At World Oyama Karate, we are a full contact style of Karate perfect for anyone who is interested in competing in kick boxing, MMA, or knock down karate.
World Oyama Karate of Atlanta is a full contact traditional form of Japanese Karate.
Shihan Dai Takahashi is the Head Instructor at WOK - Atlanta. He is a 5th Degree Black Belt with over 40 years experience in full contact karate. Shihan Dai is a former Uchi Deshi, or live in student, of Saiko Shihan Oyama, a
world-renowned Karate Master.
The philosophy at World Oyama Karate is “Just Sweat.” Everyone trains hard. In a typical class students will review basic movements, traditional katas and Kumite (or free fighting) techniques.
World Oyama Karate is based on the ancient traditional system of training. Our style is quite different from most modern styles of Karate. Modern Karate is arranged for education. This academic approach is not bad, but it misses some important basic points. In most modern Karate styles, the student just punches the air, kicks the air and blocks the air. There is no contact. Without contact, the student cannot really understand the connection between basic training, KATA training and KUMITE training. Too much emphasis is placed on the mental and spiritual aspects of Karate. Many modern Karate instructors fear that students will be hurt if they train with contact. But this results in too much emphasis on blocking and self defense. The result is that the fundamental purpose of Karate training is lost.
In other styles of modern Karate (not World Oyama), blocking is taught first. In World Oyama Karate, you first learn how to kick and punch. You cannot understand even the basic blocks – JODAN UKE, SOTO UKE, and GEDAN BARI – without first understanding the offensive kicks and punches that require these blocks. You cannot separate defense from offense. They are opposite sides of the same coin.
In Karate styles other than World Oyama, it is normal to teach all basic techniques simultaneously right from the beginning. This is very different from the teaching approach in ancient times. In those times, the master would choose one student and teach him only one or two techniques until the student had totally mastered those techniques. The master would never try to teach everything in one shot. It was very important that that one technique absolutely fit into the student’s fighting style because his life depended on it. It is not good to teach everything at once. The teacher should teach one simple kick, punch or block technique and then go on to the next level only when that technique is mastered. This is our style of teaching. The foundation of our style are the official text books – Kyoten I-IV and Perfect Karate. These books ensure all World Oyama Karate students are taught in consistant manner.
We first teach basic attack techniques, not block techniques. By learning an offensive technique first, you can understand the importance of the block that is necessary for its defense. You understand the defense more deeply.
Also, in the World Oyama style, we always teach each technique with contact. Without contact, you will never really learn that technique . Without contact, you only learn the technique in your head. You can only imagine using the technique, and it doesn’t really fit you. It is very important that you train until contact with every technique. Then you can feel it – mentally and physically. This doesn’t mean that you have to kill your partner. You just have to make the contact enough to feel the impact.
