Just relocated looking to get into Japanese martial arts

[Brandon Miller]

Hello,

I just relocated to Portland Oregon. I’m 32 years old. I have competitive mma and some boxing experience. But I’m not looking to compete in mma anymore. I’m more into the traditional arts these days. With that said I’m trying to figure out what I want. I definitely want to be versed in a striking traditional art and a grappling one as well. I’m portland we have a lot of good Judo schools. I wanted to continue doing sambo but I can’t find sambo in Portland. We have a kyokushin dojo that’s suppose to be very legit with a 7th Dan. We have tons of good Judo schools. I want something traditional but with legit aliveness. Kyokushin and Judo seem to bring that to the table. Which art do you guys recommend I start with first? I want to focus on one art till shodan before I cross train in both arts together. I’m pretty positive Judo and kyokushin is what I want. P.s. we have no kyokushin offshoots in Portland. Enshin karate would be a dream. I think I might start with Judo first simply because it’s more readily available here since we only have one kyokushin dojo. Anyways would love advice. Also what other arts do you think would blend well with Judo and or kyokushin?

 

[JowGaWolf]

Hello,

I just relocated to Portland Oregon. I’m 32 years old. I have competitive mma and some boxing experience. But I’m not looking to compete in mma anymore. I’m more into the traditional arts these days. With that said I’m trying to figure out what I want. I definitely want to be versed in a striking traditional art and a grappling one as well. I’m portland we have a lot of good Judo schools. I wanted to continue doing sambo but I can’t find sambo in Portland. We have a kyokushin dojo that’s suppose to be very legit with a 7th Dan. We have tons of good Judo schools. I want something traditional but with legit aliveness. Kyokushin and Judo seem to bring that to the table. Which art do you guys recommend I start with first? I want to focus on one art till shodan before I cross train in both arts together. I’m pretty positive Judo and kyokushin is what I want. P.s. we have no kyokushin offshoots in Portland. Enshin karate would be a dream. I think I might start with Judo first simply because it’s more readily available here since we only have one kyokushin dojo. Anyways would love advice. Also what other arts do you think would blend well with Judo and or kyokushin?

To be honest, If I was going to tie 2 martial arts together it would be Karate and Judo. My personal opinion that they are one in the same. By this I mean that they go really well with each other as if they were originally 1 martial art system that was broken down into 2 separate components.

It sounds like you know what you want and it's just a matter of finding a Karate system to compliment Judo.

 

[Brandon Miller]

To be honest, If I was going to tie 2 martial arts together it would be Karate and Judo. My personal opinion that they are one in the same. By this I mean that they go really well with each other as if they were originally 1 martial art system that was broken down into 2 separate components.

It sounds like you know what you want and it's just a matter of finding a Karate system to compliment Judo.

Yeah I definitely want Judo and Karate. I got access to a solid Kyokushin school M, W, F, Sat is when they train under a 7 dan Yoshi Ito which is very legit. Then I have access to a lot of Judo here for a good price. I used to do sambo and was going to join Portland Judo because they have solid judo and had a small sambo program. They do have a bjj and judo program separate. It’s $125 a month unlimited no contract for both Judo and bjj. Portland Judo Club is also the largest judo school in the United States under the USJF. Kyokushin is also around $100 a month with 4 training sessions a week. There are other judo clubs in Portland ranging from $30-$60 per month. Portland judo seems to have the best schedule for me personally. But since they don’t have sambo anymore and I’m not really interested in sport bjj so I don’t want to pay $100 a month for just pure judo when I can go to a cheaper club. I’m torn between which art to pursue first Kyokushin or Judo?

 

[JowGaWolf]

Kyokushin will probably be a faster track for you. You already know how to punch and kick so you aren't a total beginner. After that it's just from and constant training of forms both when you are in the school and when you are at home. Stay dedicated to that and you'll rise in the ranks fast enough. Judo is going to be a slower pace simply because it's one of those things where having partner helps.

Movement, balance, full body punching, etc is going to be trained through the forms, You'll be intimately familiar with the mechanics of the punch, the kick, and the stance. You'll learn how to tame balance. The more you practice the better you'll get. Then you have all of the conditioning to go through. 4 - 5 Times a week is good. The body needs at least 2 days of rest to recover. A recent Study shows that training to much will actually hurt your performance level. 2 Days of rest is good so long as you aren't doing anything physically exhausted. For example, 2 days of rest of Kyokuhshin while training Judo on your 2 days off is not rest.

Listen to this report below
Too Much Training Can Tax Athletes' Brains

 

[Brandon Miller]

I have officially decided to pursue Kyokushin. When I reach first dan in Kyokushin then I’ll start cross training with Judo and take both journeys at the same time. In the mean time I’m just going to focus on Kyokushin and train and work hard. It’s rare to be able to train kyokushin under a Japanese 7th Dan Instructor. That’s too good for me to pass up. I feel my body type would be great for kyokushin I’m 6’3” 1/2. Kyokushin for the win!

 

[BrendanF]

I think there may (still) be a Sosuishi ryu jujutsu/Kodokan judo group in Portland - I would seek that out myself.

 

[Hanzou]

Really surprised you didn't check out the Renzo Bjj school in Portland given that you were interested in Judo and Sambo. Bjj would give you the jacket grappling of Judo alongside the leg locks of Sambo.

 

[drop bear]