Yahara v Mori

1982 JKA All Japan Karate Championship semifinal Kumite

[@tiochel]

Asai judgin'!

[@danielcross9]

lol i love the way yahara fights. saw a bit of Unsu there :D

[@Philmoscowitz]

Yahara and Mori, and the current top JKA people are faster and more technical than almost anyone in the UFC right now. but watch the video closely and notice how many times grab each other--and the one time they go to the ground. this is where they'd lose to most top MMA guys. having to grapple is almost inevitable in a fight. let's face it, and i say this as a long-time Karate practioner, Karate needs to develop a ground game to be more effective.

[@maofas]

Kata is never the answer to anything in terms of learning how to fight. It has it's uses for teaching balance, stances, fluid pivoting, ertc. but you're not going to directly learn anything about how to apply techniques, grappling or otherwise, in a fight. There's a long tradition of mixing Karate & Judo (Funakoshi's first mainland students were Judoka he taught atemi to at the Kodokan) which we should continue and re-popularize in the US.

[@SithV1]

That's a classic 5 star kumite match. Most Karate Kumite matches today is mostly hopping around and lacking realism. But this one is a work of art.

[@Philmoscowitz]

the advantage to having your hands and arms down at your side is that it doesn't obstruct your field of vision. it's useful at a distance but not at close range--then you want to cover up. but if you look closely you'll notice that a lot of shotokan karate fighters start their attack at a further distance than most other fighting styles or arts--they're really good at launching in from a distance--i think this would give them a little element of surprise in MMA before people caught on.

[@fredkarat]

best of the best. good old jka. oss.

[@shotokanperu]

Excelente espiritu de lucha del sensei Yahara sus técnicas de ataque muy profundas y sorprendentes.

[@brinnonvallere]

yahara gave me understanding of "pull back" arm reason

[@Philmoscowitz]

it's karate, not taekwon do. you do see kicking in JKA tournaments, but at these guys' level, where they are excellent blockers, you'll see more punches, just because they're faster.

[@pokeypoker]

Yahara sensei looks like he is flailing about because of his body structure.He is small and generates power from his torso contracting and expanding with strong hip rotation, vibration , and thrusting in along with excellent foot movement.

[@AlexandreDantasDesigner]

campeonato antigo de karatê...

[@Philmoscowitz]

you're right. they would have to change their style of fighting. i've long worried about how the sporting aspect of JKA (Japan Karate Association) Karate is affecting the its development. right now the only JKA karate fighter in MMA is Lyoto Machida, who is undefeated, but who is also proficient in BJJ. he's admitted that he's had to adjust his karate a little for the UFC.

[@Philmoscowitz]

second, it sounds like you are responding to my comment about tournaments being important for recruiting new members. yes, the JKA is shadanhoujin 社団法人, which means that it is a non-profit organization and is tax exempt. but this requires a lot of money to run, and since students are an important source of their funding, it is necessary to advertise. also, individual instructors actually do make profits from running their own dojos. some are quite successful!

[@isechico]

I agree to a point, Kagawa's mawashi geri is phenomenal, but overall Yahara's power generation and angles of approach are ureal, I trained with both, when I lived in Japan (94-98), it's a coin toss...are you Shihan's son? Omar Vera of Puerto Rico is your father's student? Caesar Garcia

[@superhumank2001]

I can see what you are saying

[@Minotaorus]

karateka

[@MrApatchi]

yahara da best!!

[@Philmoscowitz]

regarding JKA style tournaments, they were never meant as a test of Karate. the purpose in Japan has always been to advertise karate to get more followers (yes, even in Karate money is a factor!). but i think now that UFC and other MMA shows have shown the importance of grappling, there's more and more pressure on Karate to demonstrate that it's effective. i personally wish the JKA would add grappling to its curriculum.

[@Philmoscowitz]

first of all, regarding Lyoto Machida, in his professional MMA fights he has used a variety of take-down techniques, including those from karate, judo, jujitsu, and wrestling. if you watch his fights you will see this.

[@FinArkal]

Im glad that sensei mori, enoeda, kimura and kanazawa etc. have all taught my sensei. That's why my sensei is so good