Osu, I want to know from Karate people specifically how they've used the other Karate hand techniques in combat.

I myself am finding decent use of Teisho in Kyokushin Kumite and wish to find uses for other hand techniques.

I usually love watching this guy’s bunkai, he’s an absolute machine and his decades of experience shows, however this kick looks more like a kimazi mawashi geri, I went to the comments to see if anyone else thought this and there are numerous comments pointing this out, the channel that posted it are being very defensive about it in the comments and I even saw one comment insulting someone and calling them a “failed amateur” in response to them saying it looks like a failed mawashi geri

Some recommendations for making formal ippon kumite (one-step sparring drills) more practical.

At risk of starting a firestorm in the comments, I have put together a critique of the issues inherent in most formalized "# step sparring" (ippon/sanbon/gohon kumite) and "promise sparring" (yakusoku kumite) drills in karate.

Hello there. I am looking for the name of the distinctive circular two-handed block in Nijushiho. It is used e.g. in the fifth movement of the kata, the first time you turn around after the opening sequence, right before Awase Zuki.
Thank you for your help!

I'd be curious to know what name is used for the short, relaxed stance used in kumite. I rarely see it given a Japanese name. Certainly at my old school, we would have zenkutsudachi, kibadachi etc, but the fighting stance was just called "freestyle" in English or "kamae" which is a more general term rather than a stance name.

Do you use a specific name for your fighting stance? Does your teacher say "everybody get in ----dachi?"

https://youtu.be/d7ptB2C1344?si=q_1DBX-sdYCOtbPY

This is the only video I could find of our master, Masami Tsuruoka showing people to twist the arm first before blocking or preparing for a move for more speed. At 3:20, he shows someone to twist their arm before completing the high block. At our club, we usually twist the hand at the end of the high block like a punch. Which way is the strongest? Our club is part of the Tsuruoka Karate Organization, but we call it Shotokan so people can drop in and do Shotokan katas. I can definitely feel a difference in speed with the way he's doing it. Unfortunately, he died before I developed an interest in body mechanics and bunkai.

How to disguise a planted back kick.

Too many videos online teach people how to do a back kick and start the video with: turning away from their opponent to plant the front leg... Enjoy getting kicked in the head if you ever try this in the ring.

It does my head in to see all these skinny teenagers trying to get famous online by teaching people how to turn their back in a fight.

If you really have to use a "planted" back kick then at least attempt to disguise it when you are setting up.

Here is a simple and easy to replicate way to cover the fact that you have turned your back in an attempt to throw a back kick.

Are calf kicks are thrown like a front snap kick

This will be based on my comments on another post, and probably a very controversial topic. The topic of low stances has been one of my most heated subject in karate and a hill I would die on. I hope I can slowly make people consider this point a tiny bit more, little by little. And as usual, a rather long post.

Low stances are the norm in karate now. I'm not just aiming this at JKA Shotokan low stances, but also other styles in general. Coming from a Shito-ryu and Matayoshi Kobudo background, I was taught relatively higher stances. I say relatively because even those I would consider still being too low most of the time, which have honestly gotten me into trouble with my teachers and other members.

I simply see no point in training low stances as the norm, especially a long zenkutsu-dachi. It is a weak stance that will topple easily compared to a shorter stance, very inefficient in strengthening the legs, and a poor posture to fight in.

As far as endurance and willpower goes, roadwork is the answer. Muhammad Ali ran almost 10 km everyday, and he was definitely not unique. I even have multiple non-martial artist friends of various ages who do 5 km or more every other day. Some of the hardcore runners would even do a half-marathon every week! Those will build as much endurance and willpower as standing in a horse stance for an hour, and more leg strength and mobility too. A decently fit person should be able to do at least 2.5 km in 15 minutes including warmups without a fuss. And unless you live in a very rough neighbourhood, this is something most people can do very easily without any equipment. Otherwise, switch it up with jump ropes and you would be golden too.

Some people would argue that no karateka actually fight with the low stances, that they're just for training. But if no karateka actually tries to fight in these low stances, why bother at all? You should train the way you fight, or at the very least in a way that you wouldn't have to unlearn if you're a beginner. Didn't Miyamoto Musashi, admittedly not a karateka, say something along the lines of "your natural stance should be your fighting stance, and your fighting stance should be your natural stance?"

A long stance will in fact just be giving your opponent a very tasty leg to chop. It's also really slow (try compare walking naturally and in a long stance), and telegraphing (movements are bigger). Plus, the time most people spend on learning "proper" stances would be better off actually learning useful techniques anyway.

If the argument is that it's to drop your centre of gravity, then you wouldn't want to start from a low stance either. Dropping your centre of gravity has a lot of good applications, but the bigger the drop, the better it is. Hence, starting from a higher stance and dropping produces a more explosive throw in judo/jujutsu. Look at how judoka train tai-otoshi or seoi-otoshi, they all start from a very upright stance and only go low when they need to. And as another counterpoint, muay thai fighters do a whole bunch of trips, throws, and upper-body grappling from a very high and narrow stance, not even adding the fact that the average muay thai fighter somehow still can kick (and punch) harder than your average karateka!

Plus, it's not even traditional, as not a single okinawan style or master are seen with a low stance. Not even Gichin Funakoshi, and sure as hell not Miyagi, Motobu, Chibana, Nagamine, Mabuni, Uechi, Hanashiro, or Shimabuku who we all have photos of in stances. And apart from Funakoshi's students, none of their students, even the young ones, were in low stances, or at least as low as we do it now. So it's not a matter of physicality either.

Doing deep stances doesn't physically harm you, unless you ruin your knees with bad mechanics, but it doesn't do any good for your martial arts either. It only teaches you to be immobile and work from a very inefficient posture, whereas in a fight you need to be as mobile and as efficient as possible. The only two reason to go in a long and low stance is to get strong legs, which I have pointed out that 15 minutes of dedicated leg training will do you heaps better, and to look good, which is a very useless reason to do anything in martial arts.

Honestly, if you want stronger legs, doing squats or lunges or the aforementioned roadwork will do you far better in far less time. You don't see track and field athletes holding low stances in their training, they do actual exercises. If you want aesthetics, do dance. The amount of body control and smoothness in the movements that dancers can do is just astounding. Most seasoned martial artists pale in comparison to amateur dancers in this regard.

Now there are some exceptions of course, a low shiko-dachi has a very different functionality from a high shiko-dachi, but there is no reason for a neko-ashi should be low for example. Short and high stances should be the norm in karate, with long and low stances being sprinkled in once in awhile as a bonus challenge, similar to doing kata on the opposite direction. Our stances should be functional and natural, the same way we would want to stand in a fight.

Hey everyone 👋
I built a free Kyokushin belt requirements app for players and wanted to share it.

What’s included:

• Full Kyokushin belt requirements (KWF-based)
• Instructional images (kihon)
• Step-by-step kata videos
• Simple, fast, offline-friendly layout

No ads • No sign-up • No data collection

I’d love your feedback:

• What features would you like in a syllabus app?

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/kyokushin-belts-requirements/id6757227128
Android: Closed testing (details in comments)

OSU 🥋

Hi. We had a small event at the dojo today. Our sensei finally got contact with a board supplier and got us who were owed tameshiwari the chance to break them together. These were quite thick though. About 1.3 inches. I went first and thought I would easily get the board with a good teisho hit, but it didnt budge. Tried 2 more times until I injured my hand and got a thinner board to work with. The thinner board I snapped it in an instant. It felt weird. Like it was such a big jump from the thin to the thick board, even though the thinner one was only about .8 inches, not even that far away from the big one. I also then saw this one girl try mawashi empi and snap the thick one in half. I did feel kinda bad. What should to sharpen up? I do have to add I did have a pretty bad wrist injury before the tameshiwari, and maybe that had an effect. Should I try putting even more hip into it? Maybe getting stronger? Am I looking into this too much?

from my understanding kage zuki is a hook punch to the body while mawashi zuki is an overhand style punch to the head. is this correct? can Kage Zuki be aimed for Jodan or only Chudan?

Hey everyone, long time lurker first time poster. I was wondering if anyone had pointers on how to be faster overall with punch and kicks? I’m a middle aged guy, started karate a little over a year ago and I continue to get the critique that I’m too slow, especially during sparring sessions. Does anyone have any recommendations to improve this? I go to the gym 4-5 times a week and am more than willing to change up my training to something that will improve this issue. Obviously this is worth a google but I get results that I feel are too generalized and would like to hear the opinions of fellow karateka. I appreciate any and all advice!

Traditional Karate Stage with Sauro Somigli in Florence (Italy) at the Accademia Karate Shotokan dojo.

Last night we (Wado Ryu dojo) were focussing on footwork and our sensei was struggling to remember some names. We trained ayumi ashi - step, cori ashi - lift front foot and push off back, and tsugi ashi - bring back foot up then step with front.

Where we started to lose names was side step, back step, step outer and step inner. Can anyone help with these?

I am looking for a karate book that is the core of a martial art, and talk about the philosophy and techniques that extend to all aspects of life I specifically am looking for a karate book like this one that would be of Ryu and Ken of Street fighter I have a few examples of other martial arts If you listen to it over & over it wil change your life Hope you appreciate it and share

Kenjutsu and broad martial arts The book of five rings

Jet kune do, kung fu by bruce lee The dao of jeet kune do

Aikido, if you are into this, great book The way of peace

I'm a bit confused as to why bouncing is a thing especially for big guys like.me who can get tired quite easily during it. What's the purpose for it and if it's beneficial then how do I improve on it? Thank you