Enshin is a breakaway from kyokushinkai. The founder had to do the ''fight 100 black belts'' thing to honourably leave and then moved to the USA. They run the Sabaki challenge in Denver which is a full contact tourney that is open to all styles (I believe). Not sure about any schools over here in the UK. powchoy
Thanks powchoy I think it's essentially Kyokushin with a bit more emphasis put on evasive movement? Mitch
The little I know of it says that it is Kyokushinkai with a big emphasis on takedowns, to the point that good takedowns score best in comps. The founder studied Judo and Karate under the founder of Ashihara Karate. http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90230
Gary Chamberlain posts on Iain Abernethy's forum (among others I think) and from what I know of him he's a first class martial artist. He's certainlty said some things that chime with my own thoughts (and yours too I would say). I think you are right in your appraisal of Enshin (which means "circle" I think?). They have their own set of kumite based "kata" that look really interesting. Lots of evasive footwork.
I dropped in on a connecticut school for one class before I left. Very solid guys there. I wouldn't advocate some of the takedowns I saw during that class, but I also would not want to fight the head instructor at all. They practiced on hardwood, so that may color their takedowns in relation to other Enshin schools.
Joko Ninomiya, the founder of Enshin, actually never did a 100 man kumite. Joko won the All-Japan and then when his teacher, Hideyuki Ashihara, broke away from Kyokushin to start ashihara Karate, Joko followed. Eventually Joko was teaching in a way so different from Ashihara that he decided he needed to move on as well to protect the integrity of Ashihara and that's when he founded Enshin.
I've spoken to Gary too on occasion and he seems like a top notch guy. Friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to sweat hard alongside his students. I'd definitely check it out. If I had a choice between Kyokushin or Enshin, I'd be changing styles.
Thanks for all the input guys I've spoken to Gary on the 'phone and he seemed like a friendly and welcoming guy, so I'm off to class tonight. Assuming I'm still alive I'll let you know how I get on Mitch
Cool....I've heard that Gary has a student that is on the verge of starting Enshin classes in York so you never know Mitch, we might end up doing the same style! And then what would we argue about?
Well he has a nice looking round kick. POW!!! Wouldn't want to get hit by it. Yes they run the Sabaki Challenge in Denver and they are open to all styles. I believe they are the ones, if you watch the highlight videos, like to get hold of a sleeve and then they pull down that sleeve and deliver a round kick to the head (which you can't block because your sleeve is pulled down). If you watch highlight videos you'll notice many of them have short sleeve gis
YAY ENSHIN!!! (Sorry, grew up in Colorado, and it's got a great reputation there due to its Denver HQ) In Enshin, you're allowed to grab the other guy's gi to bend him over into your body punches and kicks. Basically, Enshin is like the love-child of Kyokushin and hockey. EDIT: The other main difference between Enshin and Kyokushin is the replacement of traditional kata with kumite-focused kata: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9112972018247431046# EDIT 2: The Sabaki Challenge (annual Enshin tournament in Denver). The fun begins at 1:22: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c_nz-VLCKw"]YouTube[/ame]
It's a small hall, a mixed class of kids and adults. It's run at a fast pace and is pretty intense, so kids and adults alternate on the floor. We did a warm up, then kihon facing a partner. Techniques were basic blocks, punches and kicks. We moved on to some padwork drills, a front kick into pads then depending on how far the pad holder is knocked back either grab their gi shoulder/sleeve, step round and pull the pad holder off balance and roundhouse into pads, or a similar movement but starting with a knee strike after the grab and then stepping back to deliver the roundhouse. The class performed some kata, which are all combinations of sparring techniques and look nothing like traditional kata, I was then asked to show a TKD pattern to the class. We then did a drill in threes where the central guy dealt with one attack (performed with control) trying to keep facing the third guy who was looking to move in and attack. We finished off with some more exercises. The pad/partnerwork was interesting. It seemed to stress grabbing the opponent, moving them and or yourself to get positional advantage and striking before taking them down in some way. I liked it a lot. All in all I was impressed. The class had a good work ethic, but was broken with occasional humour. The sensei was clear, approachable and friendly and the black belts I worked with seemed capable without being overly aggressive to a newcomer. They do work the "no head shots" rule, so even in the 2 on 1 drill I mentioned we were not supposed to strike to the face. I only did once or twice :whistle: Mitch
Sounds like you've been checking up on me Just as an addendum to this, I got a phone call from Gary today asking if I was ok, had enjoyed the session, had any aches and pains etc. I think that's a nice touch on his part. Looks like my Thursday nights are sorted Mitch
I really enjoyed it, looking forward to training there. It looks like an interesting style and I enjoyed Gary's instruction style too. If I can get out of the habit of calling him Sir rather than Sensei and get used to to shouting "os! (osu?)" at regular intervals it'll be great Mitch
