how to become a world class fighter???

[ronin]

OSU.
brothers, we all watch various fighters in action at various international & world t'ments. we respect them, admire them, aspire to become like them. but what i want to know is that how do these fighters become so much skilled, so powerful, so fast, so accurate, so confident etc. in short, i would be glad to know the training methods (atleast some part, if not completely) of various world class fighters from both Kyokushinkai & non-Kyokushinkai organizations. things like -
1. what exercises & drills do they do, how many repetations, which all variations, how many sets, how much rest in between, etc to physically prepare themselves.
2. what all drills do they do to make the punches & kicks stronger, faster, more accurate. which all variations, how many reps, how many sets, how much rest in between, etc?
3. what are the body conditioning methods they follow to withstand the most brutal & painful punches & kicks in the world. what drills for which part of the body, how many reps, how many sets, how much rest in between, what methods to heal any injuries & recover from pain, etc?
4. mental preparation - how do these guys prepare themselves mentally? i mean what keeps them motivated to keep on going in such gruelling training methods & prepare themselves to face most conditioned, most skilled fighters of the world?
i am asking these things because, i have always being facinated by the skill level shown by these guys but dont know how they achieved it. i dont expect to know the complete training methods of these legendary fighters, but if i get to know even some part of it, atleast i can start preparing myself as per the standards of world class fighters. i know i can expect great amount of help here cause this is the only place where i can expect such help. so please do help, cause this help will be useful to everyone everywhere. thank you. OSU.

[effectz]

id say your best bet is to look in the training section of this forum, as well as speaking with your sensei or shihan. i can definately tell you that tournament preparation is like a a job, dedication of 5+ hours a day of training seems to be the bare minimum.

[sokaiya]

I have a question. Do Kyokushin fighters make money off tournaments? If so which tournaments?

[smoothsake]

I would guess Kyokushin sanctioned tournaments are all amateur competitions and do not award any purses. This would be consistent with all martial arts competitions I have competed in.

[effectz]

i believe the that its supposed to be non profit

[schuyler]

In Japan and in other systems in the U.S., fighters are sponsered by both their gyms and outside companies. I've seen some videos about professional Kyokushin fighters that train all day, then teach classes at night to foot the bill.

[vapor]

Most of the instructors in our dojo(s) are full time employees there.
They participate in the major tourneys in Japan.
(several of them are well known, ranking in the top 3 each each tourney)

So, their lives are committed to kyokushin, 100%.

vapor

[kakatootoshi]

Of course if you want to be the world champion I suppose you gonna spend around one-third of your day training (filho trained around 9 hrs each day in 1995).
But I have also read from somewhere that many guys in the brazilian team (they do fight in big tournaments) do not train full-time, so I gather that everyone can still be good as long as you as he or she is willing to train hard.
I think to excel in tournaments you must have basic if not good knowledge in sports science, know how to bring your physical and mental condition to the max before a tournament (seems like i am talking trash). Kyokushin is more than tournament fighting but if fighting is your main goal then you have to deal with it with specific ways and focus your training on it. If you have just 5 minutes then you can just do some squats and push-ups. It is kind of make-shift but smalls things will add up to big success if you have faith.

OSU!

[Shokei Marcsui]

Most of the instructors in our dojo(s) are full time employees there.
They participate in the major tourneys in Japan.
(several of them are well known, ranking in the top 3 each each tourney)

So, their lives are committed to kyokushin, 100%.

vapor

That's a small commitment to make when someone loves kyokushin 110%

[kyofighter]

It takes many years to become a world class fighter. First you should try to be the best fighter in your dojo, then go to as many tournaments you can and fight , in the beggining the results are not very important. It is experience what you need to accumulate.After a few years if you train properly the results will show. I have friends in IKO1 who achieved world tournament results only after about ten years of competing - first they achieved many national titles , then european titles and then you have the right to go to the world tournament.
Osu

[effectz]

as my sensei says, only a small percentage of kyokushin karate-ka become world class tournament fighters. thats why we always see the same faces.

[sokaiya]

Wow, there should be atleast a purse for the World Tournament. These guys dedicate their lives to Kyokushin. There should be more reward to their merits than honor and glory.

[Boaretto]

as my sensei says, only a small percentage of kyokushin karate-ka become world class tournament fighters. thats why we always see the same faces.


Yes, a good answer ! See, in all organisations here in Brasil, just one, of Shihan Isobe, has some fighters living only of Karate (Uchi deshi and auxiliar instructor). And a small number. They receive a payment of Nambei Hombu, so, they just study and pratice Kyokushin.
In the other organisation, of Shihan Nagata (Matsushima Group), they have a Uchi deshi but they need work and study, after, pratice Kyokushin.

So, that's why we always see the same faces.

[Sensei Mark]

One of the requirments of the Kyokushin system is that money does not exchange hands with regards to a purse of sorts.

No doubt money has been offered and accepted in terms of a fighter or fighters teams competing at specific events in terms of their expenses.

This is one of the reasons as to why Sensei's, Thompson, Hug, Fihlio, Pettas, Greco & others went to Seidokan as Sosai Oyama would not allow a fighter to compete in professional events like the K-1 for example and still be part of the Kyokushinkaikan.

[Boaretto]

This is one of the reasons as to why Sensei's, Thompson, Hug, Fihlio, Pettas, Greco & others went to Seidokan as Sosai Oyama would not allow a fighter to compete in professional events like the K-1 for example and still be part of the Kyokushinkaikan.


Sorry, but, Shihan Filho didn't went to Seidokaikan. He is still in Kyokushin, is a Chief of South America and Brazil.
There is an accord of the Kyokushin (Matsui Group) with Seidokaikan to participate of Kyokushin Fighters.

[BigAl]

It takes many years to become a world class fighter. First you should try to be the best fighter in your dojo, then go to as many tournaments you can and fight , in the beggining the results are not very important. It is experience what you need to accumulate.After a few years if you train properly the results will show. I have friends in IKO1 who achieved world tournament results only after about ten years of competing - first they achieved many national titles , then european titles and then you have the right to go to the world tournament.
Osu

Best advice yet, especially because of who it's coming from.

[nzproud]

ichigeki in kyokushin is getting big nowadays. Does this mean that it's getting easier for kyokushin fighters to participate in K-1 in the future? Osu!

[Billy no mates]

Wow, there should be atleast a purse for the World Tournament. These guys dedicate their lives to Kyokushin. There should be more reward to their merits than honor and glory.

I must say i disagree quite strongly,we should avoid any proffsionalism
and all that it brings,if people want to fight for money then fine but not within
Kyokushin,training and fighting should bring its own rewards of development
both as a person and Karateka if a fighter wants more than that then
perhaps they should try something else .

[Sensei Mark]

Sorry, but, Shihan Filho didn't went to Seidokaikan. He is still in Kyokushin.

Osu, Sorry, i stand corrected!

私は訂正される

[spanky11]

I must say i disagree quite strongly,we should avoid any proffsionalism
and all that it brings,if people want to fight for money then fine but not within
Kyokushin,training and fighting should bring its own rewards of development
both as a person and Karateka if a fighter wants more than that then
perhaps they should try something else .

I think I disagree on this.

The level at national and international tournaments is so high these days, that competitors almost need to devote 8 hours a day in this pursuit. Therefore they can't really hold down a demanding job at the same time.

I remember speaking to Sensei Michael Thompson about this a few years ago and he mentioned himself that highlevel KK fighters should be paid. He said he trained 8+ hours a day for 10 years, and had nothing to show for it at the end, other than some trophies and some memories...

[Billy no mates]

Thats all quite true spanky i appreciate the effort top fighters have to put in but no one said it was going to easy,if we add money to the equation will the Budo ethic we cherish survive the temptations that money will inevitably bring performance enhancing drugs,gamemanship et al ? .

[sokaiya]

You appreciate the effort they put in? Well I do too and that's why I think they should be offered a Prize and be rewarded at the World Tourney. Of course it's not easy but give me a break. What do these guys get in the end? Maybe you can run a dojo somewhere. Or maybe you can make some DVD's and some hopeful karate trainees like us will buy them. Hah. It's not a grand life but neither is this once every 4-year grand prize. Every fighter still needs to go through a dojo and still needs to be trained by a higher power. If they lack the qualities of Kyokushin Karateka and are allowed to compete in the tournament then who's fault is that?

OTH, The Problem I see is Kyokushin becoming even more of a Sport Karate or looked at as a Sport Karate even more than it has already become. Maybe leading to MORE splinters. Sosai Oyama, before his death, did not like the idea of Prize-Fighting or Sport Karate, did he?

But is it the fault of the instruction of the dojo's for the reason why Kyokushin has moved more toward Sport Karate?

[Billy no mates]

How much money would constitute a suitable reward in your eyes?,where would such money come from? .
You obviously feel strongly about a number of issues and i respect that but your stance seems self contradictory you bemoan the rise of sport karate(rightly in my opinion)but yet advocate something which seems likely to encourage it ie money .

[sokaiya]

I'm just looking at both sides of the coin.

[ichigeki31]

i dont think that even the world champion should get a prize ,for example if i fight in a tournament it is for me to show the people that i am the strongest fighter out there,i dont just train because i want to get a prize you either train to be the best or just train for nothin ,dont exect something in return osu!!!!!!!(this is my opinion im and i dont mean to offend any one's opinion thnx)osu!!!!

[kevin KBS]

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[Bloke]

As far As I can recall there have been prizes given at some tournaments. The Diamond Challenge in Belgium offers a 5000 euro diamond to the grand champion. Any one I spoke said they were entering anyway so at least in that instance money wasnt a factor.

[blackdog]

OSU

Shihan Taylor says (and my quote may be paraphrased here) ' A Shodan is just a white belt who kept turning up to training'

So i guess Kevin is spot on , to become a world class fighter, training training training

They all look to be incredible athletes from the vids i have seen, I can't wait to get to the World Cup in Sydney

(2 more sleeps) :)

Bren

[Sensei Mark]

A Shodan is a White Belt who never gave up on their efforts to improve!

[&Re]

Well my opinion is... To wish it, and to go forward to the top of your mountain. Than every fighter will succeed, but there are very few of them.

[amokbel]

OSU Ronin,

I think the simple solution for you is to train with a champion. It is what champions do, they train with champs.

Like in any sport... say bodybuilding, all world-class bodybuilders train together and often, all in the same gym.

My recommendation to you, as Bloke said, train with the best fighters in your dojo, and then move on to the next level. Have a coach or training buddy who has been there and can bring you to the next level.

My friend and I suffered the "sensei-no-want" syndrome. We were the best fighters in our dojo and pleaded with our sensei to help us train and become better and he plainly refused and became kind of ... jealous. So, we went to seminars in different parts of the country and all. We learned new techniques which we then put in practice together once back at the dojo.

What did that do? It caused problems with our sensei and we left.

So, the point I'm trying to make here is if you want to be a champion, train like one with one. If your sensei is supportive, that's even better.

[elsabra]

dear ronin,

for a while i've been trainning with some guys that participated in world tournaments and reached a very high level in kumite. they train so hard and so much that for a "regular" guy like me, it seems almost impossible - i mean, trainning like that and at the same time work and have a family life... but - they did it, so it means that you can do it too! but you would need such a great kokoro!

as for specific trainnings- they do a lot of sprints and strengthening, they work a lot on basics (uke kaeishi)... actually, it's pretty hard to specify all the trainnings they do cause it's so much and it varies (number of sets, rests between, etc).
most of them agree that the combat is about 60% physically and 40% or more mentally, so consider it too.
my best suggestion to you is the same that my shihan (Shihan Ronen that i really love!) suggested me- if you wish to become like him then go and ask him to teach you, pay him if it's necessary. believe me, those guys are so professionals they really know how to take all the 100% out of you!
best wishes in budo and keep us informed about how it's going
OSU!