immaterial

Not surprising. It's no secret that Funakoshi watered down Karate to make it an excercise for good health, not combat. He was opposed to free sparring, only advocating step-sparring, at most. It was Funakoshis son who lowered the stances, had free sparring (point fighting) sessions in secret after his father had left the building, etc. Most of what we associated with Shotokan karate is due to the son, although Funakoshi probably did contribute to some of the technical hallmarks of Shotokan style punching, which deviated from the Okinawan styles.

Why are you not a fan of it? Good question. You really got me thinking why I don’t like it, and the honest answer is because I’m not good at it. It’s one of those things that you don’t like what you’re not good at, so you avoid training it because you don’t like it. My feet are very flat. My toes aren’t flexible. So the ball of my foot doesn’t stick out very far when I do that kick and front kick. I think because of the angle the roundhouse comes it at, it would be pretty hard to use the ball of the foot with shoes on. A front kick, at least my front kick, rises upwards on contact, so wearing shoes doesn’t hinder it much. My roundhouse is hindered by shoes. I’ve hit a bag with both kick while wearing shoes many times; roundhouse with the ball of the foot isn’t a good kick for me, but front kick with the ball of my foot is perfectly fine. Even if it was a good kick for me, I’d still prefer the lower 1/3 of the shin. It’s a lot bigger surface area and therefore I don’t need to be as precise. It’s like swinging a bat vs a hammer IMO. Sure the hammer will have more pressure, but the bat won’t miss as easily. As for breaking your foot by using your instep to the head vs shin or ball of the foot, I don’t think that’s a real world concern. I’ve seen countless full power instep to the head kicks in competition, and I haven’t seen a broken foot. I’d be willing to bet less people break their foot off of someone’s head than break their hand off of someone’s head. I say that percentage-wise because obviously less people kick the head than punch it. It would be an interesting scientific study. Do you really need to pull back your toes though in order for it to work? this guy doesn't... http://shitokai.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Sensei-Tanzadeh-Performing-Mawashi-Geri.jpg I’ll try it tomorrow morning in class and report back. Hopefully I’m not reporting that I broke or dislocated a few toes in the process Let me know what you think about mine, I'm going to work on perfecting it for 6 months, see how good it can be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJUMW0vD-Rc

Why are you not a fan of it? Good question. You really got me thinking why I don’t like it, and the honest answer is because I’m not good at it. It’s one of those things that you don’t like what you’re not good at, so you avoid training it because you don’t like it. My feet are very flat. My toes aren’t flexible. So the ball of my foot doesn’t stick out very far when I do that kick and front kick. I think because of the angle the roundhouse comes it at, it would be pretty hard to use the ball of the foot with shoes on. A front kick, at least my front kick, rises upwards on contact, so wearing shoes doesn’t hinder it much. My roundhouse is hindered by shoes. I’ve hit a bag with both kick while wearing shoes many times; roundhouse with the ball of the foot isn’t a good kick for me, but front kick with the ball of my foot is perfectly fine. Even if it was a good kick for me, I’d still prefer the lower 1/3 of the shin. It’s a lot bigger surface area and therefore I don’t need to be as precise. It’s like swinging a bat vs a hammer IMO. Sure the hammer will have more pressure, but the bat won’t miss as easily. As for breaking your foot by using your instep to the head vs shin or ball of the foot, I don’t think that’s a real world concern. I’ve seen countless full power instep to the head kicks in competition, and I haven’t seen a broken foot. I’d be willing to bet less people break their foot off of someone’s head than break their hand off of someone’s head. I say that percentage-wise because obviously less people kick the head than punch it. It would be an interesting scientific study. Do you really need to pull back your toes though in order for it to work? this guy doesn't... http://shitokai.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Sensei-Tanzadeh-Performing-Mawashi-Geri.jpg

Why are you not a fan of it?

For instance, what if you kick someone in the chest area and he just sucks it up or worse - grabs your leg and takes you down, where there is no theory in karate what to do. at least if you connect to the head, he is going down. People kick each others body regularly in fighting. It's not a finishing technique in general. The difference is however that they don't have leg grabs, or if they do, there is no ground fighting.

He is using the instep in the clip you linked, and the problem with the instep is that you will break your foot smashing into a skull. Interesting, maybe that's one of the reasons Sensei seldom (never?) demonstrates mawashi. We seem to use it primarily for agility/precision/endurance/kote kitae drills. None of the katas I've learned so far include any mawashi at all - come to think of it I don't believe I have seen any of the advanced katas include it either? As I have understood it, the mawashi to the head is generally regarded as ineffective in a RL situation - as it takes too much time and leaves the practitioner too unbalanced/vulnerable to counter attacks? Do correct me if I'm wrong - how techniques that we practice relates to RL application is an important (some would say essential) question Mawashi geri was a later technique added and didn't make it into many karate katas of the old styles. shotokan does however have a mawashi ger on the floor in the katas, but no standing. you might be right that it wasn't intended to aim for the head, but if you have the option to kick the head, you should do that.

He is using the instep in the clip you linked, and the problem with the instep is that you will break your foot smashing into a skull.

Yes: Hwang Jag Lee Lee learned TKD when it was still Shotokan. (he is not an ITF practitioner like the uploader states, and I don't even think he has an honorary rank in ITF.. ) Watch 10::10 for the exact instructional of the shotokan roundhouse kick

You normally wear shoes, and you can't put bend your toes in them, and you would break your toes if you kicked with them instead full force on a skull. So why do we learn something which can't be applied?

Hi there! Ball of the foot is the default kicking surface in ITF TKD too. Instep is the surface for competition sparring. So the kicks are similiar but TKD decided to shortcut the swing, for whatever reason. It might be an evolution brought on by sports or simply the pioneers of that era kicking in that certain way, making it the blue print hence forth.

Here's an example. Note how the TKD roundhouse kick has only two steps : tuck in, and lash out. The Shotokan kick has lift up to the side, tuck in, lash out

Despite spending several years in ITF TKD, and being well acquainted with Shotokan Karate, it didn't dawn on me until recently how their respective roundhouse kicks fundamentally differ, with an emphasis on fundamentally, and not the individuality of the practitioner. You see, the difference, and it is subtle to the untrained eye, is that ITF TaeKwonDo cuts off the arc swing of the roundhouse kick. It is a less expansive set up motion. The chamber sequence is more tucked in. Only when the leg extends are they the same kick, although stiffness affecting posture may make it seems as if they are fundamentally different there as well (they are not). It is analogous to a punch thrown with a wide loop, compared to a more tucked in, conservative arc. The karate kick is in this case the looping variation (to really swing into the target) while the TKD way is more of a vertical chamber with a bow twist to the motion as the end.

Yes, I do. My nerves are terrible. It tends to get better over time. But if you are prone for it, you are probably always going to be a bit too nervous for comfort, but you'll be fine. Don't worry.

Therer were rival ITFs set up after the founders death, all claiming to represent the true ITF, sometimes suing each order.

Different NGB (ITF group within your country) or different ITF group (e.g. ITF under GM Choi Jung Hwa vs ITF under Prof Ri Yong Son vs ITF under GM Pablo Trajtenberg)? Either way it will depend on the school. Go with an empty cup and most will not have an issue. I've swapped NGB and even in the past swapped ITF (though at that point I was a low grade and it didn't matter to me). I thought I made that clear by different "organization". I belonged to the North Korea connection originally.