Shotokan and Kyokushin

[Dobbersky]

"He who chases around after many rabbits ends hungry."(Okinawan Proverb)

My advice is: look around and choose what you want. Then focus on one art until you get very good at it.

Larry my friend, welcome to the forum, it will be an honour to read your posts and discuss many topics on here, OSU

I love your quote and that you state 4 or 5 styles (rabbits) that you train in, thank you, its a practice what I preach not what I do scenario

[Karate-Del]

Just a thought that no one else mentioned above, it isn't a negative but just something I found when I tried Kyokushin after training in Shotokan for many years was letting the punches follow through and not pulling the punches.

As you know Kyokushin is a full contact karate as opposed to Shotokan where you get used to pulling your punches. So the speed I gained from my shotokan training was great but conditioning your mind to follow through was interesting - plenty of bag training helps. Getting hit was interesting too as it really hurts instead of kind of hurt

As I said it wasn't a negative, it can only be a positive to try other styles to see what you get out of it.

Let us know how you go

Del

[yamesu]

Only other thing I can add here is that the one thing I got with Kyokushin that I personally did not get with other styles, was the ability (and it has to be built up) to push through pain and the want to give up.

The body wants to fail, but the mind says "KEEP GOING!!!".

Its a real "the mind controls reality" kind of outlook.

I have carried this through with me into many other areas of life now, and would not trade it for quids!

I just honestly hope that if you do pursue this cross-training, you do manage to find a good, friendly and experiecned Kyokushin dojo. I think you may find yourself really enjoying it

Best wishes.

[JohnnyB]

Only other thing I can add here is that the one thing I got with Kyokushin that I personally did not get with other styles, was the ability (and it has to be built up) to push through pain and the want to give up.

The body wants to fail, but the mind says "KEEP GOING!!!".

Its a real "the mind controls reality" kind of outlook.

I have carried this through with me into many other areas of life now, and would not trade it for quids!

I just honestly hope that if you do pursue this cross-training, you do manage to find a good, friendly and experiecned Kyokushin dojo. I think you may find yourself really enjoying it

Best wishes.

This is what OSU is all about in its actual translation. 'Endure under Pressure'

However in Kyokushin it should be 'Endure under Pain' to make it real!

Meaning of OSU:

http://www.uskl.org/osu.cfm

[pers]

Hi, I'm new here and wish to talk about karate.

So here's the thing, I have a 1st kyu in shotokan, and I really want to take a few classes of kyokushin. I've seen videos and all and the technique looks awesome. But there are several problems: I know my sensei will be disappointed if I started kyokushin (I'm not planning leaving my current dojo).

The kyokushin dojo is quite far, and I think there are no senseis running it (only sempais).

What are your thoughts? Is it appropriate to mix two styles?

PS: More about myself; I'm 20 and I've practiced karate since I was a kid, started with okinawan, then shito, and then shotokan.

Cheers

My advice to you is stay where you are and concentrate on your shotokan training ,you still have a lot to learn as a 1st kyu . If you go to kyokoshin dojo you will only confuse yourself and hinder your progress ,the reason being that kyokoshin has a diferrent concept to shotokan .

Like other member here put it very nicely if you choose to chase too many rabbits you will go hungry .

I have trained in shotokan for about 27 years , I am at a stage that I can go and persue another style becuase I feel I have bulit a strong foundation that I can easliy cross train in another stlye and not embarrass myself ,but I still feel I have a lot more to learn in my own style to keep me going for the rest of my life.

[evergrey]

Well, I'd say that would depend on one's goals, really.

[dave3006]

The thing that concerns me the most about kyokushin is that they do not target the head in sparring. My opinion is that this would cause a person to develop some very bad habits. Fatal habits.

The essence of martial arts is using your strength to attack your opponents weakness. I don't see how two guys blasting each other on the chest realizes this ideal. It is more of a "worlds toughest man" contest.

It doesn't seem the most intelligent way to fight.

[JohnnyB]

Unless you are lucky to find a kyokushin dojo that doesn't train according to tournament rules and uses headgear.

If I remember well, evergrey's dojo is like that. I'm so jealous really. All the kyokushin dojos in my city are fighting according to tourney rules with only kicks allowed to the head, allowed... but with control and no headgear at all.

Edited November 16, 2012 by JohnnyB

[dave3006]

I could make a strong case that a person would be better off sitting at home watching TV rather than sparring in a system that does not allow attacks to the head. It will teach you not to care about defending on of your most vital targets. This would be fatal in a street situation.

It is not about fighting tough. It is about fighting smart.

[MasterPain]

I could make a strong case that a person would be better off sitting at home watching TV rather than sparring in a system that does not allow attacks to the head. It will teach you not to care about defending on of your most vital targets. This would be fatal in a street situation.

It is not about fighting tough. It is about fighting smart.

As I understand it, Oyama had to choose between gloves and face contact or no gloves without face contact in order to have tournaments. The sport aspect was not intended to be the whole of the system. I've seen interviews with some of the Gracie family saying much the same of sport BJJ players using technique that would get you punched to death. The least rules in combat sports now is in MMA, and I tend to be able to cup check some decent MMA guys at will. Any ruleset leaves weaknesses that can be exploited, but to really excel in a sport you have to train mostly within the given rules. If sporting wins are your goal, it's totally fine to train for it.