biggest differences between Shotokan & Kyokushin????

[Meguro]

We do very light sparring once a week and it is more fun than pain. Don't let the fear of pain (that isn't there most of the time) stop you from doing anything. Believe me, blisters have caused me more pain than sparring in the dojo.

It is very rare not to have sparring in a Kyokushin class. Your dojo is an exception. The injuries you can get from sparring run the gamut from bruises on your thighs to broken bones. Fractures don't happen everyday, but they happen often enough to make you wary.

[y2_sub]

I think kyokushin is a complicated martial arts, because yes, at the proffesional level of fighting the people who compete are extraordinary and can endure much pain. Also, their lives revolve around sparring and I would hazzard a guess that they do much less self defense and kata in their training.

But in the dojo, in a less goal driven atmosphere I think sparring is a lot less of the program than it is made out to be. I do not have a high pain threshold. We do very light sparring once a week and it is more fun than pain. Don't let the fear of pain (that isn't there most of the time) stop you from doing anything. Believe me, blisters have caused me more pain than sparring in the dojo.

No pain , No Kyokushin .

Kyokushin is not all about pain , but invoking pain and enduring pain is much of what kyokushin is about . And if you do not have a high pain threshold in dojo , how would you be able to endure pain??? ( in tournament or in real situation )

[DaChroniclez]

But in the dojo, in a less goal driven atmosphere I think sparring is a lot less of the program than it is made out to be. I do not have a high pain threshold. We do very light sparring once a week and it is more fun than pain. Don't let the fear of pain (that isn't there most of the time) stop you from doing anything. Believe me, blisters have caused me more pain than sparring in the dojo.

that is your dojo in particular, so heres an example showing that it really depends on the dojo you train at. My dojo (sensei tats nakamura) creates some of the best fighters in north america (we just had the north american selection tourney for the weight-catagory world tourney, and we had 2 first place and 2 top 3's) and believe me when i say that the sparring is very painful. everyone goes through injuries at one point or another. and you WILL get beat up on ALOT, but this is what makes you tougher. So I believe in hard sparring in order to gain good conditioning and experience. Kihon/kata is great for technique. but if you are interested in joining kyokushin, than expect to get hurt and having to endure it. It is what develops the Kyokushin spirit which all our karateka must have. OSU!!

[Chirath]

It is what develops the Kyokushin spirit which all our karateka must have. OSU!!

Exactly! Karate is about building spirit and determination. While it can be built by intense basics. I believe that hard sparring is more effective at building spirit. As you are constantly pushing youself to the limit.

[y2_sub]

It is what develops the Kyokushin spirit which all our karateka must have. OSU!!

Exactly! Karate is about building spirit and determination. While it can be built by intense basics. I believe that hard sparring is more effective at building spirit. As you are constantly pushing youself to the limit.

Agreed with you guys .

[ivette_green]

My dojo may be an exception, but to say we do not do sparring every class does not mean we do not do a lot of pad work or work on our basics. Without going over your basics regularly, where would your sparring be?

I do not disagree that Sensei Tats Nakamura is a great teacher, but he also runs more dojos than anyone else in BC in the most populated part in BC. It would be odd if he didn't produce world class fighters.

You guys sound like old-timers if you're beating the living day-lights out of each other each sparring session.

[DaChroniclez]

ivette, are you trying to insinuate that my dojo produces great fighters because of the location and the population of people?? you sir, are very wrong. we have a 90% dropout rate, at our main fighters dojo (richmond) we have about 8-10 students who go regularly, so it has nothing to do with the ammount of people. It's the level of intensity in our training, and our spirit.

I am not trying to boast about my dojo, but instead I'm trying to illustrate to you that this level of intensity is necessary to create great karatekas. There are much more populated cities in onrth america than vancouver (ie. LA, New York, Chicago, etc..) and they all have their fair share of Kyokushin dojos.

In essence what im saying is, you get what you give. The harder you train, theb etter you will be. THe more you get hit, the more conditioned you will be. And the more you indure, the stronger you will be mentally and in your spirit. OSU!!

[pers]

The diferrence is with the people doing them ! and teaching them !

all this talk about kyukoshin being tough and buliding spirit is true ,but you can find that in shotokan ,wado ,goju ,or any other school of karate ,providing the instructer knows what he is doing !

I speak for shotokan which I have trained in ,it is a combination of speed and power and emphesises on a perfect technique to end the conflict quick .it takes a lot of hard work and effort to master these simple looking techniques to make them effective and deadly ,I believe all diferrent styles meet at the same destination but the ways to get there may be diferrent. To be able to do good kumite you must have perfect kihon ,to be able to do kumite you must understand and be able to perform kata well , to do kata well you must have perfect kihon !

[DaChroniclez]

pers, you are correct, but only to a certain extent imo. If you are good at kihon, you will have fairly strong techniques and be decent at kumite, same goes for kata and kumite. but you will in no way be a great fighter. to become one of those you must train all aspects, including lots of kumite. This is what i find many dojo's neglecting. Mostly because of the insurance policies in north america. They pretend that if you do kihon and kata, and some preset kumite, you will be a great fighter. this is a very very very big misconception. I have a friend who does Shoto-Ryu karate and he is one of the top fighter (point sparring) in bc. but he has not one bit of a clue about how a real fight situation would go. He believes that one hit should do it (since in his kumite the fight stops when someone gets a point). he doesnt do combos, and he is not used to a fighting atmosphere. He would get nervous and shocked when his one hit doesnt knock the enemy out.

[Chirath]

An example of fighting spirit is Kenji Sempai. A kyokushin karateka who fought with four broken ribs in a fight lasting 10 minutes. And competed twice in the World tournament finals. He also then went on to complete the 100 man kumite. The ultimate test in Osu. If he just worked on Kihon, I doubt he would be where he is now.