telsun

Hello Sano

No it is not better.............

Well Goju is hard (go) and soft (ju). The most simple way to explain this is soft defensive moves with hard striking attacks. It is deeper than this but that is the simpliest way to put it. Delta1 summed up the hard and soft very well and don't worry Shotokan_Fighter I don't think anybody would dream of you changing styles

Relax and enjoy sparring. You are probably trying so hard to get things right that you are too tense. Sparring will feel awkward for quite a while. Especially when you're always sparring higher grades. When lower grades come in and you spar with them it will become obvious just how far you have come. Just be patient, it will come.

Stupid question? I agree with you that all martial arts are "combative", apart from the Mcdojos. lol

How many of you train with Chishi? What do you use it to develop?

Wanted to make sure that we was well aware of that did you Cheekymusician Patience is a virtue don't you know (refering to double post )

That's an hour or 2 gone then. But realistically you could spend most of the day studying just one kata. Add that to your exercises, cardio, conditioning, etc and I reckon you would soon be making the 12 hours. It must take amazing discipline to train in such a way.

Took me a while to work out what you meant by "splitting". You mean doing the splits don't you. Well I started training when I was quite young and I was flexible due to my youth. It still took a while for me to achieve the splits though. Now I have aged I put very little empasis on "splitting" and as a result my splits has suffered although I still remain fairly flexible. There really aren't any "tricks" to achieveing the splits other than practice. There are various methods that are available, I am sure that they will be described shortly. I'm afraid that I do not have the time right now.......................

Well yes & no. I always get nervous when we spar, funny really after all these years. People can never understand when I tell them as I am known to be a "fighter" and having won our association championships a couple of times people naturally presume that I enjoy it. Saying this I do enjoy it sometimes. Strange to not enjoy something your good at don't you think (I sound like a right big head, please excuse me. I know I'm not "all that")

How long do you think it would take to a kata 100 times?

This also confuses me and I practice Goju Sanchin is a stable stance but mobile it is not! Like Shotokans zenkutsu dachi it seems to be more of a training aid than a practical stance for fighting. Any idea where your friend got his info, he may have misunderstood or got it from an inexperienced source.

I do not pay for my training but the lessons are £2 a week with a maximum of 3 training sessions available. Kids are £1 per lesson. I am in England. Years of instruction? I would agree with what most others have said. Although I think that they need to be able to instruct, but in saying that I also think that they need substantial skill in their art. Sensei keeps asking me to start a club but I have little desire (or time) to do so at the mo. I would like to be a 3rd dan really b4 I do. Although time wise (and skill *gringing at being so immodest*) I am there already. Probably just making excuses. Seperate artists for seperate styles is fine. As cheekymusician said it is okay for an instructor to teach a couple of styles but anymore and you maybe considered a jack of all trades, it's debatable. There is other criteria that make it a Mcdojo, there is a thread somewhere. Why do you ask King Of Fighters? Are you considering starting your own dojo?

Carl Merritt only had trained in boxing. He was a brawler and had a very hard childhood. A big fella naturally with a willingness to fight. He fought in illegal underground fights, where anything goes. He thought all kinds of fighters including martial artists. He won all but a couple of his fights. The ones he lost nearly cost him his life. The ones he won nearly cost his opponents their lives and sadly in some cases it did. The moral of the story: as others have said it's the fight in the fighter, not the fighter in a style. Reading about Carl Merritt made me realise that I do not poccess this killer attitude and would never willingly harm someone for the glory of victory, or money. If my life or my loved ones life depended on it then I hope that my training and emotion will do me proud. Would I list karate in an all out brawl? Yes if the right "fighter" was training in it but it is unlikely that they would be............

Since the arts are so different I would not be too concerned in achieving a certain grade in Judo b4 starting. Get going to karate....the sooner the better.

Gino welcome to the site. It must be a great honour to train under Hanshi Arniel. Where in London are you? Do you know of any clubs in Kent? 17 years in Kyokushin....wow!!! Respect to you

Now, now guys. Shotokan is an extremely effective form of karate and there are guys that I would never like to fight in this art. For the English folk think of Terry O'Neil, Frank Brennan, Billy Higgins, etc yesterdays heroes admitedly but they are formidable exponents that have made major contributions to the karate world. Not to mention totally dominating the tournament arena. My original point was that Shotokan is a good style but so are the others. Alot has to do with the karateka rather than the style, as we all know...........

Sounds like a good idea to me. The arts are very different and you shouldn't suffer with any confusion. Indeed you will become a more 'rounded' fighter.

Each has it's use. I do not prefer one over the other.

I would be interested in seeing that 'material', any chance of posting it so we may all benefit?

Oops!! Double post

Do one or the other!! What is it about Kyokushin that appeals to you? Are the things that appeal to you in Shotokan to be found in Kyokushin as well? You will probably find that despite kata differences and full contact that there is little difference between the two. The one thing I regret about changing from Shotokan is that I did not achieve my 1st dan, ideally I would have liked to have reached 3rd dan before changing. Although if I had waited that long I would have missed a fair few years out of my Goju training and I would probably regret not starting Goju sooner. So in saying that, I would suggest finding a Kyokushin dojo and giving it a go, you don't know what you're missing

Shotokan_Fighter, with all due respect you seem to have a slightly blinkered view of Shotokan. I have studied most popular styles of karate albeit briefly and I must say that Shotokan does not stand out as being any better than any other style, just different. I know that you did not criticise any other style but you do appear to have a rather biased opinion of Shotokan. I reached 1st Kyu in Shotokan and then moved to Goju-ryu. No particular reason. I have found that Goju-ryu is a much harder style of karate, but then in saying that had I continued with Shotokan no doubt I would have reached a similar level of strength. I'm not picking a fight and I have seen just how dedicated you are to your chosen style. Just a little rant. Yes a fast man with good technique can hit extremely hard.

I think it is okay for the club to cater well for children as this tends to be their main customer base, well that's the case in the UK anyway. However in saying that it is not acceptable to train juniors and seniors together in class, the classes should be split. I can't really elaborate any further on the good advice already given. Only that I prefer to try the club rather than just talk. Although in saying this when I met my current instructor I knew when I was chatting to him b4 the class that he was the guy for me. You will know what is right for you when you find it.

Just the once, not whilst practicing MA though I hasten to add. Well sunchaser how many times have you been ko'd? Can you recall?