes you do need to know how your body reacts to getting walloped by round kick to the leg or head but also you want to have a long and healthy martial arts carrier. For you full contact guys how full contact are we talking ? throat chops, eye gouge, bitting, now that is full contact Kisshu fushin oni te hotoke kokoro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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