longarm25

I Have read pat McCarthy's version and found very insightfull

sparing and fighting are definatley differant

Choki Motobu vs all comers

to much FLASH

I prefer a gi for Kata but my school is pretty lax during the summer

Shoshin Nagamine's book "Tales of Okinawa's reat Masters" does include a few stories of Karateka sucessfully defendig themselves from samurai however these were isolated instance and there was no wide spread resistance. As previously stated all martial practice by the Okinawan people was done in secret.

I feel that being in shape improves ones skill, however it is not necessarially an indication of the skill one posses. example I know A couple highly skilled karate kas that are topping the 300lb mark they are extreamly strong but their quickness and endurance would improve if their fitness level improved.