ISKA CONTINUOUS SPARRING

[Mike1969]

But I'm not going to do anything until I see it live at the US Open.

[AdamKralic]

To compete in ISKA your best bet is to join a kickboxing group that actively participates in those tournaments. TKD would be a good base, I know a number of ITF TKD guys that have had success on similar circuits but kickboxing would be a better choice IMHO. If you joined a TKD dojang then you'd also be spending time doing the forms and other work not directly related to this type of competition. Also in the majority of cases I think the style of sparring in kickboxing might be more in line with what you want.

I have found a few kickboxing schools, but they are not dojos and do not give belts, more like fitness gyms. Looks like I'm going to have to suffer through learning katas in order to get the training I need to spar.

No, no, no. You HAVE to find people to actually spar against. Not optional. There has to be a karate dojo nearby that spars. Has to. As far as technique...well honestly you can learn a lot online if you are of such a mind. (though always a good teacher is best...no doubt)

Jadi Tention, Alex Reyes, Ross Levine...North American fighters with top notch instructional videos up on youtube. Check them out.

Here is a crucial...yet relatively simple drill that helps in sparring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWbd7v4XhJ8

[Mike1969]

My current school trains me in kickboxing, however I moved and its too far away, also, they are crazy with kata, weapons and forms. Its too much, they teach a little of everything, I'm over it. Not to mention what happened a year ago.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-06-14/news/fl-karate-instructor-20120613_1_molestation-case-international-martial-arts-association-travis-mandell

[skullsplitter]

Let us know how the US Open goes. I'm in the area that weekend, but I don't know if I'll have time to catch any of the action. There are a couple of people from my school competing in it and I'd like to see their fights.

[Mike1969]

Skull,

Where is your school?

[skullsplitter]

Evansville, IN. About as far south in Indiana as you can go.

[AdamKralic]

So what happened? Any updates?