I often find it strange how much people focus on Kyokushin not having head punches. Well, sure, that's an obvious limitation when it comes to a street fight, an mma match, etc., but just about any martial art will have such limitations. Boxing doesn't teach kicks, but that doesn't make it bad martial art. BJJ doesn't teach striking, but nobody's saying that BJJ is ineffective because of that. The question shouldn't be what a particular martial art doesn't teach you, but how well the stuff works that it does teach. A competitive Kyokushin fighter will have good and powerful kicks. He knows how to deal damage with unprotected fists. He'll be used to the pressure and pain of a full contact fight. He'll have good stamina and general athleticism. Is that enough to win an MMA match? Of course not, but he'll have a good head start on somebody without such training. And to be honest: extremely few people have the time and physical capability to become good fighters in all areas anyways. To become truly good at boxing, kicking, takedowns, grappling, and at the same time being a strong athlete with great stamina would require training on a professional level unless you're some kind of super prodigy.

I’m a police officer in Miami. 34 yrs ! My Kyokushin & Judo training have repeatedly saved my arse many a time ...

I teach Kudo in Japan and I would have to agree with pretty much everything you said. The equipment and rules of Kudo make it a very different dynamic to mma. The headgear certainly has various advantages and disadvantages. Its great for practicing elbows. But some people do tend to get sloppy in their defence and over reckless in their attacks. You have to force yourself to be aware of this and train with more precision. But the headgear is also one of the reasons that I chose Kudo over mma. with the headgear I can wear contact lenses when I fight. It sure helps being able to see your opponent.😄Also I can compete in a tournament and go to work the next day without looking like I was in a car accident! Kudo grappling is very different to mma. Not so wrestling intensive. So to transition from kudo to mma would require a lot of no gi grappling.

Hi Ramsey, I want to make some clarifications on Kudo and MMA. I am a former boxer, judoka, karateka, practicing bjj and a fan of Kudo. Kudo is primarily a martial art and a combat sport, MMA is a sporting context where combat takes place, this is the first distinction. Kudo, as a martial art, wants to give to the athlete a complete technical background, in a sporting context, that tries to reproduce the realistic and effective dynamics of a street confrontation. For this reason, the hand is without glove or mini-glove, the clinch must last a few seconds, and on the ground you have a few seconds to finish and for a few attempts. The consequences of this regulation create unique dynamics, both in the strikes and in the throws, both in the timings and in the ways. If it is true that the helmet does not make the athlete feel the risk (which is not true because with the kudo helmet you still go KO), it is also true that the martial artist has the opportunity to express all his technical and emotional ability without that it is excessively tainted by fear, indeed the athlete has the opportunity to experience the dynamics of a confrontation in full contact and with the chaos of a realistic fight, putting his safety at a minimum risk. MMA, as mentioned, are a sports context, where the athlete can draw, to win the opponent, the technical baggage that he deems most appropriate, based on his own characteristics and it follows that a striker remains mainly a striker and a grappler a grappler, trying to force the fight into his area of competence. But this differentiation, "striking" and "grappling", is an artifice, nature does not make this distinction, and neither does reality, the human being strikes and grapple without differences or distincions. One last thing about kudo is that it has a etiquette, a philosophy, an approach to combat and life. I still compete in MMA today, but kudo is another planet. I hope I have been of help to someone. Thanks for listening to me. Hi Ramsey!

Andy Hug was THE MAN. That axe kick and his flexibility was awesome. RIP AH

So many people consider that kyokushin not having head hand strikes is a fatal flaw but, in my own humble opinion, thats exactly what makes it such a GREAT martial art to practice and more specifically COMPETE in

How did I miss this LOL GSP one of the best ever to step in to the octagon. Third degree Black Belt in Kyokushin .... Most people don't stick with Kyokushin it's a pretty hard on the body.. Keep on keeping coach thanks

I like Kyokushinkai because it has all the good qualities of the toughest stand up fighting with a lot less head impact and damage. I think that is one reason why it is popular with professionals such as lawyers, doctors and so on who want to enjoy hard fight training without getting the brain banged up. Yes, of course you can find arguments about how it is lacking head punches but that is its strength as much as its weakness. Kudo is a nice extension to Kyokushinkai and is why a lot of Kyokushinkai fighters are also going to Kudo. The only downfall I see with Kudo is that like Mr Dewey said the head gear does NOT stop the brain from bouncing around and getting damaged. It stops the face from getting cut up though. But like American football and all the brain damage they have been dealing with I think in the long run it is still important to be really careful of the accumulated head contact. But the Kudo way of teching the wide range of techniques is really nice, like a more disciplined Kyokushinai approach to MMA which usually has no real formal etiquette. So for me Kudo is like MMA with all the good mental disciplines of Kyokushinkai (which is a lot of the time not present in mma schools) and a really nice range of techniques.

I started to train Kudo because my previous kyokushin master advised me to. He said it's a natural transition from something more traditional to mma. It's just a step, but an important one. With the helmet, you can get used to get hit in the face and you can get a very strong base for competing in mma. He advised me also to take at the same time bjj classes, so that I can improve also my ground techniques faster than the normal kudo pace.

I trained in Kyokushin Karate for 5 years with a friend of mine who was a black belt in Kyokushin. I was training in kickboxing when I first started learning martial arts and my friend thought I should learn Kyokushin as it compliments and ads more to my style of fighting. Since then Kyokushin has always been my base style and I am now doing more Kyokushin training by myself as I just work out and train with a bag and spar with who ever wants to go 1v1.

You can always tell a legit kyokushin fighter by an amateur by their body. They litteralky feel like punching a tractor tire. Part of what makes them so insanely effective is they have pushed their body's to the utmost peak of one simple concept to deliver the hardest hit possible while being able to take the hardest hit possible.

Hey there Ramsey, just gotta preface with love your videos, always great insight. So I've been studying martial arts since the age of 5 ish. Black belt in shudokan and Kyokushin karate and Just this last year I started picking up dutch kickboxing at a local MMA gym to supplement my training and it's been a very interesting and enlightening ride adapting one style to the other and learning how to blend them into a cohesive method which I am still working on leveling out. A few points I've taken away from the whole experience is that I've been able to examine both the weaknesses and strengths of Kyokushin through my recent training and what I've found is that Kyokushin's specific brand of training and conditioning favors powerful short combos or singular strikes, short bursts and overall toughness. I've found that most of the people I train kickoboxing with even when throwing a little harder just aren't prepared for the amount of force I seem to generate (when I can actually connect) or how much I can just tank through most shots. However therein lies the weakness I've been trying to correct. Kyokushin does not particularly excel at flow or volume of techniques and I've had a slow adjustment phase to keeping my guard up at a constant and overall heightened level of movement as well as adjusting to the constant barrage of distracting blows to the head and face which is disorienting. Kyokushin fighters tend to be very rooted, very strong but somewhat immobile and focused on forward momentum. Anyway sorry for the giant book of a comment. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on my observations.

The founder of kudo insists it is a martial art, a budo, not cage prize fighting. Headbutts and groin kick are allowed, limited time on the ground because he wanted to emulate the chaos of reality 1 on 1 confrontation that goes rather quick and unorganized ...hence the special protection gear that allows all that. There is no amateur or pro debate, just a fight based martial art, that you can practice and have a normal working day to day life without looking like a low profile morron with a bruised face. No ego, not for fame, not for money not for glory, not for Instagram.

i really want to learn Kudo, and now I have a few things to think about with your intelligent insight. You really know your stuff Ramsey, thanks so much for sharing.

Andy Hug the Blue eyes samurai, a porwerfull karateka and master of masters. Never give up. R.I.P. OSU

Do you like kyokushin? You teach alot of things I hear in kyokushin dojo and you're humble like a kyokushin fighter. Very similar and that's why I like your videos

Ever head of Shidokan Karate... the founder is Yoshiji Soeno. It’s called the triathlon of the martial arts. One round Kyukashin, one round K-1 kickboxing, and the last round is no-gi grappling. George St.Pierre has a black belt in this.

It's interesting because I had an argument with my partners about this issue a few years ago. I used to train in Kudo and I noticed that people tend to be more Reckless, ignoring some offenses to the head. As a consequences their guard and stances were more open. The vision is also different with the gear: the angle being narrower. In Mma or in street fight, even a small jab can cut your eye or knock you out, that's why I recommend to train with and without headgear. It's the same with Kyokushin, because when you don't have to worry about punches you're in some kind of confort zone and you're vulnerable to certain techniques or angles. Thats why certain techniques are forbidden in Mma because they are too dangerous and too easy to pull off ( attack to the joint, eye jab etc...) Every style has its rules and limitation.

Coming from a traditional Kyokushinkai background, I really started taking modern Kyokushin seriously when I started watching a lot of bas rutten and seeing his style and explanations of his style. He’s my favorite fighter and he took his style from Roman Dekkers, Mike Tyson, and Kyokushin along with shoot-wrestling, tkd, and Muay Thai/kickboxing.

Hello Ramsey, First time I've watched any of your videos and I must say I will subscribe immediately. It is very good. I am a Kudo Black belt from the time it was called Daido Juku. I teach in Liverpool England. I like your description of Kudo and yes to a great degree what you've said about the helmet is accurate. I also appreciate that you recognise the difference between soft tissue damage and trauma...a point not many know. The only thing I have to point out is that whilst that false sense of protection does exist and you get the Gung go attitude, the scoring system in Kudo reflects a real world scenario. KUDO SCORES the lowest score (Koka) to 2-3 unanswered solid hits to the helmet. Direct trauma hits create a distinct pop in the helmet which is a sign of direct hits. The next stage of the scoring is Yuko which is given if there are more than 3 unanswered strikes to the helmet which causes whiplash movements or knee on the mat and so on so forth (next points are wazari and ippon) So Kudo recognises but only awards points to damaging shots so to speak. So the less experienced and sloppy fighters get caught out eventually. This is true of any sport, ie the top ranked in any sport are the ones with the best technique. Kudo is well and truly an art and sport in one. It is a sport in the sense that anyone can compete in it, and it is an art in the sense it teaches self defence in a very realistic scenario..

Thank you much Mr. Ramsey on Kyokushin and Kudo karate.. From my understandig on Kyokushin karate : it is an excellent way to harden and toughen your body , getting used on taking punches with no gloves and no protection on on your body and excellent leg striking techniques . So they say its a valid base style gor mma with adding some boxing and judo , judo ne eaza or bjj . Kudo is based mainly on Kyokushin and Judo but the founder of Kudo added also boxing and maybe bjj as will. In their competition its pretty much mma with gi and also head buts allowed. May be thats why the gear is a must . I think it can fit very will in mma may be they need a little upgrade ..... Again I appreciate your feedback .Take care

I only have 3 people with the KZfaq bell active, Coach Dewey's one of them. Great knowledge base, really thoughtful. Cheers bro.

Hi Ramsey i enjoy your videos great stuff..very informative practical and unbiased...

I train in both kyokushin and judo and from what I’ve learned from researching Kudo was that they do a lot of clinch work. Several people mentionned using headbutts to effectively distract or create distance, they do a lot of striking and kicking while grabbing which is facilitated by the gi, etc. For amateur fighters, I think it’s a good alternative for people who want a good training while not risk getting overly injured.

I can see why you would think that about the headgear, but I disagree. I think what a lot of people arent aware of is that Kudo combat is only one 3 minute round, with an additional round granted if the fighters are judged as a draw. It is this aspect of the sport that encourages the aggression and perhaps "recklessness" that you see, its because youve only got 3 minutes to either knock your opponent out or convice the judges that you deserve to win. Some may view this as a positive aspect for spectators - kudo fights are rarely boring or stalling. On the other hand, some may rightly criticize that this reduces tactical aspects, perhaps. But its worth considering the context within which kudo was formed. Kudo is very, very serious about street fighting. This is why you wear a gi (whens the last time someone got into a real fight, naked bar their bicycle shorts and vaseline? Most of us wear clothing and you should learn how to use clothing in grappling and throwing), this is why headbutts are allowed, its why the clock is so short to encourage aggression.

Kyokushin is kyokushin # 1 full contect martial art I Love kyokushin 1000 times

Good video, thanks for sharing. PS: thanks for mentioning Andy Hug, one my all-time favorites as well.

Nice video, I myself have Brown belt in Kyokushin and think that it has some good perks and also flaws, but it take the flaws with a big smile because the perks makes it worth it. By the way, in my kyokushin dojo we can train kumite/sparring with punches to the heads sometimes, to get that practice as well, so i believe that it depends a lot on which dojo that you chose. Kyokushin also gives you excellent striking technique, since we are often forced to sparr/train without gloves, we have to naturally learn to really punch correct with precision etc, which i think is essential in a street fight situation where you don't have gloves, it will be more natural for a kyokushin fighter to not break his hand/wrist etc due to bad angle or precision. I love mma, muay thai and boxing but I have also witnessed that a lot of those fighters don't have as accurate or solid punches once they take their gloves off, because they are so used to only sparr and punch with big gloves. It's actually a complete different thing once you take them of which is surprising. The timing, the weight, the feel, the precision, everything. However we should respect all martial arts, and especially the traditional older ones since they are the roots for today's modern mma.

From the outside, kudo looks like a way to pratice high intensity often, with relative safety, in a sporting enviroment and with a large dose of realism thrown in. Id love to try it!!

Great video, thank you. From kyokushin practitioner from Vietnam 😊

Hi coach Ramsey Dewey great perspective on Kudo and Kyokushin Karate. Kudo Karate was developed by the late master Azuma Takashi whom in turn he himself was a Judo third dan black belt, also a Kyokushin Karate black belt who later on added elements of boxing, Boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling and Jujutsu and thus ultimately becoming 'Kudo'! As for the legendary Kickboxing champion, 'The Blue Eyed Samurai' Sensei Andy Hug was indeed a Kyokushinkaikan Karate fourth dan black belt, also since you mentioned K-1 Kickboxing rules here in your video, Sensei Andy Hug was the 1996 K-1 World Grand Prix champion, as well as the 1998 K-1 World Grand Prix finalist against the phenomenal Peter Aerts who won that year, of the Netherlands 🇳🇱. Nowadays coach Ramsey Dewey, Kyokushin Karate organisations such as the KWF (Kyokushin World Federation), whose inaugural parent organisation is the EKF (European Kyokushin Federation) has gone back to our Kyokushin Karate founder Sosai Oyama Masutatsu's original vision of having fighting with face punches. As such the Kyokushin World Federation (KWF) has launched its own Kickboxing circuit with boxing gloves to allow full contact punches to the head, including back fists, spinning back fists, knees, kicks, no elbows, minimal, limited time clinching, essentially K-1 Kickboxing rules, which itself emanates from Seidokikan Karate, an offshoot Karate style from Kyokushin Karate. The KWF's (Kyokushin World Federation) Kickboxing circuit is called '戦士' (せんし) Senshi which is the Japanese word for warrior literally. So nowadays many Kyokushin Karate dojos including that of my Shihan (師範) master we incorporate Muay Thai/Kickboxing punches, elbowing to face,knees to the face, legs, body, clinching and throwing to the floor. This was all along Sosai Oyama Masutatsu's ultimate desire for the evolution of Kyokushin Karate eventually, prior to his death. Our dojo although being predominantly and primarily a Kyokushin Karate school, we also offer Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, in addition to Muay Thai/Kickboxing classes as we cannot afford to necessity of such skills, plus the popularity and demand for mixed martial arts training. Awesome videos as always Coach Ramsey Dewey, with all due respect you remind me of the legendary Gordon Liu, from The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and his other Shaw Brothers Kung Fu films classics, Osu🇲🇽🇦🇺🙏🥋!

So cool that you would mention Andy Hug! My father grew up with him and I even met him myself once, but unfortunately I was too young to remember...

kyokushin without face punches is what made their karatekas incredibly tough to begin with. Add face punches then its just going to be bareknuckle dutch kickboxing (which also came from kyokushin)

stumbled on this video and you are both very accurate and articulate with what you said. Ramsey if you or your viewers have any questions please feel free to ask. i am one of the very few Kudo Black Belts in the United States.

I do Kyokushin mainly tournament training but also kickboxing rules are done in our dojo. Benefits for no head punches are obviously the lack of brain trauma but something I don't see brought up is the lack of use of gloves for blocking. In kickboxing rounds I see people use their gloves in a way that wouldn't work as soon as gloves are out of the picture.

Kyokushin is Bad ASS

I know the video is quite old .But i would like to share my thoughts on the differences between MMA and Kudo. I practiced and still practice these two sports and I think both of them are awesome. I discover kudo through mma .I liked mma but i was missing the gi to use more my judo and jiujitsu background.At the same time i didn't want to practice judo again because of the way the rules change over the last few year (lack of groundork and no more legs attack). So my mma teacher taught me about kudo that was also taught in my club.So i gave it a try thinnking it will be easy due to my background both in mma and grapling with gi. And yeah indeed i didn't felt lost on the mat but the feelings were completely different.Actualy you can use the gi in so many way during the clinch situation ,this change a lot from mma.also the fact that in competition kudo fight are lot shorter force you to fight at an higher rytm while the helmet is actually making breathing harder. Now i practice both and think both are awesome ,i love to fight with a gi in kudo ,but on the other hand i love the longer fight in mma. So if you practice any of this two sports it could be really useful to try the other one.I also realised that people practicing kudo are more often from japanese martial art background witch mean that you have to fight people with a stance and a way to move that you don't always face in mma.

I don't agree Kudo is like amateur MMA fighting, rather it's more like an approximation of skilled street fighting. coming from kyokushin, that makes sense too.

Kyokushin-Kan Karate still practices "Shinken Shobu". This type of kumite practice the use of head punches. Though the elbows to the head are still not allowed.

One thing people never keep in mind when talking about the "practicality" FoR Da StReEt of these forms of competition is that Kyokushin is a lot closer to the *pace* of actual violence. That is something in its favor if people are looking for reasons to put a square peg in a round hole with the martial art and self defense question, as they always are.

GSP gave a lot of credit for his fundamentals to his Kyoshin background, for example the way he steps into is lead jab with the wide stance and then readjusts his stance or uses the wide stance off the power jab to drop into a takedown

I feel like with Kyokushin it is much easier to transition into MMA since it combines both the boxing style punches in my dojo we practice punching to the head using palm strikes like pancrase. An example of a really good kyokushin practitioner in MMA rn is Tenshin Nasukawa he's fighting for Rizin right now and he has a really good stand up game.

Hey Brother I just found your channel and love the content. To make the original question more specific, what do you think of Kyokushin in regards to self defense?

Hey Ramsey, I love your work! I was wondering how do you feel about Panantukan/Filipino Boxing? I have been practicing it for a few months now and I just wanted your opinion on the martial art.

Give kyokushin a try. It has a unique thing to teach and it isn't something i can describe to you, they train their hearts and bodies and the result is very particular. I'm sure other styles have a similar result but there is something special about kyokushin Ramsey I think you will resonate with it truly. Please try it man it's great stuff and you won't know what I mean entirely until you train it and try it out. Osu.

Kyokushin is the reason for "Dutch kickboxing". The first kickboxing teachers in the Netherlands were Kyokushin teachers and the style has been and still is very popular in my country. They pretty much added western boxing to the kicks/knees/liver shots of Kyokushin. Kyokushin has great leg kicks/spinning kicks and it's a very hard style. I've been practicing it since i was a kid but it's very hard on the body so i switched to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Osu!

Kudo is mma, kyokushin is karate. OSU! 🥋

I think transitioning from one sport to another will always be challenging. If the sports have similar characteristics and qualities than the transition may not be as hard. In regards to Kyokushinkai, many Dutch Muay Thai fighters have a Kyokushinkai background. UFC veteran Gerard Gordeauo was a Kyokushinkai fighter who competed in Kyokushinkai tournaments. I do know some Japanese Shoot-fighters and even some MMA fighters, past and present, have Kyokushinkai backgrounds. But, just because some Kyokushinkai fighters have made a transition from their sport to MMA or Muay Thai doesn't necessarily the transition will be easy for everyone.

informative!! great video

*I'm just glad they removed the headgear* in Olympic Boxing. Those things gets in the way more than helping the fighter.

nice perspective ramsey ...I think those karate styles would do well in MMA.....was the sabaki challenge kyokushin??

Have you ever done any voice acting?

A lot of great scientific points raised with logic and reason on the technicalities of gear or without gear. However, most Kyokushin fighters do go onto professional fighting and a lot of the techniques hold strong during these fights. Kudo and Shinken Shobu included. Check out almost all the Kyokushin fighters that enter K1 or bareknuckle (with takedown and submissions). Lots of pro fighters from these styles of karate.

What Kyokushinkai mostly brings to the game, is physical toughness and endurance ... where you can take bare knuckle bodyshots. So it is an excellent basis to move onward from ... where I trained back in the day they also mixed in boxing training and during sparring we wore mouth guards and gloves and allowed punching to the head ...but I also know that many schools train only traditional forms ... and even though I like Kyokushinkai, those fights are boring as it is basically 2 guys walking forward while punching most of the time.

Hi. I realy like your approach. What do you think about silat?

Kudo and Kyokushin Karate, along with Lethwei (both traditional and modern ruleset), might be a good combo, because you get good striking skills, and good break falls (ukemi), through practice, and through training.

Kudo is karate and judo. Kyokushin and judo

Hello Ramsey my question is I’m a big fan of yours my question is, is American Kempo Karate affective as a self defence art for the street? This is is Omar. As a practitioner of this art I was wondering if you could answer my question I know it has good concepts principles and theories but I would like you to take a look at this art as a whole and would love to hear your feedback

Kyokushinkai was the best to me, it’s what I train. It does all 3 types of karate kumite along with a unique one which is basically mma with no protective gear (stopped in open tournaments due to rumors of permanent injuries and death) but still allowed in-dojo. Basically it allowed punches, elbows, and any other strike to the head allowed as well as free grappling. However it does put more emphasis kata than modern Kyokushin by far. Too bad many dojo’s don’t still practice the traditional Kyokushinkai style. Still kinda sucks that they even got rid of a lot of the grappling (stems from kodokan judo and Okinawan wrestling from Goju-ryu with some jujutsu and aikijutsu joint manipulations from shotokan, in the original art )

Kudo is mix of judo and kyokushin I believe!. Its a style I would really would love to learn. Sadly there isn't a single kudo dojo in our state!.

Kudo is one of the most efficient martial arts.it has strikes, grappling and ground fighting techniques rolled into one.its very similar to mma in many ways.

Thank you for the video. I practice Kyokushin my self almost 10 years, after a lot of martial Arts styles then I found Kyokushin and i fall in love with it, and Lechi Karbanov is my favorite legend. Kudo sems interesting though, but I have question to ask what is the difference between kudo and combat Sambo except the GI can you pls advice ? Thank you

Question for you, do you feel it can be harmful to the body to take that many body shot like they do in Kyokushin fights? The number of body shots they take is really crazy

Good you mentioned Andy Hug. You can look at the modern UFC, and the champions, the middleweight champion also comes from Kyokushin :D Check this guy MMA/UFC champion trained Kyokushin - Georges St-Pierre Now, Andy Hug and all of the other people from Kyokushin had one BIG problem - they weren't used to head movement and hitting the head with punches, that took a bit of training. What is about Kyokushin that's different is that it's REAL. FULL CONTACT, stuff that works. Yo ulive the facnu butterfly kicks out. My instructor can't do this kind of shit, some of them can't really do a kick where you turn around and kick the head with you hill - that's a bit fancy ish, I mean, good if you can do it... but they fight simple. Their body is trained to take A LOT OF PUNISHMENT. Look at GSP from the UFC - he said that, you hit him and he doesn't feel anything because of the training. Now, I'm not saying Kyokushing is GOD, I trained it... but like anything... it's how you train. So Kyokushin training is VERY effective. A boxer or Kyokushin might have same resistance to a punch... but a Wing Chung... he will break if you throw a beginners punch - that has been proven anyway. Kung Fu guys are just average guys that are just more flexible and can do acrobatics. That's it, they aren't really trained fighters. I trained Kyokushing for like 3-4years... and then I was just curious what about other martial arts. So I went to some randome Karate class, and there was this guy, much bigger and heavier I'm 6ft skinny, and that guy had a black belt. Somehow, even tho I'm not a black belt, I kicked his ass. Hmmmm. It was pretty strange. I mean, yeah.... and I'm far from a real black belt in Kyokushin, but in the other karate I would have been a black belt lol Handle black belts like candy to kids, just make sure you pay for it - meh, you can get a black belt for 2dollars off amazon lol Like anything else, you need to adapt. However, if you get Kyokushin, Boxing and grappling stuff, you can go into MMA. If you know what I mean.

Check out Zendokai (not the Australian Zen Do Kai). It's Kudo with less rules and much more ground heavy, thus affording to know BJJ much more.

So you do alot of videos of what one would do to transition to MMA from another fighting sport. Have you done any vids on what one would have to do to transition from MMA instead of to it. I really like vids where you talk about different transitions an athlete must go through

IT would seem that Kudo is similar to Shidokan which is Kyokushin + Jutsu. I started in Kyokushin. I loved how even weekly kumite in dojo was a FIGHT. The punches and kicks were hard and heavy. The sensei was hard, but fair, and did not allow people below his standards to earn kyus untill they reached the standards. It after all is a full contact. It spared my head (namely the brain). As somebody with early childhood brain damage (imflamation) I suffer glass chin syndrome =C. So for developing teen back in 2000's Kyokushin training had lots of psychological and physical benefits, without making the computer even worse, than it was. Also If nothing else it shows you your own limits and so you can push them.

Good video. Also kudo also know as daidojuku has deep roots with kyokushin karate and judo.

I have a question, do you think that there is any TMA, that would do good in MMA in it's pure unaltered form??? Thank you.

I gotta say Kudo is my favorite contact sports competition and martial art competition. I think it is very entertaining, very realistic and at the same time very safe. For me its closer to reality than MMA...although people will disagree because you dont have the pain and knockout level of MMA. But hands are better conditioned in Kudo for real punching, the same Ramsay says about headgear, taking it off gives you a different performance, same happens with boxing gloves and MMA gloves too..for example most people couldnt throw an over head circular punch without gloves without hurting their hands. I like the limited time in the ground too, it makes it very dynamic and you dont have to smash your opponents head if you are in the mount, just show dominance and that your strikes are landing, that will score, so it is very safe in that regard. The main problem for me is grappling i the ground...head gear then is just baaaad...I once passed out under my partner, he pinned me in the ground, headgear turned and didnt let me breathe properly...like achoke, ha ha. Kudo is fantastic. I think people like more MMA because of the more violent componenet and lack of knowledge, as when someone who knows about MMAA will enjoy techniques, as watching a grappling match if you are not familiar with grappling...people who dont train will need to see the actual effect of the hits to enjoy I guess.Also Kudo fighters tend to be very good at throws, so the gi apsect of it is helpfull in that regard, making it ver balanced into all the aspects of an entertaining fight, it has good striking and superb kicking, great throws and good grappling, clinching and Ne Waza....fun, fun , fun to watch

Just imagine how effective it would be if you cross trained Judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, kyokushin Kai and kudo! I think you would be prepare for mostly anything!

I like to train in both Kudo and Kyokushin.

there is no KUDO-Karate, because it´s a hybrid from Karate + Judo. The reason for the head-gear ist mainly because head-butts are allowed. The Gi changes the game, because grabbing the Gi gives much more possibilites to grab, throw, submit, a.s.o. R. I. P., Andy (Hug)

Hi Ramsey. I enjoy your videos. I train jj and kyokushin. I wonder if you had any experience with Capoeira? Can it be used in full contact fighting? Regards from Sweden

Kyukushin is fun! Day 1 you spar with 2 guys until the end of the day. If you come back for day 2, you must be serious about it.

I start in Kyokushin here in Brazil in 1994... Fight MMA in time of "Vale-Tudo", make judô and jiu-jitsu with the Gold Team... I´ll start with Kudo in this year. Headgear must bee a problem... I´ll think about your words in this video. Thanks...

Hello, Ramsey. I just subscribed. You have a great channel! Lots of great information, as it relates to the martial arts. My Question is the following: What would be the most appropriate martial art, for someone working in the security field, as a bodyguard? Thank you!!

Kudo comes out of Kyokushin..and there are no punches to the face because it is bare knuckles. ALTHOUGH, There is something called "shinken shobu" which does allow face punches and take downs (no helmut ) but light gloves. Happy to send you some matches if you have not seen it. The typical misunderstanding of full contact karate is that there re no takedowns either. There ARE, and they are trained in the dojo, but just not in the "traditional" kyokushin rules during a tournament. Love your channel, love to chat offline sometime

Kudo seems like a safer and more strike-focused version of MMA, also the traditional moves used make it look (cool). as for head gear ... I think face gear is important, less likely to get an eye gouged, or your nose broken, you can train one day, and go to work the next day with no visible bruises or cuts, since all of them will be under clothes. ------------------------ if Kyokushin adds face protection, not all the head, just the face, it can allow face punches .... but it's much better the way it is because the rules FORCE YOU tom improve your head kicks, so it's like a brutal mix of Karate and Taekwondo, adding face protection will remove it's unique appeal.

Kyokushin i practised for 3 years almost and i plan to start over again there. From my point of vieuw they dont punsh the head since they always go all out there hands would be completely destroyed after to much fights in wich they activly atempted to punch the face since they often dont use gloves when training and arent alowd to in most official competitions this would be an isue. In my opinion then making it so there arent eny shots at all to the head so that its not like a way for a weaker oponent to try to clutch a fight by endangering his hands in return for a posible win they made it a rule. My question for you is. Do you think kyokushin karate is as tough as it sais it is? Or do you feel like there are some tricks played in the mind of the practisilners that make them blind to there flaws?

When students spar at the school I go to, we change the rules a lot. One match can be different from the last.

Here is a specific question. How does wearing a gi effect striking? I would imagine that there would be all different kinds of gi grips that might make striking in the clinch different. I don't know if there is another combat sport that uses the gi and allows strikes. Thanks for your thoughts Ramsey. As always.

Then, I'd really like to know what you think about Shotokan. I started training because it was the only option available to me, nowadays I'm a green belt.

I’m coming to Shanghai in December. Where can I reach out to visit and train at the gym.

Man I just love how cool the Kudo headgear looks

I love kyokushin :) it is full contact and you can do anything except for punch in the head in tournaments you can't wear PPE gear except genital covers such as breast pads but not plastic ones

Then i give you Nippon Kempo too for looking at.....thanks for sharing your views

Kudo is very recognizable and being represented as their japanese international karate in Russia and other European regions including canada

Hmm Kudo karate, never heard of it but by the description it sounds a bit like Mumonkai karate? That headgear

Also allows high knees.

Does not matter what you train it is only you how you fight.

Ramsey, just started watching your vids I am a 30 plus year Kyokushin guy, first how did you do in the Kyokushin tournament that you entered? Second one of the draw back that I have often voiced in our type of trainingp is the lack of head shoots with the hands. For 6 years I have been doing Kickboxing, to complement my Kyokushin training. I find that many of the Kick boxers only don't handle the leg kicks I have used for years, as well as a little weak in the mid section. I wouldn't say I am all that great how ever I am 6-3 and 250lbs Which definitely gives me a slight power advantage. Either way I am starting to become a fan. Enjoy

I know nothing beyond boxing&wrestling but I remember the hassle of headgear getting spun halfway around in both sports, requiring a second to readjust it, which can interrupt a guy's momentum.

Please do a video talking about Baji quan

He looks, sounds and talks the same way as that dude Ashur from the Spartacus series.

Kyokushin is a mix of Shotokan at the beginning and Goju as you go higher. So it starts out linear and becomes progressively more circular. It's a combat art at it's base, but the tournaments aren't realistic and promote the lack of head movement, close range body shots, flashy high kicks that would be inadvisable on the street since it's a sport... like the difference between Muay Boran and Muay Thai, or Street Savate and ring Savate. If you're training for self defense not learning how to deal with elbows and punches to the face is suicide, kata can only take you that far...also, the grappling element present in Goju is almost always neglected. I love Kyokushin, and have trained it, but if you're focussing on self defense you need to train other stuff in addition to it. (Well to be honest no art is complete...).

I have wxperience of Kyokushin and I’m curious that what if we fight under the rule of Kudo without the helmet called “SuperSafe(SU-PA-SEIFU in Japan)” and with open-finger glove instead of Kudo style fist protection.

I wonder how Kudo would translate to self defence because often if you are attacked while out you would be wearing a jacket which might be more related to fighting with a gi than fighting shirtless.

what do you think about karate katas?

two things would come into my mind if i would face a kyokushin opponent: endurance and heavy strong kicks 6 inch above my knee that will remain in my memory up until the last day of my life.