Traditional Karate

When people think of karate, they usually think of action movies, punches, kicks, jumps, and maybe even people breaking boards, bricks, and stones.  Or, perhaps they’ve watched the 2020 Olympics and got a sense of karate in a sporting sense.  Whilst there may be elements of karate in all of these things, karate is so much more.

In today’s world, there are, largely speaking, two types of karate: sport karate and traditional “budo” karate.  Both styles of karate involve learning fighting techniques and learning some aspects of Japanese etiquette, but they differ significantly in many ways.

Sport Karate

 

Sport karate descended from traditional karate and is hugely popular in the modern world.  Many of the techniques are adaptations of traditional techniques, but oriented towards competition and scoring “points” in tournaments. In tournaments, points are awarded to the fastest and most precise hit on an opponent.  The technique doesn’t have to be powerful, or even effective, provided it is fast, clean, and makes it past the opponent’s defenses.  Sport karate is an excellent form of exercise and a great way to build speed, flexibility, and precision.  Depending on the dojo and style, sport karate may or may not incorporate many of the values of traditional karate.

Kyokushin Karate

 

Kyokushin Karate is traditional karate and is based on the Japanese idea of “budo”, or “the martial way”.  Traditional karate is based on self-defence and survival and incorporates rigorous training with techniques that are intended to render an opponent unconscious or unable to fight.  This focus on effective techniques has made Kyokushin renowned for its effectiveness in “real world” self-defense situations.  Unlike some styles of karate, we don’t simply go through the motions and assume that the techniques will be effective.  Kyokushin is a “full contact” style of karate that allows us to regularly test our offensive and defensive techniques to ensure that we can apply them effectively in real fight conditions.  That said, we pay a great deal of attention to safety in training and show tremendous restraint and respect for our training partners.  You will be challenged, but always in a willing way and never beyond your capabilities.

Kyokushin Karate is about far more than effective self-defense, however.  Because the training is rigorous and the techniques potentially dangerous or deadly, traditional karate also has a strong focus on values like respect, humility, restraint, and generally how to treat people in life.  Mas Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin Karate, famously said, “The path of martial arts begins and ends with courtesy.”  The Kyokushin “kun”, or personal oath, extols all Kyokushin practitioners to practice discipline, self-restraint, respect, and humility.  There is no room for ego, disrespect, or excessive violence in our dojo.

 

You will learn many effective self-defense techniques in karate, but we recognise that the most effective self-defense is to avoid unnecessary conflict in the first place.  The self-confidence that Kyokushin Karate students learn through training carries through into school, work, and all facets of daily life, allowing us to flourish and avoid unnecessary conflict.  The values of hard work, persistence, resilience, politeness, respect, and humility become ingrained through rigorous and regular training and help Kyokushin Karate practitioners to lead successful lives outside of the dojo.