What Should I Expect From Kyokushin Training?

K

Keej613

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For a variety of reasons (budget, location, etc), I'm thinking of making the switch to Kyokushin. I've scheduled a trial lesson with a local school but, since my training background is mostly Muay Thai with a bit of Sanshou, I'm wondering what I should expect from Kyokushin training.

Is Kyokushin more "self-defense" or "combat sport" oriented?

I understand that there are "no punching / hands to the head / face" rules in place but, assuming that self-defense is one goal of learning Kyokushin, should I expect to be taught to defend my face / head?

Should I expect to work with kicking pads / shields, focus mitts and heavy bags?

What equipment, if any, should I expect to need?

Is there anything in particular (or the absence of anything in particular) that should be a clear hint that the school is flakey or not the real deal?

Thanks for the help, folks!
 
It's karate so you're not going to need any equipment as you'll be a white belt. I haven't trained in Kyokushin but in the vids I've seen online they still practice punching to the face and defending it.
 
Kyokushin is a good standup form of martial arts. o saw their competitive sparring. quite fast and brutal
 
just cause they dont use hand to face in competition does not mean they wont teach it in class
 
Get ready to sparr....alot, Also i'd start streching now if i was you
 
Don't expect anything. Come in with an open mind and train hard ;)

you'll work pretty much everything you did in muay thai and sanshou except you won't be wearing gloves or any other protection. You will train your mind/body/spirit to limits you never thought attainable.

A big part of kyokushin training is taking punishment as much as dishing it out. Hence why we train with no protection. Depending on where you train you may or may not strike to the face but you will ALWAYS be reminded to keep your hands up no matter what. If you plan on fighting tournaments then, no, you will not be striking to the face as it is not allowed in tournament fighting. As far as being 'combat' or 'self-defense' oriented, it is both. If you're training at a proper school you will have "goshin-jitsu" as part of the curriculum, and if you plan on taking jiujitsu eventually, this will put you on the fast track as it is all grab/choke/ strike defenses and takedowns. Otherwise, it is fully combat oriented. Basically, as corny as it sounds it is 'one strike one kill' philosophy, you drill techniques in order to break through things, not just to 'tag' your opponent.

Get ready to be acquainted with the "kyokushin shuffle" lol

Let us know how your first class goes.
 
You can expect a lot of pads and heavy bag kicking and punching, exept without any gloves and protectional gear.

A lot of kicking and kicking drills, and loads of squats and pushups.
Our classes usually look like this, Warmup for 20 minutes, stretching, then some kata and basics. Then We take out the pads and start warming up for sparring, then many rounds of sparring.

And oh, Discipline is important. One thing you can expect is doing many, many pushups for not saying OSU! clear enough. We did over 450 once, not in a row though.
 
I recently did the exact same change as urself. I had started out in kyokushin and after about 8 months of practice decided i wanted to enter the world of Muay Thai. Although im enjoying Muay Thai, and i can say nothing comes close to Kyokushin in conditioning terms and sparring. Kyokushin is hard core and old school. Unlike Muay Thai where they wear protective gear Kyokushin as stated has no protection other then a mouthpeice and a cup. I have already contemplated going back to Kyokushin just for the pure reason of its conditiong alot of people said that the Muay Thai conditioning would be the same as Kyokushin. Maybe its due to the gym but i for one am a true believer that Kyokushin makes u as hard as a stone. So try it enjoy it and prepare to feel tha pain. As our coach said to us on the first day, One of the main aspects of Kyokushin is to no longer fear pain. Trust me you will take a beating and you will be impressed how much ur body can take,.
 
Thanks for the info, folks!

I'll let you know how things went after the trial lesson! Very much looking forward to it!
 
Former Miyagi Kan brown belt here (gave it up when I was 14).

Pros:

1) Conditioning
2) Excellent elusive fighting technique (think Machida).
3) Good range of weapons including knees, elbows, leg sweeps and throw downs.

Cons:

1) Overemphasis on Katas
2) In tournaments, fights are stopped each time a point is scored.
3) A lot of redundant techniques like weird knee kicks, heel kicks that will never really do much damage and are too difficult to pull off in a fight.

Good luck.
 
FlyingArmbar said:
Former Miyagi Kan brown belt here (gave it up when I was 14).

Pros:

1) Conditioning
2) Excellent elusive fighting technique (think Machida).
3) Good range of weapons including knees, elbows, leg sweeps and throw downs.

Cons:

1) Overemphasis on Katas
2) In tournaments, fights are stopped each time a point is scored.
3) A lot of redundant techniques like weird knee kicks, heel kicks that will never really do much damage and are too difficult to pull off in a fight.
Click to expand...

You don't really have a clue about kyokushin karate, do you?

Kyokushin is not point karate. They dont stop fights every time a point is scored (well, ok, they do, but that is because points in kyokushin knockdown rules are only scored when the opponent goes down from being hit. Noone cares how many times you hit someone, only if the hit results in a "knockdown").
Kyokushin is known for having little emphasis on kata and focus most of their time on sparring and competition fighting.
It is known for NOT being elusive, but frequently end in slugging matches where the fighters refuse to step back, but just stay and see who can take the most punishment before one goes down.
 
shinkyoku said:
You don't really have a clue about kyokushin karate, do you?

Kyokushin is not point karate. They dont stop fights every time a point is scored (well, ok, they do, but that is because points in kyokushin knockdown rules are only scored when the opponent goes down from being hit. Noone cares how many times you hit someone, only if the hit results in a "knockdown").
Kyokushin is known for having little emphasis on kata and focus most of their time on sparring and competition fighting.
It is known for NOT being elusive, but frequently end in slugging matches where the fighters refuse to step back, but just stay and see who can take the most punishment before one goes down.
Click to expand...

Flyingarmbar said:
Former Miyagi Kan
Click to expand...


I was talking about Miyagi Kan.
 
By making Pro/con list in a thread called "what should I expect from kyokushin training?"?

If you intend to make a pro/con list for Miyagi kan (never heard of it, but I assume its a goju ryu offshoot, named after Goju founder Chojun Miyagi -not after the karate kid movie character Mr. Miyagi), you really should also note that it is offtopic and dont have anything to do with the question at hand.
 
kyokushinjitsu said:
Don't expect anything. Come in with an open mind and train hard ;)

you'll work pretty much everything you did in muay thai and sanshou except you won't be wearing gloves or any other protection. You will train your mind/body/spirit to limits you never thought attainable.

A big part of kyokushin training is taking punishment as much as dishing it out. Hence why we train with no protection. Depending on where you train you may or may not strike to the face but you will ALWAYS be reminded to keep your hands up no matter what. If you plan on fighting tournaments then, no, you will not be striking to the face as it is not allowed in tournament fighting. As far as being 'combat' or 'self-defense' oriented, it is both. If you're training at a proper school you will have "goshin-jitsu" as part of the curriculum, and if you plan on taking jiujitsu eventually, this will put you on the fast track as it is all grab/choke/ strike defenses and takedowns. Otherwise, it is fully combat oriented. Basically, as corny as it sounds it is 'one strike one kill' philosophy, you drill techniques in order to break through things, not just to 'tag' your opponent.

Get ready to be acquainted with the "kyokushin shuffle" lol

Let us know how your first class goes.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you try to convince that kyokushin is tougher than MT or sanshou, which I don't think it is.

Also don't forget there will also be the katas and other karate typical stuff.
 
KBE6EKCTAH_CCP said:
It sounds like you try to convince that kyokushin is tougher than MT or sanshou, which I don't think it is.

Also don't forget there will also be the katas and other karate typical stuff.
Click to expand...

I wasn't trying to convince him of anything, I was merely trying to answer the threadstarters questions as best I could. Do we do pad work? yes, do we do bagwork? yes, do we spar? yes, and we do as such without gloves and I explained why we don't wear gloves... I'm sure he will draw his own conclusions.

As for yourself, sorry you misinterpreted my response.
 
Kyokushin, isn't that Japanese for 'Pain sadist'?
 
thirteen said:
Kyokushin, isn't that Japanese for 'Pain sadist'?
Click to expand...

I think it means "horse cock in asshole" which is pretty much how I felt when I took a trial Kyokushin class when I was 12. Was awesome but I like punching the face.
 
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