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[Rod1TDi]

Just thought id share my first experience of kyokushin.

Last night I went to my first training session. I decided to sit and watch before commiting to joining to get an idea of what its like.

After training in several arts including tkd, shotokan, kickboxing and kung fu I never found a style that I felt I could commit to 100% because each arts seemed to be missing something.

I am convinced I have found that ellusive style, it seems to have everything from body conditioning and stamina training to contact sparring and katas. Im really excited and I cant wait to dive in tomorrow.

Why am I only just discovering kyokushin!!!!

[ashiharakaicho]

Osu,

Glad that you are sold - sometimes things of importance comes later in life which just means we savour and enjoy it more ...

Looking forward to following your exploits into this new exciting world ...

[Rocket]

I remember my first Kyokushin lesson, I was 8 years old and turned up in a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt because Shihan said not to waste money on the Gi because I might not like Karate and that it was not for everyone.

most of the class was standard 10thkyu-8th kyu drills up and down the room but Shihan explained what everymove was used for, people might say that explaining to an 8 year old boy about how to punch someone in the jaw is a bit harsh but we was all from a rough area and most of us had taken up Karate to defend ourself.

Then with 10 min to go, he made us all sit back to back and then said that we had to wrestle on the ground until we felt we could stand up, he said that a lot of street fight's end up on the ground so we would need to learn how to get back to a standing position.

needless to say I thought it was awesome.

[Shokei Marcsui]

Congratulations. You have taken your first step into a much larger world.

[49ers1970]

Osu!

Back in the summer of 1989, I had received my Shodan in Renbukai Karate.

It was a tough style in its own right with a demanding kata curriculum.

They also had their version of full contact sparring known as Bogu.

I enjoyed that very much. At that time, I used to randomly go the local video

store to rent out martial arts movies. By chance, I stumbled upon this VHS tape,

known as "Fighting Black Kings." Initially, I did not understand the "no" face punch

rule. However, I began to really appreciate the continuous sparring format with

knockout kicks to the head. (Also at the time, I had competed in many Japanese

point tournaments, winning a few, but was disenchanted with the lack of combination

techniques and the ease in which some fighters "feigned" their injuries to win

matches. There were a few times where I got disqualified.) I became SOLD with this

Kyokushin phenomena! In 1990, while at San Jose State University, I joined World

Oyama Karate and received my Shodan in 1995.

Ironically, if I did not stumble upon this VHS documentary, I would have never

found out about Kyokushin. Black Belt magazine every now and then might have

had a Kyokushin article, however, these things can easily be missed if there

is no television coverage to see how good this art really is. Another important point

while looking up the Yellow Pages in 1990, (pre-internet days), when I stumbled upon a

school named World Oyama Karate, it said in parenthesis, a derivative of Kyokushin.

Of course at that time, I thought Kyokushin was Kyokushin. I had no idea about the

splinter groups and offshoots. If I did not see this parenthesis, I probably would

not have joined not knowing any better. However, maybe I would have because

there was another catch phrase in the advertisement which stated "full contact"

fighting.

Osu!

It was a rewarding experience.

[supergroup7]

I'm glad that you found something that appeals to you.

Enjoy the journey, and welcome to our Style of Karate. I wish you good training.