Samurai Spirit - Karate

**Eddie Hardon** · Posted On: 4/10/2012 2:40pm

I lucked onto this on youtube and rather enjoyed it. Nicholas Pettas, a Kyokyushin Black Belt (3rd Dan looking at the stripes on his belt) goes to Japan and meets his senior.

Then he goes to Okinawa and trains in Shorin Ryu, Uechi Ryu and more. In one school he trains in a hard external style which leads to calluses on the knuckles but oddly, the Master seems to have normal hands with no calcification. Who knows?

Now, I have no training in Karate but my understanding is that in Okinawa, they're not too keen on 'sparring/fighting'. Nicholas clearly sees this as at odds with his own training at the original KK dojo. In Okinawa, the training is HARD on the individual hence 'competition' and the possibility of the emergence of 'ego' is absent if not irrelevant.

The final school he visits focuses on Kata. This brings him full circle as his KK friend (the fighting champion) earlier volunteered his opinion that the value and merit of Karate was in its Katas.

Final point, having once seen a VERY senior karateka (at SENI London) deconstruct some Kata performed by an Adept - IMO there was no relevance or even similarity whereas in this vid, the application of the elements of kata were clearly demonstrated.

Anyway, I liked it.

**The_Beak** · Posted On: 4/18/2012 12:04am

Thanks for posting these

**R'Dvark** · Posted On: 5/07/2012 2:23am

Second the above post.

**Prone** · Posted On: 5/07/2012 7:54am

Yeah, watched it. But for a Sandan and an active fighter he looks out of shape and I don't understand how why he gets his ass beat in Okinawa when he is such a merrited Kyokushin black belt with so much training and so many medals. It's beyond me.

**Tameshiwhaty?** · Posted On: 6/02/2012 4:15am

Originally Posted by Prone

Yeah, watched it. But for a Sandan and an active fighter he looks out of shape and I don't understand how why he gets his ass beat in Okinawa when he is such a merrited Kyokushin black belt with so much training and so many medals. It's beyond me.

I was reading on him he is actually retired now and had suffered an injury so maybe he is out of shape right now still a fun watch. Plus the kumite the uchi guys do is different then the kumite kyokushin does. more long range almost like shotokan as far as I can see.