I don’t have the space to practice properly at home, and I spend a lot of time in public parks. I like to work on my flexibility, so a lot of kibadachi, leg stretches etc. Lately I’ve been trying to improve my kicks (they’re pathetic…).

The thing is I’m a little uncomfortable practicing martial arts in public. I’m not shy, I don’t really care in that respect, but there’s something at the back of my mind that tells me I shouldn’t practice my fighting skills in public. I don’t know.

Do you practice in public spaces like that? what do you think?

Have you ever lost a match or tournament? Because I just did yesterday, and I'm still pretty bummed out. I think I have a bad mindset when it comes to losing. Give me stories :D

kata has a lot of details to focus on, but there’s usually one small thing that makes everything come together. what’s a tiny hidden detail you consider the backbone of kata that beginners or even an experienced player often overlook or forget?

I want a traditional martial art to pair with MMA training.

MMA is mainly going to be about honing boxing and wrestling for shootfighting and wall wrestling.

I like the structure of traditional martial arts, the flexibility, and the grace along with the less aggressive culture I see from traditional martial arts that I see in more competitive western arts. I wanted to know if there is a traditional full contact karate style that focuses on:

1. lead limb heavy (emphasizing the lead leg and lead arm)

2. has the major japanese grappling family (judo, jujitsu, aikido I especially want to learn more about the kazushi).

3. can be trained one's entire life

4. Heavy emphasis on counter striking

I wanted to try a style that is essentially an eastern traditional jack of all trades karate style as opposed to training in like 5 different martial arts.

I've seen some posts praising him but any post related to his brand is full of overwhelmingly negative comments of his products and content.

I personally really like his videos and while I think some of the criticism in these discussions is valid, the message comes across super aggressively and it's mostly a nitpick really.

(Here's my Seishin rant as someone who's never purchased one of their products) I'm a pretty big sceptic, so I'm not gonna automatically assume a product is amazing if the creator is endorsing it, cuz no shit, but I feel like there is a lot of praise for the karategi everywhere but on this platform. I'm aware sponsored reviews exist but idk, I find it kinda hard to believe. Most of the negativity surrounding the brand comes from the stupidly high prices and general vanity that comes with purchasing one of their products like their Gi or Shoshin belt. I agree that the price is stupidly high for most of their items (like $50 for a cap, brother HELL no), but I feel like the negativity is super exaggerated like Jesse personally broke into their home and choked them with his $70 belt. For example, with the Shoshin belt (a white belt that slowly wears down into a black belt, for anyone wondering) the biggest piece of criticism is that "if you really wanna wear a white belt, wear a $5 white belt". Yeah that's true, but y'all are missing the point lol. The point of the belt is to have a physical reminder that you are embracing Shoshin, and as the color starts coming back, you feel your skills come back, in a way. It's just a physical reminder of your current mindset (I'd personally only use this when training alone); not an "ooh, look at me I'm super humble" thing. Would I pay $270 for it? Hell no, not in a million years, but there is the whole fact that it is essentially an indie company ran by a handful of people that very clearly care about the art and (imo) are doing the best they can to deliver a good product.

That's the whole capitalist rant out of the way, some other criticism I've seen is towards his content

Some criticism I've seen is that he's gimmicky and very produced. I think Jesse's goal isn't to meticulously break down everything in a street fight or self-defense or MMA scenario, just to spread around the culture and history of whichever art his video is about. You can tell he always agrees with his colleagues because his goal is to spread THEIR ideology. Like in his most recent Tai Chi video, I feel like most of us would be like "ok let's spar", go all out, most likely win, maybe not, idk, whatever, and then call it a day. But Jesse doesn't want to do that. Is there a bit of a moral dilemma in telling his viewers EVERY art works? Maybe, but I also feel like that's a HUGE grey area. Saying Tai Chi works for fighting is like saying Karate works for fighting; do some styles and schools practice sparring? Of course, but not all of them. So I feel like most of the time his content gives out the message "this is what the moves in this art mean if you're interested" and in some cases (like in this Tai Chi video) saying "this art COULD work, but you need to make sure to pressure test it".

In short, I think he's trying to teach people how each art works to get more people interested in different martial arts, always showing them in a good light. While I do wish he would be more confronting, that's not what he wants to do, and that's perfectly fine

Also I don't really get the over-produced thing, it looks normal, not like a MrBeast video. If they mean it looks too much like a documentary in some cases; what's wrong with that? That it looks too professional? It looks good and it says what it wants to say, that's completely fine in my book

I get why y'all would think I'm a glazer but I just really want a detailed explanation for all the negativity I've seen surrounding him. Taking all the pretty vague criticism I could find and trying to defend it right off the bat is a better approach IMO.

Also mods if you take this down cuz it's not related to Karate enough I will start Muay Thai

Recently I thought about the definition of "correct" in karate. In other sports mostly correct means the best movement to achieve the best possible reaction. Ball sports are easy to see in this, fighting styles also. But if we look at traditional karate training or traditional taekwondo things get weird.

Each style does things somewhat differently, hips, deeper stance, where to start the movement of a block etc. overall someone (usually your master) defines what is correct. There can even be subliminal differences in the same style, if they came from a different master or just changed it themselves because they didn't like it.

The best example can be tournament. A kata just looks different in training compared to a tournament.

Our fighting is not even the same sport when you look at the way we train.

So in your opinion what is correct?

Is there even a 'correct' way to throw a zuki?

Edit: I think we somehow and somewhere lost the true meaning of martial arts when we look at why Bodhidharma created a martial art system just as a tool to develop character, reach mindfulness and enlightenment.

I would say my favorite katas to do are gojushiho dai and nijushiho. So far, gojushiho sho i perform the best in.

Apologies for the rant. I've trained karate since I was a kid, and I never understood the point in having several hours of kata in tournaments and then only the last hour being kumite. This is a *martial art*, and a combat sport, so why put so much emphasis on what's supposed to be a training tool? You don't go to a boxing match and watch boxers shadow box for 6 hours and score them on how good their shadow boxing looked before actually getting to the match, and you don't see jiu-jitsu tournaments judge you on how good you can do solo drills on the floor, so why is karate so different?

Don't misunderstand and think I'm saying there's no value in kata. I do my kata daily. What I'm saying is that it's a training tool meant to build muscle memory and coordination for the real thing. Yet I go to several karate tournaments in my area every year, and every single one seems to forget that kumite is even part of the schedule (I was at one that went on for 13 hours before kumite started, no exaggeration). I simply feel that kata should be slightly less emphasized and not take up the entire day, leading to competitors being worn out before the most difficult part of the tournament

Just curious to hear folks' thoughts about their favorite kata.

What is your favorite kata and why?

Since there are so many, feel free to include of your favorite execution of that kata so that we can visualize it.

Oss!

I've seen so many people debate about the effectiveness of karate and some people just rank it F or D- for simply not understanding the changes unfortunately Karate went through when it transitioned into Japan.

I personally would rank karate Mid if someone was to take it for a year or two, those who have lived the life and practiced it for decades would be much more proficient and stronger than those who have practiced it for a couple of years. Karate isn't just a marital art but it's a way of life, and if you live by the lifestyle that it advises I'm sure you'll definitely be a strong fighter for sure.

That being said, I find it really tedious when people complain about karate, like for example they will complain about sport/Olympic style karate, like if you never faced an olympic level athlete, they have so much control with their punches and kicks, if they move an inch more or added more power they can knock people out. People really don't know or understand their effectiveness because it just looks like they're bouncing all the time. I do admit, that knockouts should be allowed as you are fighting but obviously the goal isn't to knockout your opponent.

Also people complain about kyokushin having no face punches, like if kyokushin practicioners started punching each other in the face it'll become a brutal mess lol. Not only that, but I'm sure if a kyokushin practicioner was going to fight someone where head punches were allowed, they can surely adjust to that rule. In the 70s 3 kyokushin masters fought 3 Thai boxers and 2 of them won, so it's not like kyokushin is knee capped because of the punches to the head thing. Also, punching the head isn't exactly sustainable over time, you'll develop CTE and other brain issues from the constant trauma to the head.

Anyways I just wanted to ask the community, do you think there needs to be change in karate? Is it the teaching that's the problem? What can make karate attractive rather than unattractive?

Setting down my thoughts on this topic since it’s a common discussion point on this sub.

What I mean by the title is that any and all Kata interpretations are just that, interpretations — even the ones being espoused by well-respected instructors like Higaonna Morio.

There’s no historical record, as far as I know, that anyone can point to that says, this Kata was created by so and so and here’s an exact breakdown of what each sequence means, that stands up to scholarly scrutiny. Even during Anko Itosu’s time, people were already bemoaning how practitioners were losing sight of the practical aspects of training.

If we had documentation, we could at least evaluate its effectiveness or lack thereof because there’s a definitive statement of what it’s meant to convey.

Instead, Kata in its current incarnation is a mirror. Practitioners see reflected in it what they already know. People with grappling backgrounds see clinching and throwing, while students who trained in the 3K era see blocks and punches.

In my opinion, this is fine and something to make peace with.

Kata has evolved along with the rest of Karate because the reality is, there’s just not much need for hand to hand combat in modern society. The old masters knew it, which is why Itosu and Funakoshi made such steps to transition Karate into a Do-methodology focused on self-improvement and fitness, in the same vein as Judo.

Kata today has a wonderful place as a starting exercise for beginners just learning how to move their body, moving meditation, cultural expression, and eventually, the last thing us practitioners will be able to do when we too get old and tired.

Any application can only ever use Kata as an inspiration, with the only metric being whether they can make it work live.

Edit: Except Ashihara. You guys are cool.

Which karate style is suited for older people to train?

Obviously there is no correct answer here, but I was curious what color system everyone uses for belts/grades from 10th kyu to 1st. Could be different for kids/adults too.

I actually don't even know what it's like. But I'mma find out soon enough. What's your story? Did it take you multiple tries?

For an art that's supposedly about being a better person and building character, there seem to be a lot of scummy people.

People faking credentials, exaggerating training times or relationships with Japanese/Okinawan teachers, and generally making up stories. I'm now also seeing a massive increase in people posting doctored AI photos, in some cases, they are even well-known Western practitioners.

There is a huge issue with theft as well. Karate ka seem to have almost zero understanding of copyright laws or intellectual property. I regularly see pirated karate DVDs and videos on YouTube and Facebook. I see people reposting photos and videos shared by others. I'm not talking about sharing using the Facebook share button; I mean actually downloading the other content and posting it as if it's your own.

A good example is the Miyagi and Miyazato training photos. These were given from the album of Miyagi's own grandson for use in a book about Miyazato, but some person decided to scan them out of the book and post it with zero credit or attribution as to the source and of course they are all over the place now.

The videos of Choshin Chibana were also generously shared by a person I know, and now you have all kinds of yahoos uploading them to their own channels and pages like they own it. Tsumami Productions (which made great karate DVDs) went out of business due to piracy. Now we will never get any new content from them.

People fail to realize every time you steal content, it makes others far less likely to share. I only share privately with my students and personal friends. I would never share anything of value or rare publicly anymore just for the jackals to take it, steal it and use it however they please.

What made you choose a specific karate style ? If you have trained different styles which are they ? Osu

For those of us who’ve studied different styles, or maybe incorporated other types of martial arts, how would you classify your style if you were to give someone a dossier on you?

I first trained under Seido Karate (Tadashi Nakamura) from 7 to 18. I grew up in Jamaica and was trained by Hanshi Errol Lyn. Eventually Hanshi broke away from Seido to start Jui Fushin Kai, incorporating more street self defence, and having an attitude of learning from others of all disciplines. I was more well rounded, and our competitive scene was against all styles across the island, so TKD, Kung fu, etc. you had to adapt in order to win.

I moved to Canada, and did some training in school, but very informally. Then life got in the way, I didn’t train again till I was 39 and started at a local school which is mainly shotokan, and some goju-ryu. They’re very encouraging of shaping your own “style” so long as it’s effective.

As Seido comes from Kyokushin, it’s a pretty hard nosed style for sparring, and Shotokan favours more point-style sparring. However, katas are very different. While they have many in common, they’re performed differently. I like to think of it as being an English speaker, but having to learn a new dialect.

So, over the last 3 years I’ve basically developed my own ways of doing things. I mainly spar like a Kyokushin/Seido practitioner with defensive counters, high kicks (despite my size), and quick back hands. I jokingly call it a tank-build with long range capabilities (I’m a nerd).

Kata, I actually prefer the shotokan versions of katas more, however, my timing and performance is that of a Seido practitioner. It’s very focused on timing and intensity. I want to take people along for a ride as I perform katas, and not just go through the motions. I did tons of competitions as a kid, so this is just my norm.

I don’t have the flexibility so high kicks are out either the exception of axe and hatchet kicks because those are mainly hips. My speed isn’t the same, but my response is way better. Being almost 100lbs heavier, I can take hits way better, but I actually don’t get hit a lot because I can now read movements. I used to bench 225 lbs then, now I’m benching almost 400, so obviously power is a thing now.

My current Kyoshi doesn’t want me to change my form to match theirs because he appreciates I have muscle memory in one way doing certain techniques.

My old Hanshi said to completely immerse myself in this art and not worry about what he taught. I still practice both on my own time 😅.

So I’m curious, what styles do you do, and how do you think they influence your training?

I've been watching videos about him and thinking about reading his book. Supposably he kicked Funakoshi ass a couple of times and they obviously didn't get along.

I also heard that he didn't like katas as a method of teaching and was a kumite and fight in the street to learn kind of guy.

I feel like he wasn't respected because he couldn't speak without the Okinawan accent. What do you guys know about him?

hey everybody! i’ve been a part of this subreddit for a while in my personal original account. i’ve come here today to tell my story about working at a kyokushin dojo. i made a new user to tell my story since i don’t want this traced back to me in any sort of way since i’m not looking for any kind of trouble. i’m just looking to tell my story and my personal experience.

i (22F) worked at a kyokushin dojo. i won’t mention which one or which organization i was in. but to give you some context, it’s a really big kyokushin school with more than 100 students. my boss (i refuse to call him sensei because he never taught me anything) lives in another country. so he left his high ranked students in charge. they would organize themselves for the week since there are around 8-9 groups of students.

i started back in 2021. when i first came to the dojo i instantly fell in love with it and the art of kyokushin karate. the teachers were great! a few years later and all of us are very close friends. but in total they were six teachers.

late 2022 came and i would come to the dojo early to help out during the classes because i loved being in that environment with my friend. before i started coming to assist during class i became friends with another student (and he’s now my boyfriend we’ll call him peter) who ended up getting hired before me. so in total there were seven in the staff (excluding me since i was underage and not officially hired.)

anyways, 2023 came and i was officially hired. i won’t lie, it was very fun being around my friends and helping throughout class. during this time i held an intermediate belt since in this academy they would skip students who showed good effort and work during class. but throughout all of this, whenever my boss came to our country to “supervise” the operation i would constantly witness him treating my friends/co-workers bad. example: humiliating the highest ranked belt student (who was shodan at the time and we’ll call sensei jim for story telling purposes) during class because some students were not performing certain techniques or kata the way my boss demanded. so he would tell sensei jim that he was a terrible teacher and a terrible karateca in front of everyone.

he would also do this thing where he would evaluate our technique or kata and if it wasn’t up to his standard he would lower our salary, something that is illegal in our country. oh and btw throughout all of this we were all hired without work contracts (something highly illegal.)

in 2024, sensei jim decided he had enough and he left the dojo. then after sensei jim we were left with the next high rank belt student which we’ll call supervisor walter. supervisor walter was around 19-20. and as you’d expect, he was extremely immature. sometimes he would tell my friends to cover his class while he went to the bathroom to play games on his phone or talk to his friends. now, supervisor walter constantly participates in kumite whenever there’s a tournament. so there was a need within him to prove to all of us in the staff and students that he was the best fighter the dojo had. and i won’t lie, he is a good fighter. but he’s the typical teacher that won’t teach you anything good unless you’re a pretty girl and he’s interested in you.

there were many incidents around this workplace its too much for me to resume in this post. but i’ll get to the end now. this brings me to sensei gray and sensei james. sensei gray is father to sensei james. sensei gray had been my boss’ friends since childhood and he was also in charge of running errands for him, administration and giving class. this year they were fed uo and decided to quit and leave the dojo.

my boss went ape shit when he saw sensei jim, sensei gray, sensei james and another one of my friend who we’ll call sensei ron opened their own kyokushin dojo with another organization. he even called us all to a meeting to give us an opportunity to talk shit about them and validate his feelings. all my boyfriend and i said was, “well they’re our friends and we hope they find great success.” something to which my boss didn’t reply anything to.

i decided at this point i wanted to leave the dojo at the end of the year. but because my friends opened up their own dojo and my boss was intimidated by this he said we would all sign work contracts. i refused to sign this contract and said that i would keep doing my work but i would not sign this contract. he called me trying to convince me to sign this contract and said i couldn’t work in his dojo without a contract so i put in my resignation notice and said this [august] would be my last month working there.

after putting my notice he called me the next day. for context i did my shodan belt test on may (after sensei gray and sensei james quit) the belts and certificates had already arrived. my boss called me and told me because i would continue as a student (i mentioned in my resignation notice i wouldn’t teach anymore but i would be a student, which was a lie since i had all the intentions to switch to the other dojo) that i would have to wait two more years for the belt and repeat the exam since they gave me the opportunity to do it sooner because i was a member of this staff. this was extremely weird to me, i knew he did it to get under my skin but i didn’t care.

i just replied “oh yeah of course i understand. i’ve been studying kyokushin only five years and i understand it’s seven to get your belt, so it makes sense why i would have to wait two more years.”

anyways, at the start of the following week he called us all into a meeting where he forced me to sign a resignation letter. as soon as i signed it he dropped his mask and started insulting me, my friends and talking shit about all of us. he even said, “you’re lucky i’m not there in person because if i was that would be another story.”

i was fed up, i stood up and grabbed the phone where we were all having a meeting and said, “alright, thank you for the opportunity i really appreciate but i’m not going to sit around and listen to these words anymore.” then his mom (because she also works administration) tried to snatch my phone away and i left. i had enough.

my boyfriend also quit at the end of that month and btw my boss did not pay him what he was owed because my boyfriend stayed and he did work until the end of the month. we both switched dojos, found other jobs and we are so much happier than we ever were in that place.

that is my story. now, i would like to talk about the state of that place.

that academy apart from teaching kyokushin karate also hired instructors to teach jiu-jitsu and boxing/kickboxing. the partner of the jiu-jitsu instructor said that she also wanted to learn karate. but i’ll be honest. whenever someone told my boss “i want to learn karate” all he understood and heard was “i want to work in karate.” so what did he do? he gave her a blue belt in kyokushin karate just because she was a blue belt in jiu-jitsu.

another one of the girls in jiu-jitsu (we’ll call her amy) also said she wanted to learn karate. she started in white but because she learned katas from taikyoku sono ichi to pinan sono ni she was given a blue belt again.

after we left, they had a seminar with a shihan who i won’t mention. this shihan and my boss gave these girl a green belt. which in our organization means you’re only 3-4 belts away from a shodan belt. these girls did a whole kyokushin trajectory that would normally take a person 5-6 years in less than a year. many students were mad about this.

he also hired a black belt from shito ryu and said he would give him a black belt in kyokushin karate because “shito ryu and karate are the same thing.” when he was literally talking shit a few months ago about another shinkyokushin teacher that did shito ryu and when he did an equivalence exam he wasn’t even able to reach brown belt.

they also started giving MMA classes with an MMA instructor, i won’t lie he is a pretty good teacher and a great MMA fighter. but they did the same thing where they gave him a blue belt. it’s pretty sad, he has a baby girl on the way and i know my ex-boss did this as a way to take advantage of the fact that he needs something stable for his family.

now i come to you, kyokushin redditors to ask all of you what do you think about this? i’m open to reading all your comments, opinions and/or answering any questions.

Saw some comments talking about a belt being cheap regarding a post about a damaged belts and that got me wondering what’s the expensive and the cheap belt ? I imagine is different from place to place though . Where I live a belt not black of course is 5 euros

Hi, im a Nidan Black Belt in Shotokan Karate and trained a lot of different things. Full Contact Kumite first and the Olympic Kumite, Kata, i trained my core a lot and i still do, i do also some ground work and drills for self defense a lot and i think i have a pretty good preparation in many of the sides that combat sports have. On tiktok, Instagram, X, and in my everyday life, i hear people say that shotokan is "useless", that it doesnt teach self defense, that it is more like a ballet than a martial art and that it is the most horrendous and weak martial art ever. These people also say that MMA, boxing and Muay Thai are the best martial arts because they have stronger techniques and dont need things such as katas. My question is: why? Why do people have to believe a martial art is better than any other and the others are useless? Why are there still this stupid arguments? Why do people have no respect, which is something that martial arts should teach you? I feel like these people only like beating people's asses because they've so little self confidence they try to search it in violence. Martial Arts are not Violence. They are Spirituality and Self Control, and they use violent techniques to teach those. I have never heard MMA practitioners or Muay Thai practitioners talk about "spirit" and i think its clear why. I have a huge respect for all martial arts, but i hate the superb practitioners that make Beautiful martial arts arrogant and not worthy. Another Question: Why is Shotokan so hated, related to Kyokushin? They are both originally Full contact arts, so why is Shotokan so underrated and kept aside???

I constantly go through waves of burn out from karate. I love karate and I’m very passionate about it, but I hate it at the same time. It can be so frustrating to enjoy it like it did in the earlier days when I first started. But now that I’m testing for my green belt soon all of the classes lately have been so stressful and not enjoyable. Just curious on everyone’s opinion on it in the long run.

I've trained in karate on and off for years and I'm now in a club I absolutely love.

My daughter turns five soon and I'd really like to get her started, but I'm wondering if five is too young?

I'm also a bit worried she'll cling to me during lessons. Would it be better to sit and watch for the first few classes or join in myself?

Karate is a big part of my life at the moment and I train four times a week. I'd absolutely love for her to enjoy it too, but I don't want to put any pressure on her. And i wouldn't expect her to train 4 times a week either.

I'd like to hear how other parents introduced their little ones to karate? and what worked best for you?