Is Kyokushin Karate popular back in North America?

[Damian Mavis]

The past few months I have been training kyokushin karate in Thailand getting ready for a few fights coming up (August Thailand, September China, November Japan) and I'm surprised I never knew anything about it before... it's great and it's easily as tough as Muay Thai which I have also fought... so why had I never really heard of it before back in Canada?

 

[jarrod]

kyokushin is more respected than popular as far as the states go. it's gained respect primarily through mma fighters who have a base in it (bas rutten, george st. pierre). still, most recreational karateka aren't looking to throwdown bareknuckle.

jf

 

[jarrod]

oh yeah, good luck on your fights! let us know how they go.

 

[twendkata71]

Kyokushinkai is very popular in the states, but also there are so many offshoots of kyokushinkai that are popular,ashihara karate, world Oyama karate, enshin karate, world seido karate, all from former Kyokushinkai instructors. Many started their own karate systems after sosai Oyama passed away. Some broke off before.

 

[Damian Mavis]

Right but the style is all similar isn't it? I totally don't mean to disrespect karate (I'm sure there are lots of good school from various styles) but back in my home city of Ottawa it's a complete joke, they make sport TKD look tough (huge chains of karate mcdojos). If I had seen Kyokushin style in my city I would have had the utmost respect for karate all these years. So my point is, I assumed it's not too popular since I never saw it in Canada. Jarrod pointed out that most people don't want to fight full contact bare knuckle but muay thai is gaining lots of popularity and most practitioners do not fight. I find the training for Kyokushin excellent, I'm truly surprised that it hasn't caught on in Canada with the crowd that likes hard training but isn't really looking to fight. I'm actually a traditional (ITF) TKD instructor so I know all about the different kinds of people attracted to different types of training/arts but thought I would have been exposed to this intense style of karate already and not after almost 20 years of training.

 

[elder999]

Georges St. Pierre is 3rd(?) dan in kyokushin.

There's a Kyokushin dojo in Ottaw, or at least there was at one time.

It's not as popular in North America as some other forms, because of it's uncompromising nature-most people don't want to work hard, or get hurt, but it and its offshoots are around most major cities in the U.S., and a few other places.......

 

[Phadrus00]

Kyokushin is pretty popular in Eastern Canada. Growing up in New Brunswick it was the first Martial Art I was exposed to and it was very popular in the Northern part of the province. I think a lot of the success of any particular stype in an area is due to the personalities behind the schools. It requires a committment of promotion and community building to really get a school to flourish and expand.

 

[Kyukoku86]

Hey, are you fighting in the WKO tournament in Pattaya Thailand? It's the end of August.

 

[Damian Mavis]

Yup, well that's the plan anyway. Will you be there?

 

[Kyukoku86]

If all goes well. Yes I will.

 

[Damian Mavis]

That's great, are you in the 75kg and under or open weight division?

 

[Kyukoku86]

I believe I'm in the 75kg devision. How about you?

 

[tshadowchaser]

Kyokushinkai is very popular in the states, but it may have been more popular back in the late 60's and early 70's.
I used to know a number of top notch fighters from that association back then

 

[Damian Mavis]

Yes I'm in the 75kg division.

 

[Kyukoku86]

Oh, osu sounds good I should see you there then if all goes well eh. Best of luck with your training.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

If I were to ever try a different martial art besides the ones I am doing now, Kyokushin would top my list, followed by Shotokan.

A side note, one of my favorite martial artists is a 3rd dan Kyokushin practitioner: Dolph Lundgren.

Daniel

 

[MilkManX]

I think it lacks popularity for a few reasons.

Its hard training.

For some people thats too much just to start with.

Soccer moms dont want that. They want Dick and Jane to get lots of colorful belts frequently.

I think that MMA has taken some of the interest from the TMA and back into sport clubs that teach MMA.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Soccer moms dont want that. They want Dick and Jane to get lots of colorful belts frequently.

How sad, but how true. Soccor moms should appreciate martial arts for what they are and let their kids play soccor for fun.

Daniel

 

[stoneheart]

Well there's a Seido and an Enshin school in my metro area of Austin, TX. They're both kyokushin offshoots.

 

[Martin h]

Kyokushin has a hard time in north america. On one hand it is a trad art with strict formal trad training -which tends to turn away the "tough guys" only interrested in hard fighting. On the other hand it is heavily into a fullcontact bareknuckle sparring endorsing KOs-which tend to turn away people that dont like to walk around severely bruised every week, and soccer moms afraid to see little bobby get hurt. Then it likes hard almost fanatic PE -which tend to turn away the casual practitioner who dont have the endurance for it, and really dont like to sweat all that much. Finally it is so fractured between different organizations and offshot styles(that tend not to work with each other and pretend the others do not exist) that there is not enough opportunities to compete for the sport karate fanatics.