Your Kyokushin Questions Answered: Face Punches, Pads, and Longevity

Why don’t you punch to the face?

We do punch to the face, when we’re wearing proper equipment. With hand pads and a mouth guard on, we will go up to the head. But Kyokushin is predominantly bare-knuckle, bare-shin, full contact to the body, and no punching to the face.

The reason is practical. We all have to wake up in the morning. We all have jobs. It is the law of diminishing returns to be punching somebody in the face bare-knuckle.

Even with gloves on, I’d still argue it should be controlled. Nobody should be teed up. We are not professional fighters. We’re not getting paid to get into a ring. At the end of the day, we are doing a martial art.

Then why are head kicks allowed?

The short answer: it’s super easy to punch somebody in the face. It’s definitely harder to kick up to the head. And when we do kick to the head, we kick with control.

Not every endeavor in the dojo is a street encounter. A head kick in the dojo is a skill being trained with a partner who trusts you. If you plan to compete, read the rules of the specific event, because rules differ between organizations and tournaments.

“That won’t work in a street fight”

I hear it constantly. If you train punching to the body, the comment goes, you’ll never be able to punch somebody in the face. I’ve been doing this for over 40 years, fighting Kyokushin bare-knuckle, bare-shin, and I can assure you I have no qualms about punching up to the face. In training I still target and focus toward the face, controlled. Sometimes I’ll open my palms and tap up to the head.

As for the street, it’s amazing to me how many people apparently are fighting in the streets. I’ve had some encounters in my day. On average, my great successes on the street were verbally de-escalating situations and never allowing them to get physical. It’s the law of diminishing returns. Nobody wins when it goes physical. If you want the skill I’d rank above any punch, read about verbal de-escalation.

One more thing the comment section misses. With Kyokushin people, we can all tell you the same story: going to the body bare-knuckle, the biggest fear is catching somebody’s elbow. Gloves protect the hand from that. Bare knuckle, you have to be thoughtful. Sometimes I’ll strike the body with an open palm or my forearm instead, and that can be just as disruptive.

Why do people train Kyokushin?

There’s more to what we do than “that’s not going to work in a street fight.” People train for the spiritual, mental and physical side of it. They come to learn a functional skill of self-defense, to be around a wonderful community of people, and to get in really good shape. Not one of those reasons is “so I can go street fight.”

If you’re new to the style itself, start with what Kyokushin karate is and what the name means.

When to pad up, and how to last

When we’re doing drills that are repetitive, I want people in pads, particularly shin guards. It’s not just to protect you. You want to protect your training partner. You’d be amazed how easy it is to get dinged up with very light kicking to the legs: catching an elbow, shin on shin, all kinds of stuff.

If you want longevity in the martial arts, you have to train smart, and padding up is part of that. But longevity is more than wearing pads. Are you getting enough sleep? Are you drinking enough water? Are you making healthy choices? If you’re eating burgers and fries and drinking five beers, then expecting to wake up and train hard every Saturday morning, that may not be the best decision. Be thoughtful all around.

That is how we run the Adult Class: full contact when it’s time for full contact, pads when the drill calls for them, and sparring that stays optional for anyone who doesn’t want it.