evil_xerox

"The best defense is a good offense!" This is not true because being offensive is not the goal of a martial art, to be able to defend and run is better than not being able to defend and kill.. which is the best result which one gets you put in prison.

Bows I think what you say is very true. I have a saying.. "Be Better that yourself But Know You Are No Better Than Anybody Else". I am training for two goals.. one is to win in tounraments and be "the best" but that is purely for motivation and for a friendly competetive nature, the other is to be better than myself and develop to a higher level than that which I am now. Karate is about discovering yourself through your commitment and dedication. Thankyou BudoKaiMéxico for making the simple point that I had forgotten.

Bows I think what you say is very true. I have a saying.. "Be Better that yourself But Know You Are No Better Than Anybody Else". I am training for two goals.. one is to win in tounraments and be "the best" but that is purely for motivation and for a friendly competetive nature, the other is to be better than myself and develop to a higher level than that which I am now. Karate is about discovering yourself through your commitment and dedication. Thankyou BudoKaiMéxico for making the simple point that I had forgotten.

The tradition and spirituality still remains in Karate it is just the student that does not pursue it. I beleive that the traditional Arts hold their traditions and the instructors from those clubs have the responsibilty of holding the traditions. I think it is the students choice weather to follow the spiritual way of Karate but this usually means a solid integration of Karate into your lifestyle.

I beleive that Kata is very important, from the small portion of this topic I have read most of your views and they are very technique oriented but there is a large portion of mental training in Kata. Kata helps you to focus your mind and slowly embed your techniques into your mind so they become intuition and insticnt based. Also Kata is a form of meditation especially Katas like Sanchin in Goju. Kata is essential for any practitioner of Karate to progress and develop. If you were to just practice Kihon(basics) than you may not develop a good posture and flow for that technique. Kata contains many flowing combinations which you could work on to develop your personal skills. You could pratice you Kihon and Kumite continuosly but did you see a Master become a master without Kata. I practice my Kata regularly and find that it does focus my mind I also find it good to go through and find things wrong with my technique that I might not want to be doing in a fight.. although I wouldn't want to have to use Karate in a fight ever. I just hope that you see Kata as something as important as I do.

I do personaly think that most styles with Japanese roots that have formed from a Zen Buddhist basis are either for fitness and/or Defensive. I personaly study Goju and have read how karate was formed because of the Kings ban on weapons so the people developed various fighting styles for self defense... or something along those lines. I do also think many modern martial arts have lost some important aspects, for example Taekwondo and Go Kan Ryu, they are good arts for the a "modern western person" but do not hold many of the traditional and important aspects... the styles have developed for the people not for the intended reason, therefore losing a certain "essence" that I think is necesary for any Martial Arts based lifestlye.

Hey folks, Ive browsed the forums and seen everyone talk about fighting and how it can be used to fight as well as how people think there is no use for Kata. In my opinion Karate is not a fighting style.. it can be used for self defense and the only way to do that is to practice practice and practice.. so the techniques become second nature. Karate should not be used offensively. Karate in tournaments is good I think, mainly because it adds the team element as well as the competeitive element which is good to give dedicated students a goal to reach. I think the Katas are very imprtant because they contain good mind training which is required before the physical training can be succesfuly started. I think a good student needs to know the reason for what the do as well as the background of their art so that they can understand their training more. I also think that Karate is not a sport it is more a way of life, the Katas have to be practiced continuously and the ethics and codes of Karate can help change your views on life. I have more to say but what do you people think about my thoughts and the art?

Hey all, I have had some first hand experience with some GKR students and teachers. First of all I have nothing against the style although it is quite new GKR is a mixture of Goju and Shotokan, those two styles appeal to me and as I understans GKR would be as well. The one problem with GKR is that the majority of the organisations are money grabbers, they are not in it for the teaching and probably are not dedicated Karate-Ka. I have spectated at a GKR dojo and was not impressed.. I was also told to leave, not very pleasant. I think the door knocking recruitment is unnesecary as usually the real enthusiastic students are the one that hunt for themselves. GKR also has made some of there own moves up and as I beleive is not recognised by the governing bodies of Japan. I also beleive that the main reason that GKR has so many wins at NAS tournies is because they have so many people. But still the style maybe good. ___________________ Don't judge a STYLE by the people that teach is, judge it by its roots and background