if you drive there are a few dojos about an hour drive or less from you. I think there may even be some in Pittsburgh.
http://www.kyokushin4life.com/forum.../dojo-homepage/2116-harvey-dojo-pittsburgh-pa
dojo in Boardman:
http://www.uskyokushin.com/dojos.htm
I will have to register with Kyokushin4Life in order to see if that information is still valid (the year of that thread is 2007). But thanks for the info all the same. Other than that, I would have to drive for 4 hours to Ohio to train with some Daido Juku/Kudo guys and about 5 hours to Virginia to train with some Enshin Karate guys. I'll take whatever I can get but Ashihara Karate and Daido Juku are the two arts that I really, really like the most.
If I had the opportunity I probably would, for instance if it was local to me I would most probably go. There is a daido juku / kudo dojo in West London I could go to, but it's not the easiest access for me.
Same here and I am not content with traveling there once or twice per month to train with them. Some people will say
Some training is better than
No training at all. But you cannot develop really well if all you can get is two or three days of training per month.
But again as mentioned before, I'm quite happy with knockdown karate and its full contact bare knuckle aspect, and how it develops you mentally and physically all while relatively saving brain cells, unlike let's say boxing.
Understood and agree.
Kudo would have that issue too, so I would dab in it sometimes like I do boxing or muay thai, but it wouldn't be my main sport in which I would like to compete.
But it's all a personal choice really.
I'm not so sure that Kudo would be on the same level as Boxing when it comes to the
brain cells risk aspect. In fact, I remember reading a research article about two (or maybe three) months ago saying that
American Football (meaning the NFL) and Western,
Professional boxing incur more concussions and brain damage than professional MMA. And the conclusion (which I mostly agreed with) is because football and boxing are
Head-Hunting Sports compared to Martial Arts and MMA.
I have been searching and searching and searching for any type of article, review, research or biographical material that point to a high brain attrition rate like how you get with American Football and Pro Boxing. I have yet to find anything.
The one issue that seems to come up regularly (based on my own research) is that the Kudo helmet fits the head in such a way that although the face is protected from structural damage, a person can still feel a sort of
"shockwave effect" from blows to the face and they particularly feel it in the nose and chin. I've also read that a person can still get knocked out and get their bell rung which is obvious anyway and to be expected so that is not surprising or necessarily discouraging news to me.
But I agree with you that Kudo is not something that I would want to fight in every week let alone everyday. If given the opportunity, I would spar under Kudo rules two times per month maximum with once a month being more ideal. And truth be told, you don't necessarily have to train in Kudo in order to spar under Kudo rules. All you need is the helmet and other protective gear that they wear and a partner who agrees to spar with you under Kudo rules.
I also agree with you that too much sparring in this manner can be a
HUGE risk on the brain cells, but I also believe that to spar like that every so often keeps you more
"street ready" and getting used to fighting a brawler. Once or twice per month should be good enough for that IMO.
If you do find a willing partner to spar every once in a while in this manner just remind each other that neither one of you are in a Kudo competition so no need to spar like the winner will be crowned world sparring champion.
Safety First!