My first experience doing Kyokushin was during Fighter's Class. I didn't even have a gi but was given the OK by Senpai Seiji to give it a go. Fighter's Class involved a lot of bag work, conditioning and sparring. I don't remember doing any sparring, but I definitely did all the bag work and conditioning.
I was impressed how nobody looked tired.
I was impressed how nobody complained.
Rotation after rotation, everyone just yelled Osu and did their combinations. I remember at the end we were doing conditioning with partners. I was partnered up with an orange belt. He was an older guy that still comes into the dojo once in awhile (he's still an orange belt!) and we were told to do two punches to the chest 1-2, and then two shita tsukis to the gut 3-4... bare knuckle. He barely hit me cause this was my first day but I thought what the hell, I'm going to hit this guy.
He kept telling me, "hit me harder!" I was thinking... is this guy for real? So I really gave it to him, maybe 80-90%, and he just smiled and looked like it was the best feeling. I seriously thought he was into S&M.
Anyways, I was hooked.
