Not sure of Style

[eliot1019]

Hey guys. I've been training for 8 years.

However, as weird as it sounds, I;m not sure of my style of karate.

My Dojo says Oyama Karate which is supposed to be kyokushin.

However, we practice kata in shotokan style and kumite in a kyokushin/shotokan hybrid style.

At least so I thought: Looking up traditional shotokan katas, many are identical and many of the katas we practice are different. For example the Nijushiho I've been practicing looks different from Shotokan Nijushihos Ive seen on youtube.

Kumite wise, the way our sensei teaches us is clearly shotokan. The one hit kill and ippons. Getting in fast and accurately and escaping. However, during sparring, we spar in a hybrid kyokushin/shotokan style. For example, we don't punch to the head like kyokushin. Some of us stand in shotokan long stances and some in kyokushin short.

We also never learn or practice ashi barais for some reason. We also don't incorporate roundhouses to the legs during sparring.

Could someone please clarify for me and correct me if I'm wrong about something? Thanks and Osu!

[wagnerk]

Ok, first of all, kyokushin has it's roots in both Gōjū-ryū & Shotokan karate so there are going to be alot of similar kata's. Alot of different styles will utilise the same kata with or without variations. Even within Shotokan karate, go to 3 different associations and they will practice the same kata differently due to their interpretation (is this wrong? I don't believe so as the martial arts are always evolving, but this is just my opinion).

As for kumite, well there's really only so many ways to punch and kick, however I assume that you're talking about the rule sets With this in mind, Kyokushin (while known for being a full contact/knockdown style) do practice 3 types of sparring: Full contact, Semi contact and clicker. For full contact sparring, from what I've experienced, is normally a dedicated class or session. Maybe you haven't attended or been invited to these (I'm only assuming as there are different kyokushin organisations and associations out there and they all do things alittle differently) or the club you train at only does semi contact and clicker (there's nothing wrong with that either).

As for training on the technique of ashi barai (or foot sweep), not all clubs will teach this or will only teach this at a certain level as if done incorrectly can cause problems to both the person that the technique is being done to as well as the person doing the technique (I've seen student when attempting to do technique like these hit the joints instead of "sweeping"). You mention that you've been training for 8 years, what kyu/dan are you? As that may be why.

[yamesu]

My interpretation (could be slightly incorrect, I'm not sure, and if so I apologise):

World Oyama represents a style that has the same roots as Kyokushin, but at one point took a different evolutionary pathway.

In the 1960's Sosai Mas Oyama sent several of his high level instructors overseas to spread what would become Kyokushin to the World.

One of these instructors was Shigeru Oyama (no direct relation to Mas Oyama I believe).

Shigeru continued to teach the karate he was taught by Sosai, and at some point this took a different developmental path than the Kyokushin widely practiced today.

Shigeru was a solid karate-ka, having completed the 100 man kumite and a number of other feats.

[brickshooter]

Hey guys. I've been training for 8 years.

However, as weird as it sounds, I;m not sure of my style of karate.

My Dojo says Oyama Karate which is supposed to be kyokushin.

However, we practice kata in shotokan style and kumite in a kyokushin/shotokan hybrid style.

At least so I thought: Looking up traditional shotokan katas, many are identical and many of the katas we practice are different. For example the Nijushiho I've been practicing looks different from Shotokan Nijushihos Ive seen on youtube.

Kumite wise, the way our sensei teaches us is clearly shotokan. The one hit kill and ippons. Getting in fast and accurately and escaping. However, during sparring, we spar in a hybrid kyokushin/shotokan style. For example, we don't punch to the head like kyokushin. Some of us stand in shotokan long stances and some in kyokushin short.

We also never learn or practice ashi barais for some reason. We also don't incorporate roundhouses to the legs during sparring.

Could someone please clarify for me and correct me if I'm wrong about something? Thanks and Osu!

I'm guessing that your lead instructor is kind of like most of us oldies, a product of several schools of Karate.

Consequently he's going to teach a hybrid style that comes from different schools based on his personal experience.