This stye of Karate is unbelievable - Can you guess what it is?
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
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As an Ashihara Karate student since 1984, I am thankful for having found Sendai Kancho Ashihara and being able to learn the style whilst he was still alive. Your well documented clip just highlights what attracted me to the style. Whilst we come from kyokushin it's not just those concepts you mention, but the basics is done with a different flair to help with the understanding of the sabaki concepts which includes mikiri, irimi, kyushu and nagashi. Thank you once again.
How do you find a dojo? Searching and coming up empty in the US.
@zachb.6606 there may or may not be one left in NY. most of the Ashihara schools in the US switched over to Enshin when Joko Ninomiya, who was US director of Ashihara organization, left to start his own school/style. Ninomiya was shown early in the featured video, demonstrating techniques.
may also consider Seidokaikan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, another student of Ashihara and creater of the K-1 competition.
@@zachb.6606.
Narker, you are not serious.
As a practitioner of Kyokushin, I always thought that was a huge weakness that we don't move as much. We actually pride ourselves on taking blows, so in practice we only move forward. It's almost seen as a weakness to evade blows in training. But that is great in training and sparring, but in tournaments against other styles it's a major weakness not be dancing around.
This style looks great. I want to try this.
We are on the exact same page. I hope there is an ashihara or enshin school near you :) you are very lucky if there is
if you check 1970s Kyokushin tournaments it wasnt like that. there was much more movement and evasion
There are regional/national variations in Kyokushin fighting styles. I'm from the UK and we tend to move on angles and circle rather than fight like the Russians who like to batter themselves toe to toe. I was impressed by the videos, but there was was nothing there that I have not been taught or practiced in the dojo. I think the problem is when you solely practice and train for tournaments.
Osu there is sabaki but not very visible. The whole idea is to move secretly without opponent knowing. Too bad Kyokushin nowadays is just proving who got the bigger muscles to withstand blows.
My thought is that it's good to condition for taking shots, but you don't ever want to take full impact in a fight. Even just small body shifts can destroy the power of a body shot
I am a brown belt in Ashihara Karate and a black belt in BJJ. I cherish my time training Ashihara and miss it very much. It's a shame that major cities, like LA where I live, there are no Ashihara dojos. When people say Karate doesn't work, I know for a fact they never experienced Ashihara Karate. OSU.
Yeah definitely. I’m a purple in BJJ and a black belt in Kyokushin. Kyokushin does makes you tough as nails. I feel i am well rounded enough if someone wants to strike it out with me or take it to the ground. Obviously I would avoid a fight at all times but the world has become dangerous so it’s good to know both.
Yeah, Ashihara is the real deal, this is coming from an Ashihara black belt. Im so glad to have found my sensei, Robert Relammers.
@@juancurquejosantana8152 i envy you brow , i'm a kyokushin blue belt and almost brown and wish my dojo was more serious or shld i say the organisation here 😥😥
Thanks for the comment, there are a few schools in Karate that most certainly do work quite well.
My son is doing BJJ and Shinkiokushin, and I need to find a place later to learn how to combine. JJJ branded as MMA for kids not far. There's no Ashihara nearby 😢
The best analysis that I ever heard in 30 year on ASHIHARA Karate. Insightful
As a shotokan practioner who has done many, many traditional katas, I loved the kata that was displayed here. I could only wish our Shotokan katas looked like this. It's very clear to see what is being worked on and what the application likely is.
Don’t wish, Do. Don’t get locked in to a style. There’s a lot of cultural influence of Japan in Shotokan. My introduction to karate was from Okinawa while I was the as a young teen. The was no children or young people classes then. I had to practice and train with adults. Going straight in didn’t work for me. I developed the concept of “Soft on Hard, Hard on Soft” I would circular step and attack. Nice to see it re-enforced and expanded here.
Ashihara's training partner in the video is Joko Ninomiya the founder of Einshin Karate.
That’s so cool.
Ninomiya was a student of Ashihara. Watch the video "Fighting Black Kings" the person breaking that mountain of ice with a kakato geri - heel strike , that is Ashihara. In the video he could also be seen sparring against multiple partners at the time he was still a part of the kyokushinkai system.
Yup. I fought in his tournament (Sabaki challenge) (Enshin)
I practice kyokushin and we do have footwork, we never go back, we always go forward but when the opponent is advancing and you can’t get him off of you we are taught to move to the side in a circle and we practice this a lot, it’s the principle of point and circle that mas oyama applied from the book of the five rings to karate.
Yes but it’s not very well developed and the primary focus is always to move forward which creates a very intense, leaning in, striking approach.
@@inside_fighting It depends on the dojo and organization, in dojos from my organization IKO1 (which is the first organization created by mas oyama) we generally practice a lot of footwork, not all the dojos are like that but in my dojo we practice footwork A LOT. Obviously ashihara karate has much more and better footwork, but it’s not like kyokushin doesn’t have anything like many people think
it's enshin or ashihara
@@yuliusmotovlog3332 I’m pretty sure I practice kyokushin
two steps backwards is the max ; to set up your feet then you need to exit ,
in MODERN ARNIS we use a side step ,
i was able to empty shirt a CHARGE 3X Buy a bull in a MOSH PIT
HE SMOKED THE CROWD BEHIND ME 3X Then gave up
the side step - it takes a while to get , but it is trick
I do Shotokan and for many years of training,I have realised that ur karate is urs and you must make it ur way.Everything is in katas.Go hard and use everything and don’t be limited to what you are only taught.
What a refreshing perspective! To love both the Martial and the Art aspects of your martial arts.
Since the MMA gym I train at teaches Kudo and BJJ and has guys in cage warriors and bellator crushing people I'm going to go with Kudo as my favourite Karate style.
That’s as close a comparison as one could make to Ashihara. I’ll be doing a video on Kudo soon. I love it
@@inside_fighting Oh bro, is it just me, or Kudo and (Combat)Sambo is way more closer,conceptually, than one might think?The former, is the admixture of Kyokushin and Judo while the latter is and older admixrure of Shotokan and Judo (amongst Russian folk styles). Lest we forget that Kyokushin itself is an admixture of Shotokan and Goju-Ryu. I feel like they are still major doubts that Kudo will give much preparation for one to venture forth into MMA, or it's just kiddie/wannabe MMA, and that is weird, considering how much Sambo is revered now, considering Fedor's and Khabib's contributions to the sports, amongst other Sambo legends.I feel like, people should give Kudo a chance to grow, considering they are just 2 sides of the same coin, in that, the core of one is Karate while the core of the other is Judo/grappling. Yes, I know how important grappling as a transitional art, yadda yadda yadda, but ya know, y'all can chill, and let it cook for itself. I'm sure with much cross-training...
There is lots of grappling in karate katas I did a bit of bjj and after a while I started to recognise a lot of moves that are in katas arm drag, guillotine, arm locks, double leg take down, chokes, sweeps that end with knee on belly and lots more, some times I do more karate in bjj than I do in karate just need to adapt wich is what katas are you adapt to the situation
@@baf303 Well, of course. What you discovered there were some of that Shuai/Na from the Fujian arts influences and Okinawan's own folk grappling style, Tegumi. But here's the thing ,tho. Competition-wise, styles either chooses to focus on fencing-like No-contact/Semi-Contact (probably inflenced by Savate, but savate itself has full-contact, so it must be the Olympics requirement having a hand, there), or, Full-Contact that is closer to Muay thai or Kickboxing. So, on both front, Grappling is kinda abandoned.
If you can discern ,the grappling stuff from the katas that you have learn from, great. Heck, teach other peole about it, even. But unfortunately, their applications are either lost to time, or, taught only to those that the masteres find senior enough, or have the moral-fibres aligned with their own morals, ya know, traditional Asian mentality.
@@baf303bunkai practical application of Kata
That way of streamlining the katas to only include movements you know you'll use in drilling/sparring is something I've never even considered before. Its brilliant.
I hope other karate styles start following suit because some of them really need it.
I hate to be the Aikido guy in the crowd but this is a good example of putting Aikido back into a more holistic system (I think I made a comment to that effect on your other video).
Aikido also uses the term Taisabaki, but a more specific theme is that most of that footwork is geared to moving outside the front hand and away from the back, “power” hand. That shows up in these demos repeatedly.
I don’t think this is just an Aikido thing, though. In my Karate background we were typically taught to circle off to the outside as well. I think a lot of more western arts have trouble with this concept because arts like boxing often want to control the center, line up liver shots, etc. Which there is absolutely nothing wrong with. I just think boxing (generally) lines up with a more power-style approach while the circling to the outsides is going to be for more evasive, “pick your shot” type fighters.
But the circling to the outside is absolutely everywhere in East Asia. Aikido, Bagua Zhang, Karate, just to name a few… definitely not all martial arts put the same emphasis on it, but it’s a lot more prominent than in the western tradition in my experience.
When the Goju school I was going to in high school closed the sensei recommended me 3 styles that day Ishhin ryu, Ashihara and Enshin karate. I went down the rabbit hole and discovered how modern and unique the Enshin and Ashihara styles are. Needless to say I stuck with the same Goju instructor but I still hold that respect for the other styles.
GREAT video. I also love these kyokushinkai based styles. As for your invitation to suggest, take a look at the American Kyuki-do Federation, which incorporates the stand up of TKD, the throws of Kodokan Judo, and the newaza of jujitsu (with some Hapkido sprinkled in ).
Oh sounds very interesting. Going to check it out
I like how you emphasize the IMPORTANCE OF FUCTIONALITY IN A COMBAT ( STREET FIGHT) STITUATION . THAT'S REAL COMMON SENSE. I'm not a fighter myself but I do understand the need for self defense especially in today's cruel world. You are not speaking nonsense that's why I like your channel. You bring facts to your conversation. Keep bringing the FACTS. YOU ARE DOING GREAT GREAT. GREAT.
Really appreciate that
Pretty much all of the Dutch champions in kickboxing their teachers are high level Kyokushin practicioners. Cor Hemmers (stepdad of Ramon Dekkers, trained Bas Rutten, Peter Smit Etc.), Lucien Carbin (trainer of Tyrone Spong, Alistair Overeem, Gilbert Yvel, Ilonka Elmont, Tiffany van Soest Etc.), Jan Plas (who trained Lucien Carbin, Rob Kaman, Ernesto Hoost , Peter Aerts Etc.), Thom Harinck ( Badr Hari, Gilbert Ballantine, Jérôme Le Banner, Hesdy Gerges Etc.). Ashihara never got too popular out here (probably cos of the fact that Jon Bluming was the favorite student of Oyama and brought it to the Netherlands). I've fought against them on the mat and trained with them, but the angles weren't too different from normal Kyokushin since we learn boxing angles during class as well. I've learned throwing and grabbing opponents in Kyokushin in the 80's (Bluming's Budokai style rather, Kyokushin mixed with Judo). I know that Dutch champ Sem Schilt practices/teaches Ashihara/Kyokushin and Judo though.
The evolution of Dutch kickboxers from kyokushin is tremendous. I think it’s one of the most powerful evolutions or branches of a system that has ever happened in martial arts.
@@inside_fighting It’s a great style and I’m glad that I started at a young age. The only thing I didn’t like is, that Dutch people are so damn tall and big haha (I’m 6ft, and I’m pretty much a midget at my dojo).
Masoyama achieved 7th degree black belt in Judo. He also did Gojuriyu and Shotokhan before creating Kuyokushin . Maybe they took throws out of Kuyokushin to make it look different to other forms of Karate.
Most interesting is that the early victories of kyokushin over Muay Thai were because of their throwing ability.
I think Occam's Razor applies here, in that, most of the leadership in Kyokushin in the past were probably putting too much focus on making sure that the style works in the full-contact combat sports context and iis on par with May Thai on that front, hence Seidokaikan, that they decided to abandon much of the grappling mentioned, and adopted more of Western Boxing into the mix (Pugilism is said to be lacking among MT Nak Muay in the olden days (Now, not so much) and the Muay Maat substyle (so that their boxing flows well with the rest of things), that it pretty much continues on to this day in Dutch Kickboxing. Heck, remember the banning of much elbows in K-1? Yes, politics also exists in the realms of full-contact combat sports,people.
@@SeymoreSparda politics also happens in Olympic Judo. They banned takedowns below the waist like double leg and single leg, because Judo looked to similar to Wrestling. So to avoid Judo being thrown out of the Olympics, they rather just banned takedowns which overlap .
Also Olympic Karate banned throws using 2 hands because it's too similar to Judo. Olympic Karate allows throwing with one hand.
@@adhdmed Hence, I feel like, there should be a continuous deliberate active movement to keep Kosen Judo alive, so that Judo could somehow remain intact, even after the Olympics keeps on degenerating it, and also to keep the dots from Judo to BJJ so that future generations can keep track of their respective history and learn from whatever that existed then but not now. You know the drill. Yes,yes... I know that Kosen Judo is not this magical secretive new substyle of Judo that was only kept between the elite like some sort of a closed-door kung-fu style. But man, the Olympics is surely doing a good job at de-fanging Judo as we speak. So, why not?It is now mainly practiced in Japanese universities, and that's a shame.
@@SeymoreSpardathe ground game Ne Waza of Kosan Judo has been renamed to BJJ because Gracie's made it famous using Ne Waza to win UFC 1 in America.
Because American media is followed by everyone around the world, we just went along with renaming Khosan Judo to BJJ and also renaming all the joint locks along with it.
Real Japanese Jujitsu used by Japanese Samurai still has all the joint locks found in BJJ and also standing submitions of small joints found in Karate and Aikido.
You mentioned it right there at the end, but as I was watching the video I was thinking I bet you would really like Okinawan Goju Ryu. It is a clinch range system that is full of grappling, takedown, tai sabaki, limb management, inside fighting, short power generation and elbows and low kicks. Kyokushin derives part of their training from Goju, but they took it in the Japanese direction of knockdown fighting and training at striking distance like many of the Shuri/shotokan lineages went. The original Okinawan Goju lineages are heavily into training a strong structure and destroying the opponent's posture. They also include a lot of body conditioning and hojo undo, basically traditional weight training to strengthen the body. Sounds like you would really dig it 👍
Yes, agreed. And authentic, Okinawan Shotokan. In fact, most original Okinawan karate is quite close to Ashihara I'd say. I trained authentic Shotokan and Ashihara and found them quite similar.
Kyokushin guy here
Kyokushin to me is like a hammer. Its very powerful but its also kind of one dimensional
Love seeing this brilliant channel grow btw
Perfect description of kyokushin. Thanks for watching!
@inside_fighting Perfect description regarding some Kyokushin Dojos. I trained under Soshu Shigeru Oyama in NYC since 1982, and we have always trained with the Sabaki methods. Shigeru Oyama was a top Kyokushin instructor who came to the US to help Tadashi Nakamura establish and grow Kyokushin. Years later, when Kyokushin became popular and known, it started to focus mostly on tournament style fighting and they got away from the Sabaki aspect. Ashihara wasn't doing anything new, he was just emphasizing a different aspect of what already existed in Kyokushin. Younger Kyokushin instructor, and those of you who are to young to know the full history, are seeing an abbreviated version of the Kyokushin we learned from Soshu Shigeru Oyama.
Great video as always, very interesting. I'm looking forward to the next one
Much appreciated! More to come
Ashihara- Karate....he was a fine student of Sosai Mas Oyama...a very powerful ryuha!!
My favorite style? Difficult question, Sensei.
My heart goes for nostalgic reasons for Goju-Ryu and Kyokushin-Kai.
But I practice with pleasure Shorin-Ryu.....and Uechi-Ryu would be in my humble opinion an interesting style to discuss here on your channel...
Thank you for the comment and I agree that all Karate's are amazing. I definitely will do an Uechi video soon :)
@@inside_fightingAlso check out shidokan karate it's also a very it's interesting style!
@@inside_fighting I would have to kindly disagree. Most do not practice it the proper way. Tend to be more on the sport aspect of it. Then again I also agree as all style when practiced properly (look into practical Karate) have great things to teach and methods of combat to explore. Again, for that one needs to practice seriously and properly. Very much agree on Uechi Ryu needing more exposure.
Ps- Tai Sabaki is a component of most Karate style. Simply not practiced much in classes. Goju Ryu also likes to practice hard in their sparring with the Iri Kumi. Look into Kakie Kumite or Kakedameshi, those are also not that commonly exposed in sport style of Karate yet are what makes that art unique as well as being able to properly see its functionality in close range (as Karate is meant for closer range than a fully extended punch...)
Great video. I wanted to thank you I was having a hard time deciding between Kyokushin or Ashihara but I decided to go with Ashihara. I'm now very fortunate to train MMA,Kudo and Ashihara.
You made a great choice and are lucky to have a school near you
@@inside_fightingI recommend checking out the other offshoots. Shidokan is really interesting and if it fit my kudo schedule I might have done that. Byakuren is another that came from shorinji kempo but competes in knockdown tournaments here.
@@inside_fighting ua-cam.com/video/p-kcUvpOXg0/v-deo.htmlfeature=shared here is a clip from a more recent Ashihara tournament in Japan if your interested
I trained in Wing Chun under a school that teaches the William Cheung style. We were always taught to go to the outside and control the opponents elbow. Knee strikes to the back and tail bone is used along with kicks to the back of the leg and throws. This reminds me of some of what I was taught.
The 'blocks' in kata that no one actually uses are not really blocks but strikes. When used properly they're used for limb destruction in much the same way as gunting in Kali, or close range gripping and simultaneously striking/controlling, e.g. the classic rising block - you don't use it to block a face punch as is often shown in karate bunkai demonstrations - that's the safe version taught to kids. Close the distance and use it pre-emptively and not reactively to strike under the jaw and across the neck while controlling your opponents lead arm, following up with head and neck control leading to further strikes or a take down.
Incidently, Tai Sabaki is a core principle of Wado Ryu Karate, I guess most clubs focus on sport 'point' karate or else practice the watered down interpretations without any real pressure testing, which is why you rarely see these techniques used as they were originally intended to be.
Great Comment! Karate has been so watered down that the practicality of traditional karate styles has been largely forgotten.
Excellent breakdown as always, really nice to see Karatekas refining their system to be more effective. I have always wondered why they don't do something like shadow boxing in traditional Martial Arts instead of the usual Katas. Great to see that this style's Katas are closer to shadow boxing and look more practical.
The techniques are called:
•Hiki Kuzushi = Single handed pull off balance.
•Hiki Mewashi = Double handed pull around.
Ashihara Sensei wanted to incorporate a lot of movement and concepts from kickboxing training into his teachings when he was a Kyokushin branch chief and Oyama Sensei was opposed to it so Ashihara Sensei left and founded his vision.
Thank you for the info here, this style of Karate is eye-opening and such a great evolution of the system. I really want to try it now, their principles seem to be spot on
No matter what people say, there is a small masochistic element in Kyokushin. Much is about enduring pain, not backing down, overcoming weakness and never giving up, no matter what. Kyokushin is style that makes you tougher and harder. Lots of discipline. Kyokushin, especially the fighting, is not for everyone. Ashihara is amazing. They removed all unrealistic kata and kihon and focused only on fighting. I regret that there is no such dojo in my city.
I have studied and trained Ashihara here in Melbourne Australia for 10 years before my club unfortunately closed.
I have been searching for many years, and not found anything close to this style.
The simplicity of the 4 main foot movements, being able to get into your opponents blind side is something that no other style comes close.
It was brutal, but beautiful at the same time.
I would love to find another Ashihara Dojo near me.
I love this vid. Thank you for sharing.
Melbourne based too. There is an Enshin karate school in Montmorency. Hopefully that helps.
I’m Australian & I’m creating a animal style of fighting based on the Kangeroo 🦘 I have background of Nippon Karate, big background of American Kenpo which is great for speed and coordination. Boxing Kickboxing, wing chun Kyokushin, Shotokan.
Bajiquan is my main martial art now
& Cheng style Bagua. Kangeroos are crazy strong they wrestle and get in clinches. I’m enjoying it has similarities to Muay Thai but different elbows I hook the fist downwards towards the inner forearm known as a bear punch in Bagua. I do rapid parrying in a circular style and it has off angling strikes like in wing Chun but way faster and lighter in the feet. 🦶 it has its own breathing & Chi Kung exercises even it’s own iron body isometric exercises.
Not to mention hard body tree conditioning exercises and body striking conditioning 🤜🤛
I'm a Shotokan practitioner who started in the '80's and yes we also had what you mentioned you saw in the Shotokan you've seen. My sensei was dan rank in Shotokan, Shorin-ryu, and Kyokushin, so we trained Shotokan technique but with Kyokushin mindset. Re: Grappling in kata, though. Grappling in kata is not hidden or complex. Any experienced grappler can watch a traditional kata and see the double leg takedowns, hip throws, shoulder throws, arm locks, Judo style sweeps, etc, etc. It's that karate stopped practicing them when it went to Japan and from there to the rest of the world, in the same way that Judo has strikes but stopped practicing them. Some will say that means the arts no longer have those techniques, others will say they have them but have neglected them for so long that they have to train them in other arts to bring them back to the practiced skillset. I'm so glad that people like Iain Abernethy, etc, are doing the work to return the grappling to Karate, especially considering it was the original foundation of Karate, not Kung Fu, but the native Okinawan stand up grappling known as Tegumi or Shima, which every young boy would have been exposed to before ever being introduced to any Karate teacher, so he didn't have to teach them much of the grappling.
Very nice video and evaluation. I’m one of a few Ashihara karate kaikan American black belts under Makoto Yoshida-Hirohara while he was living in Southern California in the 80’s. I also followed him and represented his new system when he returned home to Hiroshima and founded Shintaiikudo. Although I am no longer practicing Japanese arts any longer, the sabaki system was extremely effective and if modified, very brutal and violent.
Greetings, if it's not too intrusive may I ask why you no longer practice the Japanese arts? And does this mean you no longer train Shintaiikido as well?
@@damonclark5742 I should qualify that I do not teach Japanese arts any longer but I do use elements of sabaki, karate, nishi shiki & judo still into my present practice.
So much like the Hapkido that I practice. Great video on a great style! Hapkido video request #2, inspired by this video...
Bruce Lee said footwork is everything.
Very cool analysis! Looking forward to you covering Enshin karate! 🙏
I will do it
Could you make a video show casing style archetypes? Throughput my research you would see commonalities in styles like boxing, muay thai, and kyokushin karate. And probably grappling too but to a lesser extent. And how that would be relevant in a defense situation in the street.
It’s a great idea yes. There are certain consistencies of movement.
Interesting..I´m reading that the creator studied JuJutsu and it makes sense because a lot of the movements in the video look very similar to Wado Ryu Karate, albeit with a more elevated stance and harder, kyukoshin style strikes. Wado focussed more on Tai Sabaki than Shotokan did, the founder (Hironori Ōtsuka) having trained under Funakoshi but having also done JuJutsu. As per wikipedia: `A key principle in Wadō-ryū is that of tai sabaki (often incorrectly referred to as 'evasion'). The Japanese term can be translated as "body-management," and refers to body manipulation so as to move the defender as well as the attacker out of harm's way. The way to achieve this is to 'move along' rather than to 'move against'-or harmony rather than physical strength´. For me, this interpretation of Kyukoshin makes far more sense. Rarely have I seen a video where a bigger opponent Kyuko fighter loses to a smaller one, it seems to favour the stronger/taller fighter. Tai Sabaki allows a fighter to evade and counter such power.
Much agreed. It sounds like Wado is to shotokan what ashihara is to kyokushin
Great video. Your comments about the Kata are very interesting to me. The old way of learning them was "3 years per kata" I believe, was because each form had so much info packed into them. Most of that time was dedicated to the 2-person applications and variances based on the general moves in the Kata. The last time the classic Katas were really updated was the early 1900s. Karate has changed a lot since then. I would be very interested on your take on how they could be updated, or even how to create a new one like Jesse's that you mentioned.
One of my teachers was talking about people presenting kata with an emphasis on their own bunkai, eventually the kata becomes quite different. In his words "they bunkai the heck out of it".
I watched an interview in which an author described being asked to review a book as part of a university course he was doing, it turns out to be a book that he had written, but he was marked down on the question "What was the author trying to communicate?"
Very cool. So, after a break from martial arts I got back into Karate via Kyokushin, while I love the aspects of spirit&will, the kicks, and find the conditioning beneficial. I like the emphasis that Ashihara brings.
Being that I'm not so interested in sport fighting, I prefer to study fighting without rules. I like the context that Ashihara brings without all the brain damaging face punches
Thank you for your awareness of Martial Arts and true life defending true survival in daily life.
Brilliant. As someone who trained Shotokan in the 80s and 90s it was great to hear you refer to the fact that old-style Shotokan used tai sabaki. I was trained in tai sabaki religiously, as well as take-downs and locks. I trained Ashihara for a while too, and, tbh, the main difference from the AUTHENTIC Shotokan I was trained in was the greater use of spinning kicks in Ashihara. I should say that my Shotokan instructor's Sensei was a Japanese master. I think that made all the difference. I hope Ashihara gains prominence and I also hope Shotokan regains its soul. Keep up the good work. Love your videos!
A lot of these concepts are the basis for okinawan Uechi-Ryu karate. The main stance is actually a foreward facing stance but the footwork is mainly focused on an outside circular type of stepping. The most common blocks are based on a circular grabbing movement and the striking techniques are mostly based on open hand techniques. It is definitely a lot more close ranged most of the time but because there are a lot of open hand techniques there is also a lot of eye strikes and grabbing meant to unbalance the other fighters. I've actually seen a lot of effective use of this style because I train with a lot of law enforcement and security workers in my area and the dojo's were originally in some fairly dangerous areas where I live. I definitely see a lot of good use of these principals in the style and videos that you were talking about. I'll have to look into this style for the way that they apply a lot of these techniques because they seem really well applied. Thanks for the video.
You're right. This Style is much more practical for actual Combat. Superb Analysis and Commentary.
I'm currently a student of Enshin Karate and Kancho Ninomiya here in Denver Colorado... it is a serious and legit system/style. It definitely made me fall in love with Kyokushin and the Ashihara methods. If ever you come to Colorado, you should come visit the Honbu!
I've always thought that Ashihara looks a lot like 80's 90's ols school Shotokan.
Yes certain similarities but ashihara guys look like a kyokushin, Wado hybrid maybe
Yes we do.we are ex kyokushin
Yoshinao Nanbu also built his Sankukai and Nanbudo systems around the Sabaki/evasion and Kaiten/turning principles.
Very practical approach.
I’m new to your channel, so forgive me if you’ve covered this already. I heard you say you would consider practicing Goju Ryu if you couldn’t find a Kyokushin dojo. Have you thought about Uechi Ryu? It would seem that as for that combo of a traditional Art, and street application, it’s hard to beat. Appreciate your thoughts. I love this Ashihara style. As a former Judoka, it was great to see the grabs takedowns, and balance control aspect. It was exactly what I was looking for in Shorinji Kempo, but didn’t quite find. 🙏🏼 Great stuff!
Uechi is pretty far removed from Kyokushin in regards to the amount of fighting you’ll do. Uechi is kata heavy.
Great Video & agree. I've been developing my own style Karate Go Jiu-jitsu since 18 and teaching it off & on using the STG method Striking Throwing & Grappling because if you don't have all 3 you don't have a Total Martial Art.
Agree 💯
I am a huge fan of Shidokan.. I will make a video about it. Glad you found the channel!
Sounds like he strengthen the one weakness of Oyama Karate, which is a great system but is mot absolutely complete without good side stepping and body slipping. 🥋
He was Oyama's founding partner 😊
I practiced Kyokushin in my earlier days but switched to Enshin in the mid 90’s. Then, after the Enshin club ceased to exist at the Pacific Northwest,I switched to Muay Thai. Was able to adopt the Enshin Hiki Kuzushi and the 2 handed pull into my MT game - with gloves :) I love all 3 styles I just mentioned but my heart is still with Enshin (!)
By the way, I suggest you take a look at the Enshin (fighting) Katas each student must perfect for belt tests. All fighting movements, full of single, and two handed pulls - followed by elbows and knees - take downs while keeping the opponent in the blind spot.
Edit: at 14:35 take a look at kaicho Ashihara’s left shin block. He blocks and “kicks” the attackers shin back to where it came from :) That’s one way of getting the opponent out of balance. Kaicho Ninomiya (Enshin) also teaches a different variation of that shin block where, you block and absorb the kick with your shin, and step/hop over the opponent’s attacking leg/shin while simultaneously going for the back of the same-side arm and back of the neck (for a “clinch” and take down) Not easy to describe it, even harder to execute it. Kaicho Ninomiya would make it look like playing with a rag doll - in a form of a heavy weight opponent. Truly incredible.
Your content and style is great. I'm a 15 year Wang Chung guy.
Thanks 🙏🏼 that means a lot coming from a well seasoned martial artist
All videos are fun and beautiful. You are an excellent martial arts teacher with high skills and experience in the field of self-defense. I was impatiently waiting for this video. Thank you. I hope for more videos about full-contact karate methods, such as kodo, enshin, and Indonesian silat methods.
They will come! thank you so much for watching and the kind words.
I don't think the grappling in karate katas are too complex; it's more that the context isn't often explained. I was shown some by a Okinawa karate practitioner and found them very easy to grasp. The problem is that most places don't give context behind the kata so you're just learning abstract movement.
I can't disagree with that.
I’ve competed in mma, K1, boxing, Muay Thai, bjj, kyokushin, and enshin aka The Sabaki challenge (north American championships and world tournament). Sabaki techniques are interesting, but it’s crazy how easy it is to break the rules. Also, I’d say that the throws are supposedly from Judo and Sumo, but they’re pretty unique considering you can’t grab both sides at once. Also, you probably should’ve covered Enshin over Ashihara. Ashihara didn’t believe in competition, whereas Ninomiya was huge on competing and won the World Kyokushin Championship.
Nice video and I enjoyed watching your take here. I also agree with you on the kumite part about the importance of grabbing. However you lost me a bit at the kata part. I feel the reason for why traditional kata does not come across as obvious in application is because people are taught that the base techniques are something they actually are not, and then they try to apply them based on that. For example you talked about Soto uke and how the hikite position can be good for power generation but it should be at the head for a street right. This here just kind of shows that you have cemented in your mind that this is a blocking technique for a punch but in reality in kata these are not blocks.
If your base perspective when you think about them is that they are blocks, nothing will make sense or be obvious. Now if you instead consider that a hikite (hand pulled to your hip) in a kata 100% means that you are grabbing and pulling a limb, and that in kata there is only one opponent which ALWAYS starts in front of you in the kata - then suddenly applications seem a lot less hidden and a lot more straight forward. I recommend reading “Kaisai no Genri” which explains a lot of some of the pre assumptions / rules for interpreting kata.
We are “modern” Kajukenbo meaning we are trying to discard Japanese piston punching and old hinge blocks. I think you made some very good points and we will make more adjustments these in mind. Mahalo Y’all! From Plano, Texas
Thanks so much for watching. I’ve seen some amazing stuff out of some Kaju schools and even had some rough sparring sessions years ago with some Kaju guys who were tough as nails.
I love this video, it describes Sabaki addition to Kyokushin in under 20 minutes so well. I was a "karate-baka" for a long time, even to the point of overlooking effectiveness. I had tried Aikido, Shotokan Karate, Muay Thai (i liked this one) but then I tried Kyokushin and absolutely fell in love. Did that for a while but had to move away but nothing else gave me that kind of interest it was such a beautiful and concise martial art !! Then eventually found an Enshin Karate place near me which I did for a couple of years along with BJJ until I had to stop because of work, but during this time I was able to meet Kancho Joko Ninomiya and it was great ! Not until I had tried Enshin did I understand it was an improvement over Kyokushin or an evolution as you mentioned in the video. Just a couple of things, Kyokushin is already rare and difficult to find, Ashihara and Enshin are even more rare as of 2017 when I last checked. Also, Enshin is going with the direction of more grappling by adding groundwork/ Newaza and I don't know if that will dilute the striking aspect. Also, the guy who was supposed to take over from Joko Ninomiya did some bad things and will not be the likely figurehead which may put this style's future in jeopardy. But Kyokushin or Enshin mixed with a little bit of boxing or Muay Thai is a pretty good well-rounded striking art while providing a transition stage to the grappling range.
Also wanted to ask, do you know of any "Kyokushin-like", well rounded Japanese grappling art and any plans to make a video reviewing an art like that ? Something that can be a similar one-stop shop for the ordinary guy and incorporates BJJ groundwork maybe till Purple Belt level, some high percentage Judo throws mixed in for both sport and self defense, maybe takedowns, and also the Combat Jiujitsu palm strikes on the ground to avoid sitting and laying down delaying tactics that we see in BJJ. Judo is big throw focused and takes time to learn compared to BJJ, Sambo is difficult to find and not Japanese, also Sambo may be harder on slightly older guys like me. Havent done any martial arts for almost 7 years now and probably won't since I am 40 and only get a few minutes to myself early morning before my day starts, but it is nice to see these videos and I am glad it came across my feed. I enjoyed it thoroughly. This channel is underrated, I hope it gets more subscribers.
I went from Kyokushin to a couple of years training Capoeira for fun...It wasn't untill I got in a street fight, that I realised just how much my style of fighting had changed, from bull charging in and taking blows to dancing in cirkles around my opponent (I was super 'lucky' it was on the street and not in a bar or I'd have gone down for sure)...I'm 50 now and if I ever get back into Karate, I might look into Ashihara, so thanks for the walk through bud...
Love this video!! I fully agre, I love Karate styles, where you can grab the Gi like Ashihara, Kudo, okinawan Gōjū-ryū and Uechi-Ryū. Huge fan of Kyokushin, but the rule set is so limiting.
Small adjustments go a long way. I love kyokushin but wish it adopted an ashihara approach in terms of the competitions.
@@inside_fighting YES! the sport and style of kyokushin is100% into the philosophy of the Iron Body. I feel that its so much, mush else can be lacking at times .
The thing with "chambering" at the side @ 20:23... You're absolutely correct in what you say, but it goes back to what you said a few moments earlier about people not knowing what the hidden movements in kata are such as grappling and take downs etc and how people not knowing the oku (secrets) means there is something wrong.
It's not really "chambering"....ie, drawing the hand back in preparation to strike. That interpretation is for beginners. That's hikite.... It's supposed to be a pulling motion into the strike with something in the pulling hand. Eg. That hand you chamber is supposed to have a fist full of hair, a lapel or hand/wrist in order to control and direct into the strike.
It's exactly what you pointed out in the beginning of the video where Tori grabbed uke's sleeve to control him and pulled him to avoid the strike. That was a hikite. The fullest expression of the hikite in non karate fighting is the friggin hockey punch. Ie, grabbing the Jersey to control and guide the head and punching the face. Only hikite applies to the whole body. This is why there are so many defense skills that involve defense of a wrist or lapel grab in karate.
In conclusion, hockey players do more authentic karate in a fight than Olympic karatekas do.
Great comment and very enlightening. I wish karate was explained this way everywhere
@@inside_fighting You should check out Iain Abernethy's karate
Ashihara left the Kyokushinkai on his own accord not so much as being expelled. Old school traditional Kyokushin Karate ( before the knock down tournaments) had head punches and throws and grappling.
Yes and many of them were Judo black belts but it seems to have disappeared over the years.
@@inside_fighting yes, that is true.
the first part is similar to the concept of D'Mato(boxing) switch where you position yourself where you opponent cant hit you effectively
Are you talking about Cus? Because Mike Tyson uses Karate concepts in his striking whom Cus helped train.
Cus was a boxing genius imo. I love peekaboo boxing
No sorry... are you a boxer kickboxer?No😔 i think you are karate, judo...why always mike tyson😪, we(boxers/kickboxers) all do this..footwork this is common, first days lessons footwork in boxing/kickboxing gyms basics..footwork/position bla bla is everything.. this is simple footwork we call it side steps etc...every gym practice this..and looot of other footwork like this.....this kind of footwork tyson do it with jumps..or whatewa...this here was not tysons style...and nooot only cus and tyson new for position himself...its lesson number 1 in every gym long time before tyson... nevermid i❤❤you karate guys 👋from boxer(kickboxer)
You're so right. About everything. Literally everything you say is right on, contrary to just about the entirety of UA-cam.
To me this proves you have the real experience it takes to see through all the bull.
Wow… I can’t believe I didn’t hear about this until now! And I thought you are going to talk about Kudo at first, but this is really a whole different thing that offers something really unique and yet important.
Never saw karate form like that!! I guess. It looks more like a set .
Thank you for making this video.
Both Ashihara Karate & World Oyama Karate are better and practical than Kyokushin Karate.
I agrée! Excellent présentation! Thank you!
Would love to have trained Ashihara karate. But never found a school near enough. :0(
00:58 lol dude, you are so weird and funny. I love it! 😂
😂😂 I’m definitely not normal 😂
Jesse Enkamp has a very interesting series of videos on Karate's origins etc. One of which explains how Japanese Karate was adapted to give Japan an equivilent of western boxing i.e something to be proud of etc. The Japanese were going through a period of intense Nationalism and wanted Karate to reflect this and thus many of the moves were adapted to look a certain way so form began to follow function.
I probably did not do great service to his video in the above explanation but it is worth a watch.
wing chun has always done this. it does lack in some areas but it does emphasize foot work and angles. Also watching Jesse whatisname apparently originally karate didn't have many kicks and took them from savate?
Have been away a couple of years, but had been training in AIKO Ashihara since 2012 - I went to Ashihara as it was the closest thing I could find to a system I trained in for years that ecompassed Ju-Jutsu, Knockdown style Karate & Boxing.
I tried Kyokushin for a while, very good at what they do but found it too linear and missed the clinching & throwing. The system I trined in was AIKO Ashihara, HQ in Netherlands. The Head of the Ord is Dave Jonkers, who also coached Semmy Schilyt to 5 K1 titles, so our training also involves a fair amount of kickboxing.
Sounds like a dream school to train at.
In the pre pandemic days I did ashihara for a little bit, I still remember the first training session there. After warming up we did doubleleg into side control to a kimura.
I instantly fell in love
Keep in mind there is competition or tournament-style fighting, even long-time challenge matches with your opponent right in front of you in linear attacks and some styles didn't even have a roundhouse kick as opposed to an anything goes streetfight or mugging often with multiple attackers and weapons.
SABAKI KARATE OSSS! The way of the circle.
Love me some karate content :p glad to see ashihara, especially since its related to my beloved kyokushin but i dont know all that much about it
It’s very close to kyokushin which i love as well
This control in 9:30 (holding clothing to keep the distance and the arm controlled, and circling by using it as an axis) is key when attacked by chaotic fighters, very helpful for self-defense. It allows you to be on the outside while preventing and guiding (if done right) the one arm of the attacker from striking. Ashihara is a powerhouse and is worth the money in the long run.
Great input and very much agree. Wish it was near me.
@@inside_fighting Having a Kyokushin background, will make you feel at home!
In regards to kata (that I love for various reasons) there is schizophrenia in the martial arts; as you said in other words, they put so much time in it, but then do things completely different when sparring and even in self-defense. That's what you get when you do not know what your art was initially for, with what mentality and you are trying to float in a tsunami of more practical arts.
In the transition from gi to street clothes, is there a possibility that the grabbing might be more difficult to effectively achieve?
Thanks for giving ashihara and enshin some well deserved attention!
I trained in tkd, 50 years ago, in Korea. I have no idea if anyone still trains as my 5th Dan instructor did. Anyone who "thinks' that those guys were nothing much has never seen jack squat. I saw the man stop a pig's heart with a single spearhand thrust behind its foreleg. Two guys held it outstretched on the ground. Moon went to one knee, struck and that thing squealed, struggled a few seconds and died. He trained for it with single finger pushups until you got TIRED of watching and also would thrust his spear hand down into a box of gravel, halfway to his elbow. I had trained for 9 months, tried it and got my fingers 2" into the gravel and hurt them badly. I could do 10 or more single finger and thumb pushups at the time. I also saw Moon grab a guy who was about 50% bigger than him by the pecs and lift him off of the ground. The guy was helpless and screaming in pain
The 6th Dan who was the black belt testing judge in Yongsan for the Moo Duk Kwan branch of the TKD association was huge for a Korean. When you shook his hand, it felt like a bunch of nuts and bolts tied together with wire, I was sure that his hands were nothing more than clubs, but i saw him open a combination padlock with full dexterity.
Nice video, thanks. I train at an a shtokan dojo. Kinda similar. We use 45 degree angles more than circle and we do grab and throw a lot. Wish Shotokan addressed leg kicks more. Thanks again
This is very interesting to me, Especially the discussion of old school Shotokan.
I studied Budokukan Kempo karatein the early 80's. I don't remember all the framing and the crabbing , although we did a lot of sweeps. What I do remember was being told to NEVER go straight forward or straight back. We were told to shift stances primarily laterally and diagonally.
We also liked throwing knees.
Brilliant video!! Excellent commentary and analysis.
Really appreciate that.
1. Kudo Daido Juku (kyokushin with head punches and klinch judo with ground fighting chokes and submmitions ... mma with head gear and gi) , 2. Ashihara (kyokushin with throws and klinch), 3. Enshin (kyokushin with head punches), 4. Kyokushin (full contact karate)... all efective, but in that order from the best.
If you like circular footwork and takedowns so much, please look at Wado Ryu as well, especially their Ohyo kumite and the practice based on that. I think it is based less on toughness and more on mobility, but you will find it interesting.
I'm 71 and I can still cave in a man's face with a punch that only moves 3". I've never seen anyone emphasize what Moon called 'short power" but its a great answer when you're fighting a grappler, especially when on the ground,, especially then the spear hand or spade hand is employed to the outside of arm or thigh, inside of thigh, the neck, the armpit, up under the breastbone or the ribs, When in a car, or on the ground, you often have no room in which to generate real striking power. With proper training, however you dont need that room. Moon taught us to incorporate that training into our starting position, chumbe chase, I think it's called in Korean, but ours is 10x more disciplined than any other i"ve seen in the past 50 years.
One of kancho western students ( he’s in the blue book) was in the SAS and travelled to Davao city where he trained in combat Arnis . When he went back to visit kancho he couldn’t tell the difference or seperate the arts , the energy flowed together making it a very dangerous military knife and bolo system. Since then his students coming from other backgrounds added the leopard grappling or shredder developed Tom’s high extreme by Richard Dimitri . It’s evolving in Australia/ Gold Coast especially since so many military use it on missions
as someone who’s done Ashihara for 18yr, thanks for the feature!
A-mazing! I think there's a dojo in Brooklyn and I'm reaching out.
YESSSSSSSSSS!
Can you do a video on Bagua and Capoeira?
Both styles I’d love to cover yes. I have some experience in both
Great video as always can you make deep dive analysis about kudo
Absolutely
Osu
The clip around 9 min is Shihan Dai Валерий Рыжков from Russia, who sadenly passed away in April this year.
The fight at 17.45 min is between Alexander Lavrushin from Russia and Enrico Rogge from Germany. Both very strong Ashihara fighters, who also have done a lot of kickboxing and Thai boxing fights later in their career.
I like your silat drills sir peace
Thanks very much
Yeah, if I was to start all over I would definitely consider Ashihara or Enshin.
pretty much before any others forms of karate or even striking arts, A very good, no bs, approach. Emphasis on simple, straightforward,techniques and an ability to give and take punishment. I think it’s simply fundamental. Doesn’t mean you have to destroy yourself but ya can’t ignore having some experience with being hit and dealing with resistance either. As long as they’ve been around they’re not the most common styles though.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on some Silat arts. A lot of good stuff but also suffering from some of the same overemphasis on what I’d call “creative movement for its own sake”. Still, lots of short range stuff, elbows especially, a “defanging the snake” emphasis, sweeps and rather sophisticated forms of footwork. As well, WW 2 combatives, Actually some really brutal technique but I would imagine there’s also some that aren’t so “war like” for lack of a better term. Fairbairn, Charles Nelson, Bill Underwood, Carl Cestari, to name a few. Just some ideas.
Really good, analytical video. Thx
ashihara karate is great and was created by Hideyuki Ashihara (who was a from Kyokushin). in my book Ashihara is kyokushin but with out tradinal kata ect. and with movment that are more naturel and kumite frinedly.
Excellent analysis of Ashihara. Really enjoyed it.
Besides grabbing for takedowns, I have seen Ashihara practitioners also use of foot sweeps and tripping for takedowns a lot. Very effective.
Suggestions:
1/ Next to Ashihara, Enshin and Kudo, there is another offshoot of Kyokushin that may be interesting to look in to: Shidokan Karate. A full-contact knock down style of karate that includes Muay Thai and grappling elements. Unfortunately, like the other offshoots, it is not practiced very widely.
2/ And for something different, Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. For example, Chow Gar Tong Long style. Seems to have parallels to Filipino Martial Arts arms use.
Keep up the good work.
Enjoy Portugal. Beautiful country
Thanks so much. I will research chow gar as it has been brought up a few times now and I’d love to see the connection to Filipino arts movements
@@inside_fighting Cool. Enjoy the deep dive
You should do Miyagi-Do (Goju Ryu) vs Cobra Kai - Do (Tang Soo Do)
I absolutely can :) thank you for the recommendation
Please do a video on "Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu" I would love to hear your thoughts and see you performing some really good taihen kihon jutsu!
I will 🙏🏼
Are you interested in weapons based martial arts ? Because if you are you can train in Jogo Do Pau . I figure since you are in Portugal you can make a video of that Portuguese martial art .
Yes very much so and i wanted to find a place out here to go shoot a video
I would actually argue to the counter. They are not modernising karate in ashihara. My opinion is that actually, they returned it to what it was originally in Okinawa, resembling a much more complete form of self-defense. Much like a complete form of Jujutsu. Stirkes, takedowns, throws, and groundwork had a place. This is my favourite form of karate that i have seen demonstrated. It's evasive, intelligent, and complete.
@14:30 Very true, learning forward wrecks your structure and turns your punch into an upper body powered strike, but with structure punch you use all the weight of the body