Hi from sunny WA. Sorry I missed today's live conversation. As someone who doesn't train in Kyokushin karate, I think the use of 'hard' in relation to any school, not just Kyokushin, is naïve. For me, Kyokushin, and it's many spin-offs are examples of what happens when fighting becomes the main objective of training. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion, it's a way of training that certainly focusses the mind and toughens the body, because you simply can't train this way if you're weak in either department. Away from the tournaments, Kyokushin clearly has, like all other authentic karate training, a depth to it that requires students to enter deeply (into themselves) if they want to gain anything worthwhile. Anyway, thanks again to you and Mitch for another interesting conversation.
"Fluidity! Focus on relaxation before tension. Why? Prioritizing relaxation enhances movement speed and precision. Tension, when controlled, adds power to techniques. Balancing relaxation and tension is essential for achieving optimal martial arts performance."
Sounds like the yin-yang philosophy. It might be because early karate was influenced by Fujian Chinese Martial Arts. But that's just my personal opinion
You could be right, although the "Yin/Yang Philosophy" is simply a description in Chinese terms and values (with elaborations) of the universal principle of duality.
Exactly. That's one of Sosai's three main training principles: Chikara no Kyojaku, the Points of Power Stress, or balancing tension/relaxation, expansion/contraction.
Training in slow-twitch basics over the years lays a foundation for muscle memory, precision, and control. It forms the core of your technique, enhancing overall skill. As you progress, these fundamentals become ingrained, providing a solid base for mastering faster and more complex movements in martial arts.
It is definitely useful. It's not black and white. Nothing is bad, it's more about finding the right balance and optimising the training time available for the objectives we have. Even athletes in sports which essentially involve long periods of lower intensity work train intense sprint work, and sports involving essentially high intensity need a strong aerobic base.
It’s incredibly useful. This video is about optimising speed development, which in the scheme of things is one component of range of components necessary for the Karate-ka. The interference effect (concurrent speed and endurance training or concurrent strength and endurance training, etc) exists in most training. Don’t let it distract from the propose of this video - prioritising speed development.
