Calm the Face – Calm the Mind – Calm the Body

Many people might not know, but I am a guitarist. In my ‘younger’ days I played at a high level with a dream to play professionally at an international level. I didn’t “make it”, mostly due to fear and lack of confidence. What does all of this have to do with Kyokushin Karate you might ask? Well… I discovered a very …

The Fighter’s Mind, Sam Sheridan

The Fighter’s Mind, was an amazing read and an incredible insight into the mind of the competitive athlete. Sam Sheridan spends time with various sport celebrities, not only in the combat world, but outside as well. Wrestling icon Dan Gable, boxing coach Freddie Roach, mma trainer Greg Jackson, fighters like Renzo Gracie and Randy Couture, as well as distance runner …

Train the Mind Train the Body

I love Friday night classes, as they are usually geared towards sparring and kumite. My major weakness. We started with body conditioning and moved to focus pad drills. The emphases last night was on knee strikes. Fogarasi Sensei spoke to us about not only the importance of knee strikes, but the proper applications and distancing, both for competition and self-defense …

Mushin No Shin, or No-Mindness

Last night’s class was gruelling. Some students are preparing for an upcoming tournament. The class was going to be divided between those conditioning for this, and those in regular training. However, it was decided we would all follow the tournament prep.