Gyte

I personally think, it is, because in China a long tradition of Chinese opera exists. In Chinese opera a lot of kung fu is used. Often the opera performers were actors as well as martial artists. The kung fu that was used, was highly acrobatic, with the purpose of entertaining people. So in the 60s and 70s the shift from Chinese opera to movies was relatively small. In Japan such traditions didn't exist. Karate practioners were mainly martial artists and didn't get involved into acting in the entertainment branche.

After watching the trailer I seriously recommend to immediately rename the movie to Kung Fu Kid, which will be also better for marketing reasons. The movie is more about Kung Fu than Karate. That's also quite logic because the movie is set in China and Jackie Chan, who plays the master, is trained in Kung Fu not Karate. I think that the audience will recieve the movie better if the title is changed.

I know the following Shotokan katas : Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan, Heian Sandan, Heian Yondan, Heian Godan, Tekki Shodan, Tekki Nidan, Tekki Sandan Bassai Dai, Bassai Sho, Kanku dai, Kanku Sho, Empi, Jion, Hangetsu, Gankaku, Sochin, Meikyo, Chinte. The following kata of Master Asai: Kakuyoku Shodan, Junro Shodan, Junro Nidan The above mentioned katas I know very well. I have practised a lot more katas than this, but I haven't memorized those other katas yet.

Any movie starring Larry Lee has okinawan karate in it. Larry Lee is a goju-ryu karate stylist. He starred in movies like "Black Belt Karate" and "Thunderkick".

My favourite karate movie is Karate Kid. My favourite kung fu movie is Snake in Eagle's Shadow, starring Jackie Chan and Hwang Jang Lee.

The reason why the Heian katas were created from the Pinan katas, was so that they would fit to the specific style of Shotokan Karate. That means longer stances, more powerfull movements. Likewise most of the stances of neko ashi dachi where changed into kokutsu dachi, the shiko dachi were changed into kiba dachi, some front kicks where replaced by side kicks, etcetra. Due to these changes the bunkai may have changed also. But as earlier pointed out the bunkai is just the interpretation of the kata. You are free to interpret the kata as you would like.

Thank's everybody, for all for your contributions. I will check them all out one by one. I certainly will have a lot to read now.

Hi all, Does someone know some good books about taekwondo? I am thinking about buying some books for self study. I am not a novice and I practise karate. In the past I have practised some taekwondo. I mostly favour very technical books about martial arts. Which books can you all recommend me ?

My two favourite katas are Kanku Dai and Tekki Shodan. Why? Kanku Dai : Is a very long kata. Because of that it offers a great workout for the human body. It's a very dynamic kata containing punches, blocks, front kicks, side kicks and a jumping double kick. Almost all parts of the body are being trained by it. It has also an arsenal of techniques and combinations ready to be used for seldefense. Tekki Shodan : Is a short kata, with very practical techiques based on selfdefense. For a short kata, it is very rich of applications. It can be practised almost anywhere, you don't need much space to practise this kata. I even practise this kata in my office sometimes.

karate kid III

So, you never seen TDK practioner who was good with kicks. Well, I can name a few examples: Hwang Jang Lee, Casanova Wong, John Lui, Tan Tao Liang, Hwang In-Shik. All these men studied either TDK or Hapkido. I know that these are just kung fu movie actors, but they sure know how to kick. If you watch their movies you will see that they execute their kicks with the uttermost perfectionism. It sure looks very effective.

You could also try Tang Soo Do. This martial art looks a lot like Taekwondo. It contains a lot of kicking and is in general less 'sportly' than Taekwondo. Tang Soo Do and Taekwondo have a common origin. Tang Soo Do stands closer to Karate than Taekwondo, because they still practise the Karate kata's.

Ah, I have a clearer picture now. From your description I can see it's not so difficult at all to do kick from there. Well, the important thing is that it got the job done. In my view a kick is to the head is always more damaging than a punch to the head, since legs are stronger than arms. I wonder what Kyokushinkai guys think of that, since kicking to the head with full power is common practise for them. Well, actually I have practised Taekwondo for one year in the past and then I practised Tang Soo Do for one year. After that I switched to Shotokan. Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do have definately more expertise in how to throw a good kick.

I'm too amazed that you were able kick so high. You must be very flexible in the hips. To get a clearer picture, I have a few questions. Did your opponent throw you a left or right punch? Which block did you use and with which arm? With which leg did you kick? In a self defence situation high kicks are risky, because you easily can be pushed off balance by your opponent. So they're not advisable. It is better to kick at the groin, the inner legs or the knees.

I didn't quite understand this part. You blocked his punch and counter attacked with a yoko geri kekomi to his head??? If you blocked his punch, than I expect that you were standing very close to your opponent. Kicking a taller opponent to the head is very difficult then.

Well, karate wasn't originally a kicking style. Karate was heavily influenced by Southern Chinese styles. Southern Chinese styles rely more on their hand techniques than on kicking techniques. Since many kata originate in China, they will contain very few kicking techniques. The Shotokan style, which I practise, had in the beginning also very less kicking. Kicks like the side snap kick, side thrust kick, roundhouse kick and spinning back kick were added over time. Also in some katas some front kicks were replaced by side kicks.

Well, if the jiu-jitsu practioner has all the skills, then a big muscle guy with no martial art experience would have no chance. This is just where jiu-jitsu is designed for, to overcome strength by good technique. The only way the big guy could win is by pure luck. The jiu-jitsu practioner will have a hard time though.

Are you sure? Alot of "jujutsu" techniques are contained within karate. Throws, joint locks, ect are contained within karate. I think this more true for Goju-ryu karate than Shotokan karate. Shotokan karate has dropped most of its grappling. I'm sure Goju-ryu still practises Tuite techniques a lot. I'm positive when you dissect your katas, you would find that karate is not "just" punching, blocking, and kicking. Most katas have some sort of grappling bunkai to them. True. There are many joint locks and throws hidden in the katas, even in Shotokan katas. But in Shotokan we practise them so little. We concentrate more on punching, kicking and blocking and so we tend to be poor at grappling.

If you want to take a karate style which is effective on the street, take Kyokushinkai karate, not Shotokan karate. Kyokushinkai's contest are full contact, whereas Shotokan are semi contact. As a Muay Thai fighter I think you will feel more at home with Kyokushinkai than with Shotokan.

Yes, jujitsu has punching and kicking techniques, but is usually very poor at it. It largely dependent on the school you train in. I know somebody who practises jujitsu, and who came to our school to practise shotokan karate and he noticed the same things.

If I had to chose between or karate or jujitsu, I would chose jujitsu. The reaon for this is because I find it more suited to self defence than karate. I myself have practised Shotokan karate for 4 years. When we were practising self defence techniques against an attacker with a knive or a stick, we always would use jujitsu techniques and never karate techniques. Both karate and jujitsu have their own specialism. Karate is good at punching, blocking and kicking. Jujitsu is very poor at these techniques. Jujitsu is good at grappling, joint locks and throws. This is where karate is poor at. If I was you I would try to take them both. They complement each other very good.

The clothing of the Karate practioners in Fist of Legend didn't make any sense. They were wearing hakama's, which are long and wide trousers, that look like skirts and are usually black colored. Hakama's aren't good suitable for practising Karate, they would only get in the way when kicking. Hakama's were usually worn by Jiu Jitsu or Aikido practioners. Jiu Jitsu and Aikido are purely japanese arts and Karate isn't, it's Okinawan. Also because of the fancy kicking the fighters used, I sometimes got the impression that they were practising Taekwondo instead of Karate. Karate in Japan at that time (beginning 20th century) didn't have such a variety in kicking techniques as in the movie was shown. This is also true for Bruce Lee's movie Fist of Fury.

So, from what I have understood from the article the Shaolin temple has gone commercial ???

Two movies everyone has to see are "Warriors Two" and "Prodigal Son". Both are directed by Sammo Hung and he even plays a part in them. They contain some of the most awesome Wing Chun fights ever depicted in a movie.

This Hapkido tournament looks more like a ju jitsu tournament. Looking at the videos I don't really see the point of kicking here. It doesn't look very useful, because the contestants don't seemed get anywhere with it. Here, the only use for kicking I can think of you is to keep the opponent at a distance. Why don't they immediately just go for grappling instead? Just like in brazillian ju jitsu.