Which is more realistic? Shotokan or Kyokushin?

Shotokan is COMPLETE garbage!!!!


Kyokushin+boxing= a solid combo!
 
Kyokushin is more practical, in my opinion. I'm biased, however, because I'm a blue belt in kk and did that for over a year. Sparring is a lot more intense, because you are expected to go all out..knees and elbows included. Kicks to the face is standard, getting your legs ruined by defending or throwing low kicks is par for the course. Punches to the face occurs with gloves on if the class is mixed with kickboxing and oftentimes I've felt that is the best alternative. Classic kyokushin is awesome, but a hybridization of kyokushin and kickboxing or kyokushin and muay thai, since all 3 are veryy similar, is best to maximize success.
 
Shotokan is COMPLETE garbage!!!!


Kyokushin+boxing= a solid combo!

Amen. There is no free sparring before brown/black belt. Just that alone should disqualifiy Shotokan. Not to mention that it's completely unrealistic, light contact sparring once you do start sparring (after like 5-10 years!).

Shotokan = Yoga

Kyokushin = Fighter.
 
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There are many people that teach Shotokan that have no business teaching it. I currently train SKA Shotokan under Sensei Oshima. I received my shodan from JKA Sensei Nishiyama. Both of them trained with Funakoshi.

It is completely untrue that no sparring happens before brown/black belt.

Kyokushin punishes your body to develop your fighting spirit. It is almost sadistic in nature. SKA develops your fighting spirit more intelligently. They push you to your breaking point doing thousands of kicks, basic moves, kibadachi, ect.. that build up your body and not destroy it. A common phrase is that your karate training starts the moment you think you can not do one more technique.

Kyokushin has no punches to the face. That WILL make you develop some very bad habits.
 
There are many people that teach Shotokan that have no business teaching it. I currently train SKA Shotokan under Sensei Oshima. I received my shodan from JKA Sensei Nishiyama. Both of them trained with Funakoshi.

It is completely untrue that no sparring happens before brown/black belt.

Kyokushin punishes your body to develop your fighting spirit. It is almost sadistic in nature. SKA develops your fighting spirit more intelligently. They push you to your breaking point doing thousands of kicks, basic moves, kibadachi, ect.. that build up your body and not destroy it. A common phrase is that your karate training starts the moment you think you can not do one more technique.

Kyokushin has no punches to the face. That WILL make you develop some very bad habits.

Free style sparring is introduced for brown belts:
http://shotokankarateonline.com/linden-huckle/is-your-shotokan-karate-dojo-syllabus-similar-to-this/
 
Kyokushin has no punches to the face. That WILL make you develop some very bad habits.
Not exactly true. Kyokushin does "have punches to the face" -- they're just not allowed in the sparring/competition rules.

So, Kyokushinkai does teach defense against head punches, and attacking the head yourself, it's just not done in sparring.

Are bad habits still created because of the sparring without punches to the face? Yes. But I still think it's worth mentioning the style hasn't completely forgotten that punches to the head exist.

Despite the non-existent head movement and crappy punch defense of most Kyokushinkai karateka, the style teaches you to fight. It stresses persisting, never giving up, enduring, and returning fire yourself. Most of the karateka who continue practicing Kyokushin are tough. That's a quality that's hard to find in a lot of other places. I'd put money on an average Kyokushin guy over the average Krav Maga/Wado ryu/Shotokan/JJJ practicioner any day, simply because of the spirit and toughness that's the foundation of the style.

Not an attack on your style of Shotokan - I have no idea how you guys train. When I say Shotokan, I'm talking about the guys I've seen.
 
Learn how to get naked really fast and you'll avoid a lot of fights.
 
My father is a 6th dan Shihan in Skotokan, chief instructor, and even he admits that his students can't fight. It takes too long compared to the Kyokushin curriculum.

Shotokan does have the most bad-ass katas though.
 
Learn how to get naked really fast and you'll avoid a lot of fights.
No true. If you're in bed with someone else's missus, you're automatically naked, and said fellow walking in will still want to fight.
 
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I'd put money on an average Kyokushin guy over the average Krav Maga/Wado ryu/Shotokan/JJJ practicioner any day, simply because of the spirit and toughness that's the foundation of the style.
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There are legit Shotokan guys who have beaten up legit Kyokushin guys in hard sparring, to make that clear.... And of course vice versa.
 
No true. If you're in bed with someone else's missus, you're automatically naked, and said fellow walking in will still want to fight.

Be ready to be trapped in the closet.
 
Be ready to be trapped in the closet.
Thats a good defense.
When you come out, you're romo, so there'd be no suspicion you were smashing the said missus.

That's pretty crafty phys
 
in kickboxing, kyokushin guys reign supreme. I dont think there is awhole lot to the punching defense with those big gloves on. In mma I think its a toss up.
 
I dont think there is awhole lot to the punching defense with those big gloves on
Then you would be mistaken. There is, in fact, a whole lot to the punching defense even with big gloves. It's a common misconception that you can just turtle up and be safe, no skill involved. Not the case.
 
Then you would be mistaken. There is, in fact, a whole lot to the punching defense even with big gloves. It's a common misconception that you can just turtle up and be safe, no skill involved. Not the case.
I didnt say there was no skill involved or that you could just turtle up. I'm speaking in comparison to boxing. Thats why kyokushin guys could without alot of cross training, come in and do very well despite as you say having non existant head movement and crappy punch defense. Francisco Filho and Peter Smit are good examples of this.
 
kyokushin footwork does not consist of "standing still"
my trainer taught me that if i'm not pivoting and moving after every combination I was doing something wrong.
 
Kyokushin punishes your body to develop your fighting spirit. It is almost sadistic in nature. SKA develops your fighting spirit more intelligently. They push you to your breaking point doing thousands of kicks, basic moves, kibadachi, ect.. that build up your body and not destroy it. A common phrase is that your karate training starts the moment you think you can not do one more technique.

Kyokushin has no punches to the face. That WILL make you develop some very bad habits.

I've trained several years of Shotokan both within the JKA and the WKF and then several years of Kyokushin. I can tell you that Kyokushin makes you a better fighter and in a shorter amount time than any Shotokan dojo as there is much more emphasis on body conditioning, toughness and full contact sparring. If I took 10 random Kyokushin black belts and 10 random Shotokan black belts to fight each other, my money would definitely be on the Kyokushin guys to win most of the fights.

Kyokushin does have punches to the face, both in its curriculum and also some of its competition formats. It's the Knockdown format of competition which is fought bare knuckle without head punches.

The advantage of Knockdown fighting is that it's full contact and you can train it for the rest of your life without having to worry too much about brain damage. Any fight sport where you regularly spar with head punches at 50% contact force or more will eventually lead to some kind of brain damage (boxing, mma, etc.).
 
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