Why don't Kyokushin practitioners bulk up a little bit?

[666]

18 °F.

Sorry for any confusion. Alas, tis' the world I live in.

Ah, now it makes sense, the water must have been damn cold, even if you're conditioned.

 

[_Simon_]

Read them many times over the years. One of them I cut up with scissors [I had another copy] and used a lot of the pictures on a collage we made on a big wall of the dojo, along with a bootload of pics from Karate magazines and some we had taken ourselves. It was a really cool wall.

If you're familiar with the books you might remember the shots of Oyama and his students running barefoot through the snow. And training under a waterfall.
We were in our early twenties and so nuts about Martial Arts that we would do anything. So, we got the bright idea to go "All Oyama". We drove to Nantasket Beach at 2 in the morning one January night. It was eighteen degrees and the beach was snow covered. We had on gi pants and no shirts. Figured we'd go waist deep into the water and throw a thousand reverse punches in the cold, because, hey, we were fricken' Karate men.

Lasted all of ten seconds before we ran screaming for the car, which, fortunately, we had left running with the heat on. We jumped in and still screamed for five minutes. We shivered uncontrollably and rubbed our arms and legs, all the while screaming.

I know, we weren't very bright. My buddy and I occasionally bring it up and laugh. Each blaming the other for the idea. And the one thing we both remember most was that the snow on the beach felt like it was burning our feet as we ran back to the car.

You know what they say, "No fool like a damn fool'.

Ah that is hardcore, I think it's good every now and then to really go to extremes like that. Just not all the time haha..

As to whether Oyama recommended weight training I'm not 100% sure, haven't read the books (which I'd love to though..). It was only spoken about rarely during training, but moreso functional strength and core development stuff. When I trained Kyokushin I weight trained, still do and love it, but yeah there are plenty of smaller fighters who pack an incredible punch. Hit someone in the right spot, with great technique and with the right timing and it won't matter how strong he is hehe, he will feel it! In some respects power comes from technique (but yeah, now we're getting into many differing topics, power vs strength vs mass etc), but weights can definitely assist in that.

I guess it's a matter of not leaning too much to either extreme (ie. [1] one should devote an incredible amount of time to weights to the exclusion of other aspects vs. [2] weight training is useless). I keep coming back to the idea of balance. And sometimes there are times when you need to devote more time to develop certain skills/strengths, but it's all in the name of bringing about a greater balance.

 

[666]

Yoooo, got myself "This is Karate" and there he basically says the same thing, younger people should focus more on strength and speed and not so much on technique. "and devote yourself to achieving precision in the basic techniques only". Well you don't really need more so yeah,... at the end you'll still need all three things.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Read them many times over the years. One of them I cut up with scissors [I had another copy] and used a lot of the pictures on a collage we made on a big wall of the dojo, along with a bootload of pics from Karate magazines and some we had taken ourselves. It was a really cool wall.

If you're familiar with the books you might remember the shots of Oyama and his students running barefoot through the snow. And training under a waterfall.
We were in our early twenties and so nuts about Martial Arts that we would do anything. So, we got the bright idea to go "All Oyama". We drove to Nantasket Beach at 2 in the morning one January night. It was eighteen degrees and the beach was snow covered. We had on gi pants and no shirts. Figured we'd go waist deep into the water and throw a thousand reverse punches in the cold, because, hey, we were fricken' Karate men.

Lasted all of ten seconds before we ran screaming for the car, which, fortunately, we had left running with the heat on. We jumped in and still screamed for five minutes. We shivered uncontrollably and rubbed our arms and legs, all the while screaming.

I know, we weren't very bright. My buddy and I occasionally bring it up and laugh. Each blaming the other for the idea. And the one thing we both remember most was that the snow on the beach felt like it was burning our feet as we ran back to the car.

You know what they say, "No fool like a damn fool'.

I’m not sure Ibelieve this. I mean, it sounds plausible and all, but Joe Lewis wasn’t keeping the car warm for you guys, and you didn’t go out and eat a stack of pancakes afterward. Doesn’t sound like one of your stories.

 

[_Simon_]

Yoooo, got myself "This is Karate" and there he basically says the same thing, younger people should focus more on strength and speed and not so much on technique. "and devote yourself to achieving precision in the basic techniques only". Well you don't really need more so yeah,... at the end you'll still need all three things.

Ah that's interesting, thanks for sharing, am keen to get that book if i can find it cheaper...

Glad the basic techniques bit was added! I guess technique becomes far more important in older years, but while you're young other aspects can be given attention. But yeah that doesn't preclude technique for sure

 

[666]

I guess technique becomes far more important in older years

Yes, that's exactly what he says, I quote: "as you grow older your body's strength and speed will decline, and that will be the time when techniques will be important."
Next sentence should also be worth mentioning:
"If, when you are young, you concentrate only on techniques to the neglect of strength and speed, you will be running up a blind alley."

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Yes, that's exactly what he says, I quote: "as you grow older your body's strength and speed will decline, and that will be the time when techniques will be important."
Next sentence should also be worth mentioning:
"If, when you are young, you concentrate only on techniques to the neglect of strength and speed, you will be running up a blind alley."

Some real wisdom in that - we now know that muscles, once developed, are easier to maintain and to rebuild after atrophy. Developing strength in youth means it’s easier to maintain strength as we age.

 

[hoshin1600]

I’m not sure Ibelieve this. I mean, it sounds plausible and all, but Joe Lewis wasn’t keeping the car warm for you guys, and you didn’t go out and eat a stack of pancakes afterward. Doesn’t sound like one of your stories.

so as it turns out Joe was a very smart man..he was at home sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace while the screaming banshee's were in the car waiting for their limbs to work again so they could drive home.

 

[GreatUniter]

All great japanese masters trained with weights (some of them that are alive still train). Kiyohide Shinjo, Morio Higaonna, Masahiko Kimura, Mas Oyama etc.

 

[Psilent Knight]

@666 There are literally thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of Kyokushin practitioners world wide. The ones you have seen (in person or on screen) are only but a small sample of Kyokushin students there is. Most of the Kyokushin enthusiasts that I know are really into weight lifting and quite a few of them are intimidating with their size and physiques. Also have you ever seen Judd Reid or Nicholas Pettis in their competition days? How about Arne Soldwedel or Ketustis Arbocious? There's Kenji Yamaki and hundreds more.

Is that the one that’s basically a reprint and update of “This is Karate?”

No, "This Is Karate" was never updated and reprinted. I believe you are thinking about Sosai's first book "What Is Karate?". The updated version of that book is titled "Mastering Karate".

Thanks for that. I’ve read What Is Karate, This is Karate, and the 3rd one in Oyama’s holy trinity of Kyokushin books (I can’t remember the title).

The third one is "Advanced Karate".