Ashihara Karate

[Traymond]

Hmmm I suppose if I would have actually googled it of looked it up on wikipedia I would have noticed that haha, thanks.

[Espina]

Perhaps the main difference between Ashihara and Kyokushin is that Kyokushin hits the legs more than we do... but I would really like an opinion from someone who's main art is Kyokushin.

We hit the head a lot in Ashihara, and I would dare to say that we use knees more than kyokushin.

[Espina]

Somebody once told me that Ashihara is the style of karate that the armed forces of Japan practice. I don't know about this.

Does anyone know if this is true?

[Traymond]

I heard that Ashihara Kaiken is used for their armed forces...is that the same thing????????

[Espina]

I think it is... I've heard about Kaikan, never Kaiken... but I don't know if it's the same

[Traymond]

Well either way im sure that the principles are about the same they are more than likely a branch off of each other...one way or the other.

[Kuma]

Perhaps the main difference between Ashihara and Kyokushin is that Kyokushin hits the legs more than we do... but I would really like an opinion from someone who's main art is Kyokushin.

We hit the head a lot in Ashihara, and I would dare to say that we use knees more than kyokushin.

I think the main difference between Kyokushin and Ashihara is Ashihara allows you to grab and yank your opponent around, whereas in Kyokushin they don't let you do that. Kyokushin also has more of emphasis on the standard kihon and kata, whereas Ashihara is more into fighting techniques and their kata is more for kumite. Other than that, I don't see much of a difference.

[Shizentai]

Are you from Japan?

haha! Nah, I was born in the USA. I just lived there for a little while during high school & college.

As for "kaikan," I think that's just a suffix meaning like "school" or "organization."

I do have a stupid question though, when you guys trained in Ashihara... did you get shot put balls thrown at you by any chance? ...man that sounds violent. I mean "to" you... very quickly?

[Dobbersky]

Ashihara is a lovely style, I actually found that it blended well with Wado Ryu as opposed to Kyokushin or Shotokan, I think compared to Wado Ryu and Ashhihara, Goju Ryu and Shotokan have very wide stances.

In Ashihara and Enshin, we practice Jissen kata or Combat kata as opposed to traditional Goshin kata or Self Defence kata.

I think the Ashihara Kumite Katas 3,4 & 5 tend to look like they are aimed at Tae Kwon Do exponents as they have many spinning kicks with a few jumping kicks too.

As I am independant and not tied to NIKO (shame as I would love to train with Kancho) I have "created" hybrids of the Katas and they actually are even more Jissen/Goshin based through my study of Wado Ryu. It seems I am not the first in the UK to do this as I have been in touch with a Sensei who has done this. Also there are a few Shihans in Europe who have gone futher with the styles creating hybrids Styles/kata etc from Ashihara.

Karate's natural progression I suppose, otherwise we'd all still be studying Naha Te, Tomari Te or Shuri Te or some other Okinawan Style

Osu

[Espina]

Perhaps the main difference between Ashihara and Kyokushin is that Kyokushin hits the legs more than we do... but I would really like an opinion from someone who's main art is Kyokushin.

We hit the head a lot in Ashihara, and I would dare to say that we use knees more than kyokushin.

I think the main difference between Kyokushin and Ashihara is Ashihara allows you to grab and yank your opponent around, whereas in Kyokushin they don't let you do that. Kyokushin also has more of emphasis on the standard kihon and kata, whereas Ashihara is more into fighting techniques and their kata is more for kumite. Other than that, I don't see much of a difference.

Yes, I think you are right about the grabbing part. We kind of use the gi a lot to grab our opponent.

Regarding the kata, I also agree with you. Our katas (Ashihara) are more fighting-based than for example Goju Ryu. They do look a lot like a street fight rather than a choreography (in the absence of any other word).