Karate and cycling on Nuns’ Island: what the dojo adds when the bike goes in

01The short answer

02What the dojo adds for a cyclist

Standing. On a bike the saddle carries the body and the movement is circular, in a single plane. At the dojo the body carries its weight on low stances, shifts it from one leg to the other, pivots, steps back. For a cyclist that is what the hour asks that is new — not a promise about your pedal stroke.

The upper body. A cyclist’s arms hold a handlebar; a karateka’s block and strike, on both sides, with the hip and the back behind them. The trunk works on every technique.

The partner. You ride alone or in a group; in kumite someone is in front, under rules, and they do not cooperate — What is Kyokushin kumite? says how that work is introduced and supervised.

03A complete programme, in the same hour

In the WKO Shinkyokushinkai first-year textbook, an examination covers kihon, ido geiko, kata, conditioning (knuckle push-ups, jumping squats), flexibility and kumite. Six subjects, one hour, one examination — and none of them needs equipment. Conditioning and flexibility are graded like technique; a cyclist finds there the idea of structured training, applied to everything the saddle leaves at rest.

The 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities gives each described activity a MET value — a multiple of the energy spent at rest. Leisure cycling at 15 km/h is listed at 5.8, a ride at 19–22 km/h at 8.0, and racing at 26–30 km/h at 12.0; karate at a moderate pace is at 10.3, and a beginner’s slower practice at 5.3. These values describe an activity as it was observed, not your class or your game: a beginners’ class is closer to karate’s 5.3 at a slower pace than to 10.3. Karate at a moderate pace therefore sits between a brisk ride and a racing one: a cyclist does not lose their effort there, they make it standing up.

04When the bike goes in

If your bike goes in for November, the dojo is indoors, at the same hours, until it comes back out. A cyclist who starts in the autumn has the whole off-season ahead, and is back on the road in spring with a second activity in place. If you ride year-round, there is still the week: a karate class fits in like one more ride, and two is a rhythm — Is twice a week enough? answers that.

05Nothing to prepare

A cyclist knows equipment: the bike, the inner tubes, the cold-weather clothing, the maintenance. For a trial class, comfortable clothes and a bottle of water — the karategi comes later, once the decision is made, and protective gear later still, according to what the group actually uses.

06Your cycling keeps its plan

Position, cadence, watts and the build-up of volume are worked on in the saddle, and this page does not promise a better average. Karate brings something else, as its own: a technical catalogue — Kyokushin techniques — a group, an instructor who corrects, and a progression by belt that is not counted in kilometres.

07On Nuns’ Island, in practice

The dojo is at 550 chemin du Golf, suite 010, on Nuns’ Island (Verdun), and also serves LaSalle, Pointe-Saint-Charles and the Sud-Ouest. Children train from age 4 to 13, adults from 14, five days a week: the schedule gives the groups and times, the pricing page the monthly rates.

The first class is a free trial, and there is nothing to buy beforehand: comfortable clothes and a bottle of water are enough — what to bring to your first class has the list.