Dojo02 said "One of the things he said to me once was that if i study shotokan outside the J.K.A. it is not real shotokan. Not the one funakoshi has in Khyon or best karate series." Karate lives and changes. Funakoshi commented on the changes he saw in his days, and intended that it would continue to evolve. The JKA karate of today is not the same as the JKA karate of the Best Karate series. This can be a bit frustrating for guys like me who learned JKA katas 20 years ago and still rely on the JKA series video tapes, but we must also change with the times. To be stiff and inflexible is the discipline of death, but to be flexible and changable is the discipline of life. Today, one of the most exciting things I find in the Shotokan world is the incredable amount of research and sharing of information in the pre-shotokan history of our art. We are starting to see more clearly how much Funakoshi and Itosu changed Te to make it acceptable to teach to the school kids. These changes call into question just how real real shotokan is. I used to think of the JKA as the organization that kept the art pure and structured, but these days I see it quite differently and am starting to search for answers in other places. Certainly, the JKA approach to Kata bunkai leaves a lot to be desired.
