Are Kyokushin Karate and Muay thai that differant?

[mr.mma]

I was just watching these guys go at it in a kyokushin match.
Other than they cant punch to the head, I noticed they kicked with the shin and did a lot of low kicks and used knees aswell. The only differance I really noticed was they never clinched.

Are muay thai and kyokushin karate really that differant?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ThaMustang]

As far as I kno the biggest differences are, as you said....you cant hold or clinch ( karate means open hand ), no head punches/ elbows.....and the biggest difference for me is the muay thai stance is alot more front on...ie both hips face your opponent. Also kyokushin uses alot more snapping punches/kicks than muay.

[vadrip]

Kyokushinkai karate is influenced by muay thai, accept they don't do punches to the head nor any clinching striking. They adopted techniques of muay thai due to their challenge matches against the thais.

There are other karate splinter organizations that were once kyokushinkai, but went to start their own styles like ashihara(enshin) karate, seido, daido juku(mix of karate & grappling) and shidokan. You'll find many full contact karate fighters in K-1 and K-1 is basically the idea of karate fighter.

[KDH]

kyokushin.. as far as i know has very little MT influence, if at all.

Kyokushin was formed mainly through Choi (oyama)'s experiences in Shotokan, Okinawan Goju-Ryu, Kempo, Taekkyon, and Judo.

[vadrip]

Sorry, KDH but kyokushin got their shin kicking & knee techniques from muay thai. Many of the karate styles that Oyama studied didn't do much hard sparring it's not until Oyama started really stepping up with hard sparring matches and challenge matches with the thais that he seperated the fluff & fancy bs from the real stuff.

As far as judo goes, there's no rolling around on the ground using pins(ground positions, passing the guard or looking for submissions in this style or many karate styles; except for styles like daido juku and shidokan, and there's no major emphasis on throwing techniques either.