Sparring tips for kyokushinkai

[makiwaraman]

Well I am taking the plunge on Wednesday and going to my first kyokushinkai class, as I feel it may suit me more than my current style.

As I understand it you practise full contact kumite from your first class so are there any experienced kyokushinkai practisioners out there who wish to share some tips with me or offer any sound advise.

regards makiwaraman

[Eiichi]

When doing kumite watch for gedan mawashi geri to the inside of your thighs. Getting hit there a few times is okay, but if you make the mistake of exposing your thighs too often when doing somekind of ashi waza, you can get severe bruises. All about good foot work.. keep yourself moving, don't stand stationary and become a sitting duck, use plenty of sabaki. Keep your feet moving. Don't worry about getting punched in the chest too much, cover up, but worry more about different types of kicks being thrown at your legs and head, and especially mae geri to the stomach. This being your first class and being a kohai, they should take it easy on you. You'll do fine, good luck! P.S. Since you're a beginner you control the tempo of the fight. The harder you go, the experienced karateka will match it.

[cross]

1. Keep your hands up.

2. Like Eiichi said, kicks to the thighs are pretty common so be ready to check with your lead leg and DO NOT try to block these kicks with your arms/hands.

[Meguro]

Don't use a shotokan fighting stance. Keep both hands up, forearms almost vertical. Don't stop because you think you scored a point. If you can't avoid or block the gedan mawashigeri, tense your quad and lean into the kick. Good luck.

[makiwaraman]

Thank you OK so whats not allowed in kyokushinkai sparring.

The shotokan club I go to is not your usual in that we do not do point sparring and low stances are for katas , but we can do takedowns low kicks etc with light contact. When we spar and it gets heated the contact seems to increase and thats when I most enjoy kumite(I may feel differently after tommorrow)But I find it hard to train to miss. So is the kyokushinkai kumite with full spirit/power.

Regards makiwaraman

[Eiichi]

Generally they don't punch to the face, although Kyokushin teaches it. Obviously, scratching, biting, spiting etc. is not allowed. You can do take downs, but joint manipulations generally aren't used. Kyokushin is all about kock down competition.

[Koji-Kabuto]

When SPARRING, it's usually not full-power, and, Punches to the head are not allowed(Kicks are), Hitting articulations(Kansetzu geri), Hitting the neck, Hitting the genitals(Includes breasts for women), hitting the back of the head, and some other I can't remember.

[El-Wood]

I have no clue where the full contact kumite idea comes from but in my experience most kumite is not done full contact. Pads may or may not be used depending on your clubs policy (ours uses hand and shin pads).

Off the top of my head rules are generally - no hand or elbow strikes to the head/neck, no joint attacks, sweeps are ok but throws are not, no strikes to the back, no strikes to downed opponents.

[Koji-Kabuto]

It's not full contact, it's more like full power...

[makiwaraman]

Thank you for your advice, I went and trained with hanshi Steve Arneil any of you know him or train with him. I feel a bit disapointed as we did not do any kumite as such we did do target practice were you stand still and the person facing you attacks with no contact for two minutes then you attack then change partners down the line and start again . But if all kyokushinkai classes are like that you guys are fit warriors. I enjoyed the training and will go back and train with them soon and hopefully do some sparring.

Regards maki