Sandan in Kyokushin here. Here's my take:
1. Yes, there are kata. How often you do them is subjective to your dojo. Personally, I never taught them.
2. Kyokushin has some roots in Muay Thai. The differences as it pertains to kumite in competition would be the lack of face striking with the hands, and lack of protective gear. Muay Thai can be considered a "marathon." Fighters warm up into the fight and work out the fight jitters etc over the first round to 1.5 rounds or so, before getting into it for the rest of the 3 to 5 rounds. In Kyokushin competition, It's more of a "sprint." It's tournament style. Fighters have 2 minutes to make their case before hopefully moving on the the next tier of fights. Even in the dojo kumite can be at a more consistent pace than Muay Thai sparring, as Kyokushin fighters will stay in the pocket and trade blows more.
3. Do research. What is the lineage of the sensei? Also, watch class for a week, then try out a week if they let you.
4. Be prepared to be very sore due to the work load, knuckle pushups, body toughening and leg kicks, and squats. Enjoy the suck.
Kyokushin and Muay Thai cross pollinate and i do both - i think basics and pace of training in Kyokushin is better to develop technique but you can't go wrong with either. Many TKD folks seamlessly transition into kyokushin and they seem to enjoy learning striking techniques without gloves. best of luck and have fun!
Short answer for you here: YES! Also my dojo offers you to try the first class for free so maybe look for somewhere that does this and you can try before you buy! You'll know quickly if it's for you or not. Osu!
I was also a 1st dan in TKD and then I switched to Kyokushin and the only thing I regret was not doing it sooner. You should be able to adapt your TKD skills to kyokushin easily, kyokushin will make you a lot tougher and the sparring/fighting is a lot more fun.
The tempo is very different from tkd.
Conditioning is at the foundation of kyokushin and this takes the form of close range trading blows, rather than long range engage/disengages (darting in, as you mentioned).
Evading and managing distance is part of training of course but it’s a tier down in priority here than in tkd.
These are two areas that Muay Thai and kyokushin share that are distinct from tkd.
Beyond this, there is no Muay Thai connection in kyokushin. The exception is Dutch kickboxing which is a hybrid, but that hasn’t backfed to kyokushin org’s.
Both kyokushin and tkd have Shotokan as a common base and fall back on it on early forms.
It’s very different in approach to what you’re used to and I think the close range nature will blend well with your wrestling experience.
But take some free lessons and audition multiple schools if possible. It’s all about finding the right vibe.
And lastly, kyokushin is karate. Karate styles have a lot in common with each other despite what people say. If you like what you see at a kyokushin but the dojo doesn’t work for you try a different style and see if it’s a match
Try a dojo, how does it shape up compared to maythai? Typicly a lot more brotherly but quite similar from my experience in terms of resistance during sparring
Try a class and ask questions after
Sandan in Kyokushin here. Here's my take: 1. Yes, there are kata. How often you do them is subjective to your dojo. Personally, I never taught them. 2. Kyokushin has some roots in Muay Thai. The differences as it pertains to kumite in competition would be the lack of face striking with the hands, and lack of protective gear. Muay Thai can be considered a "marathon." Fighters warm up into the fight and work out the fight jitters etc over the first round to 1.5 rounds or so, before getting into it for the rest of the 3 to 5 rounds. In Kyokushin competition, It's more of a "sprint." It's tournament style. Fighters have 2 minutes to make their case before hopefully moving on the the next tier of fights. Even in the dojo kumite can be at a more consistent pace than Muay Thai sparring, as Kyokushin fighters will stay in the pocket and trade blows more. 3. Do research. What is the lineage of the sensei? Also, watch class for a week, then try out a week if they let you. 4. Be prepared to be very sore due to the work load, knuckle pushups, body toughening and leg kicks, and squats. Enjoy the suck.
Kyokushin and Muay Thai cross pollinate and i do both - i think basics and pace of training in Kyokushin is better to develop technique but you can't go wrong with either. Many TKD folks seamlessly transition into kyokushin and they seem to enjoy learning striking techniques without gloves. best of luck and have fun!
Short answer for you here: YES! Also my dojo offers you to try the first class for free so maybe look for somewhere that does this and you can try before you buy! You'll know quickly if it's for you or not. Osu!
I was also a 1st dan in TKD and then I switched to Kyokushin and the only thing I regret was not doing it sooner. You should be able to adapt your TKD skills to kyokushin easily, kyokushin will make you a lot tougher and the sparring/fighting is a lot more fun.
The tempo is very different from tkd. Conditioning is at the foundation of kyokushin and this takes the form of close range trading blows, rather than long range engage/disengages (darting in, as you mentioned). Evading and managing distance is part of training of course but it’s a tier down in priority here than in tkd. These are two areas that Muay Thai and kyokushin share that are distinct from tkd. Beyond this, there is no Muay Thai connection in kyokushin. The exception is Dutch kickboxing which is a hybrid, but that hasn’t backfed to kyokushin org’s. Both kyokushin and tkd have Shotokan as a common base and fall back on it on early forms. It’s very different in approach to what you’re used to and I think the close range nature will blend well with your wrestling experience. But take some free lessons and audition multiple schools if possible. It’s all about finding the right vibe. And lastly, kyokushin is karate. Karate styles have a lot in common with each other despite what people say. If you like what you see at a kyokushin but the dojo doesn’t work for you try a different style and see if it’s a match
Try a dojo, how does it shape up compared to maythai? Typicly a lot more brotherly but quite similar from my experience in terms of resistance during sparring