G95champ

You should be able to type Shotokan Karate of America in to a search engine and gets their home site. SKA along with JKA and AJKA are the 3 big Shotokan groups.

That is our staple move no question. I myself and not a huge fan of it. I prefer open hand strikes.

Really depends on where you are at. In West Virgina more than 30.00 a month is to high because we have a lot of poor people. In LA a 100.00 a week is a super deal. I would consider that a contract.

Yes they do. The footwork and chaning of stances is the hardest thing to get right in any kata.

Yeah you all sound like my class at school. They say geez Mr. Justice you gave us an eaisy test. Im like yeah thats because I like you. Then the next day they are loud and don't want to work so I got to threaten to give them a hard one then they are nice again. LOL

One other thing kata gives you that shadow boxing don't is balance. In almost every kata I have seen or done it teaches moves to the Right and Left. This forces us to become balanced. As to where people only work one side when shadow boxing.

Simple. I posted this a few mins ago in another post to you. Karate don't teach you to fight. If you walk into a karate dojo and say hey I want to learn to fight. You will be asked to go home and come back when you are serious about training. As to where Thai, Boxiing, BJJ, etc is all about learning to fight.

Yeah it usually takes us 2 to get our second Dan but my Sensei was moving out of state so he bent the rules a bit for me. That has a lot to do with why I have never looked to advance past 2nd Dan.

Welcome SK0 glad you made it into the Intro section. You have been really active hope you keep it up.

Ok next time I make I will make it hard. LOL

Congrats SK0. Have you posted your introduction yet? If not go down and do it so everyone can welcome you to KF. Thanks and keep up the good work.

Congrats SK0 on making your gold belt in less than 24 hrs lol. IMO there is no differance in the 2. Except Kata forces you to do moves in a certin order as to where shadow boxing lets you be free with you techinque. This would lead one to think Shadow Boxing is better but when a person not motovated is left alone to do what they want they slack and don't move. So a fixed pattren is better for a lot of people because it gives them something to do and not think about being tired and resting.

Myself no. However several of my students and guys I trained with have. In every case they were sucessful. Those they were attacked by had not formal training but all of them walked away with little to no damage.

Kensai It will take you over 2 years to reach your black belt. It took my a bit over 3. I think that is one of the best things about Shotkan you just don't make black belt in a year.

Kata is the life blood of Shotokan. Yeah you only learn to fight by fighting but to fight or spar you have to have someone to practice with. Kata although not really fighting takes it as close as we can get. The balance, speed, timming, etc built in kata is what makes Shotokan and other kata based styles what they are.

Welcome

The Coal Fields of South West Virginia no big city's close LOL.

https://www.angelfire.com/wv2/wvka That is my site. You will se my training info there. I have held second Dan since Oct. of 97.

10 years this month.

Shotokan is as good as any when it comes to the streets because of our power and simple moves. Because as I listed in my other post in General MA. Shotokan is so well rounded. We work one on one attackers We work escapes from locks and grabs We work weapon Defense We work multi attackers We use anough throws and locks of our own to control people No there is no question in my mind other arts teach you to fight quicker but Shotokan approaches it from so many differant areas one is very ready when any situation comes. If they train hard as you both pointed out.

Welcome my Shotokan firend. LOL The one thing I will give us Shotokan guys is we all love our style. Now with that said I will be as honest as I can be. IMO Shotokan is one of the most well rounded MA. Our focus is Power!!! No getting arround that. However the art is well rounded in its techinques. A nice balance and punching and kicking. Shotokan offers enough throws and locks to be effective but not enough to make things messy. The big concern everyone has with Shotokan is its lack of a ground game. I will and have made the argument that it is there. The Horse stance as taught in the Tekki kata is really the Guard made famous by the Gracie family. So with that said I will say a true student of Shotokan will be a very well rounder fighter. However as I have stated many times MA is not about fighting alone. Shotokan inclueds a great history and ties to other arts such as Gojo Ruy and Shoin Ruy much less Judo. Not many know that, but its true. Early Shotokan was much like Judo until WWII. The art has also led to many other arts such as TKD and TSD. The art can be used for combat, SD, sport, and exercise. Not can be as effective in each of those 4. However Shotokan may not be the best for Combat or SD, or Sport, or Exercise it can be used for each reason very effectively. Shotokan has a base teaching of Basics, Kata, and Sparring. With no one aspect really gaining more attention with the exception of kata which is a mix of basics and sparring. Shotokan also developles the mind and spirit. A high moral code is the heart of the art. Last point and I will shurt up. Shotokan provides a great base for any person to start from. It has many books and videos and is a well known art arround the world. IMO if a person is looking into cross training they need to start with an Art like Shotokan that will allow you to grow in the area you want but will always make sure you have a base in a bit of everything.

If you find a very traditional Shotokan school it will be full contact. However when looking into second styles you basically got 2 options. 1. Pick an art very close to yours so the learning curve is less and you can pretty much pick it up quick. 2. Is to take an art very differant than yours to make yourslef more rounded as a Martial Artists. If it was me I would find the best teacher and go from there. Watch each class a few times talk to the students and see what they think. Any art will give you good training if it has a good teacher.

Welcome to KF

Welcome to KF

Well being a shotokan guy my heart tells me Gichin Funakoshi but each of us have our own style great and we will pcik them. So Im going to throw him out. To pick a true great I think he or she must meet a few things. 1. Everyone must know who they are. 2. They have had to prove themselves either in the ring or streets. 3. They must have trained under well respected teachers. 4. They have helped bring MA to a new leval. 5. Most of all they have to be a good guy. So with that said Chuch Norris would be my pick.