Foods for Fast Recovery

Well, we all do sports and exercises. And we know about the Golden Hour Rule where the first 45-60 mins of post-workout would be critical for growth and recovery. Full Contact Karate? Same applies.

Question: What do we eat for recovery?

The word “recovery” will be taken into context of hydration and salts replenishment as well as muscle recovery.

Wholegrain food products to load your body with Low GI carbohydrates that continues to supply your body with energy consistently over a prolonged duration.

Fruits – Of course, the miraculous food that provides a wide range of antioxidants, minerals and vitamins. Not forgetting to mention the enzymes required to break down nutrients and deliver them to your muscles double time! Do we have to highlight how most fruits taste really good?

Eggs – small but powerful, this food easily wins the award for being versatile if it has been forgotten as a good source of protein! And, be a man, take the entire yolk too.

Fluid – Water! You need to replenish the water loss over the last 2 hours of non-stop kicking! And if you like to speed things up, you might want to consider fluids with electrolytes such as the usual sports drinks. We recommend room temperature or warm drinks though, never a great idea to gulp down large volumes of ice cold fluid down the throat after a heated workout. Not even metal can withstand that sudden drastic shift in temperature.

What else works for you besides the one mentioned here? Drop a comment below and let us know!

Movies Featuring Kyokushin Karate

Hey everyone, here’s another dose of Kyokushin Karate updates from Yio Chu Kang Karate Dojo. Today, we bring to light some of the movies out there that featured our very art – Kyokushin Karate. As you probably might already know, this martial art is a full contact one, and these movies gave quite a good insight on the nature of this martial art.

#1 – Fighter In the Wind

A 2004 South Korean film that gives a certain degree of understanding to Mas Oyama’s prowess and how he became famous across the world. The film may not reflect history exactly word for word, but certainly there has only been one “Mas Oyama” in Japan – at least the only one who was named “God Hand” and the only one who founded world-famous full contact style Kyokushin Karate.

#2 – Never Back Down 3

Directed by Michael Jai White, who also a well-known Kyokushin Karateka, this movie is the third one from the series of movies “Never Back Down”.  While the story might most likely be factitious, the moves and skills are as real as it can get. This is probably one of the fighting movies that are not overly exaggerating from a martial artist’s point of view and showcases very “dope” moves. If you have been a martial artist in some form or another, you probably might appreciate this one.

On the side note, we often question ourselves why in the world is there “Kata” – a pre-fixed fight sequence that we have been drilled at since white belt. This video will show you how certain moves can actually be applied in reality. Let’s roll:

With that, you might probably be interested enough to check out Never Back Down and Never Back Down 2. Just a word of caution, you might want to be at least age 16 to watch this series.

Of course there are other movies that really brought out the essence of karate, some of them are not related to Kyokushin Karate, so I will keep them for the next time. If you are curious enough, drop us a message and we can recommend a few. And by now, you would have realized that there are many branches / styles of karate. Kyokushin is one of them.

BONUS:

What is Karate?

Some of the very common questions we encounter, include “What’s the difference between Karate and Taekwondo?”

Of course, the entire system of martial art between Karate and Taekwondo has differences. Yet, to a non-martial artist, I guess the best way to answer would be… “One’s Japanese, the other is Korean.”

Today, we try to explain Karate in a more simple way. View it as a tool, oh well it is in fact a multi-purpose tool – just like a Swiss Army Knife.

The Swiss Army Knife has multiple functions. It could cut, slice, snip at various things and occasionally if you need a corkscrew for an unexpected wine bottle, you have it too. Likewise for Karate, it could attack, defend, to strike, kick, subdue an opponent, throw and even perform joint locks or acupressure hits. Karate like other martial arts, could also keep you agile physically and mentally, as well as healthy and strong.

The similarity continues – you really don’t want to wish upon yourself a situation which you would have to use these “tools” or skills so to speak. Learning how to defend yourself is one thing, having to encounter a situation which you need your skills is another thing.

Of course, flexibility – that is required of a good karateka, will come in handy on a daily basis and even more so if one participates in other sporting activity.

Like any tools, it is how you use the tool that matters, never about just the tool. Martial arts efficiency largely depends on the martial artist, hence this should answer the question of “Is Martial Art A better than Martial Art B?” 

One thing for sure, through the physical conditioning of Kyokushin Karate and its realistic fighting system, Kyokushin Karatekas learn about humility and other character aspects. It is not uncommon to eventually realize those that previously had misconceptions about karate, will now learn the truth through harsh training standards.

“Why is it harsh or why is it so special?”

Kyokushin karate doesn’t use protective guards traditionally, hence to say, sparring has been kept as realistic as possible. Founder of Kyokushin Karate, Mas Oyama, encourages students to train themselves hard in both physical and mental aspects. Mas Oyama has also been widely known as the “God Hand” all over the world, having proven himself repeatedly that this man conditions his body and mind like none other. It was also documented a few decades ago, Mas Oyama personally removed bulls horns with his bare hands while engaged in multiple sparring sessions with these dangerous beasts.

If you read through Mas Oyama’s story, you might understand why so many martial artists all over the world are drawn to Kyokushin Karate.

Lastly, this art has been a combination of the best techniques from the various arts that Mas Oyama had excelled in.