I switched from point fighting to full-contact Karate, going from black to white. Here are my initial impressions.

[Leviathan]

I made some similar observations when I switched from karate shotokan to Muay Thai.

I have been studying various point-based Karate and Taekwondo styles for about 9 years. For the past month, I have been doing Kyokushin. Here are my initial thoughts on full-contact fighting:


-Full-contact styles have more adults than point fighting styles. This is a good thing.

Yes but the adults tend to be younger, don’t they?

-Full-contact is more useful than point fighting. Real fights are close-range slug matches, not long-range games of tag.

-Full-contact is easier than point fighting. The former feels like real fighting and instinct takes over easily. The latter is just so jittery and weird that it becomes an awkward, overly-challenging game of tag.

Full contact is more realistic, definitely. And it’s easier to throw a technique when you don’t have to come to a full stop shortly before the target or if you can only touch gently.

-Full-contact (at least in the dojo) feels more safe than point fighting. I was getting injuries in point fighting anyway so I didn't see the point of no contact. Besides, in full-contact, everything moves slower so it's easier to place your techniques in the correct target area without missing and hitting a knee or groin. It's almost like point fighting is just a less effective, more dangerous, more difficult version of fighting that doesn't actually prepare you for self defense.

I got less injuries with full contact too. Reasons:
- you wear more and much better gear in full contact
- you learn better blocks and parries. Once you get into a somehow realistic fight, you realize karate blocks (age uke, shuto uke, Gedanke barai etc.) are rubbish or even dangerous
- kicking with the back of the foot as in karate shotokan is quite dangerous when you go for it; kicking with the lower shin is much safer

However I am reluctant as to head injuries or long term consequences of full contact. Not competing is gonna help but in Muay Thai I sparred quite a few times with fairly raging young guys who did not take it easy, even if you asked them to. You improve your fighting skills very fast, yes but in the long run I don’t think it’s healthy.

-Every martial artist needs to know what impact feels like. Being hit isn't just pain to the impact area, but a shockwave which rattles that entire area of the body. Being unfamiliar with this feeling will make real self defense impossible.

Yes it is “interesting” but beware that in a martial art you train for a situation that is not happening very often in a street fight / assault on the street.
- dojo: 1 vs. 1, unarmed or same weapons, both opponents fit and in fighting condition, both opponents usually of similar level / size, rules
- assault: 5 vs. 1, armed vs. unarmed, taken by surprise, no referee, no rule

-Leg kicks hurt a lot. I'll take a hundred liver shots before a single thigh kick. Likewise, I'd much rather kick low than waste energy kicking high, as the success rate of low kicks seems much higher than body and head kicks.

Yes, leg kicks are an effective technique

-On that note, everyone needs to know how to leg check. It is a lifesaver (legsaver?).

-Punches to the body aren't that bad. Yeah sure if you relax your abdominals they might suck but just tighten up and you're fine.

-Kata is actually useful. But out of the hundreds of kata, this only applies to a few of them. I find that the applications from more "simple" kata (Seisan, Suparinpei, Sochin, Enpi, etc) is more worthwhile for full-contact fighting than more sophisticated "bunkai bro" kata (Gojushiho, Kushanku, Nipaipo, Chinte, etc). More time must be spent on the "easy" kata than the others.

I find katas completely useless

-I have come to realise the importance of strength training, not just cardio.

-Sanchin is helpful.


Yeah switch to full contact. It's safer, easier, and more practical. Point fighting can go in the bin.

I have moved to kickbox, which is in my opinion a fairly good compromise between point fighting and full contact. It also depends on the trainer though.

 

[O'Malley]

It's interesting to read the opinions in this thread.

By the way, do you feel like your point fighting experience has given you some advantages in your full contact sparring? I'd expect maybe greater explosiveness at range, overall mobility and precision. What has been your experience compared to people who maybe only had full contact training?