Yasutsune Makoto

ps1, I would also like to thank you for your service. You have all brought up some very great and excellent points. As well as re-established my equilibrium about the matter. I will be sure to point out to people to look at the individual and not the style. Just a question to get other perspectives. What parts of karate do you emphasize? And for what reasons do you train? To answer my own question: I think all aspects are important, and based off of one another, but if i were to order them according to time spent... Kata/Kihon/Bunkai Makiwara/Meditation Application in fighting This order varies from week to week, this just happens to be common the last few. I train to develop my mind, spirit, body to the highest levels. I also try and follow budo and the other principles that were stressed by Funakoshi and those before him. *Meditation occurs during all aspects, placed here arbitrarily.

Good posts, thank you. I want to point out that it IS in fact being rediscovered! There ARE schools out there that realize that as important as budo is, it's not the only reason to practice punching and kicking. The meanings that have been lost, I feel, need to be resurfaced. I know that there is little need for an art such as shuri-te, with all of it's brutality, but that doesn't mean those in the martial arts should not understand the devastating power, the control of our minds and bodies, and the internal discovery to be gained by plunging into the deepest depths of why we practice martial arts. "Sport" competition is valuable in the way it develops speed, strategy, timing, and sportsmanship. However, there are so many organizations that train ONLY to put out good point fighters. This is where the flaw is. In all systems of karate, the things we practice are to turn us into weapons, and knowing how, and in what way, is crucial to a complete understanding of our art and life-style... just a thought.

You're comment about combat not being MMA, much agreed. It is a wrong word choice on my part, apologies to the team. What I mean is just anything more than point-sparring. Something where you can see the effectiveness of your technique and not just "If I had thrown that for real it would have hurt", or "Tag, you're it". You know what I mean? Again, sorry.

adendum: and training for combat would be training for self-defense. instead of training for competition.

By combat situation I mean full-contact MMA, and ocassionally no holds barred fighting amoung other martial artist friends. We use this as training to find weaknesses in our techniques and get practice against people outside our dojo. I've also done some multiple attacker practice that was unscripted just to see how it went. Here I think it is important to note that I practice the martial arts for development of the mind, spirit, body, and martial aspects. I believe they go hand in hand and all should be emphasized equally, hence the explorations into situations that aren't really practiced in JKA style shotokan.

It's a great kata for development, I am sure you will get a lot out of it, but remember that leg, hand, and breathing should all be synchronized. I think that's the most beautiful, and the hardest, part of the kata. Good Luck.

I've been reading a lot lately and am finding an extremely disturbing number of sources stating that Shotokan has become nothing but a competition style. I'm not going to lie, this makes me ANGRY! What I want to know is who out there, other than me, practices Shotokan and uses it in contact situations? Who attends or teaches at a dojo where students learn combat, power in jiyu kumite, and not just MC Dojos. Control is a huge part of karate, the difference between those who train and those who don't. So, karate-ka and especially Shotokan practiticioners. Tell me how many train for combat and apply it in free spar with control, or just train for competition. Is there anyone else out there fed up with the statement, "shotokan is just a sport"?!?!?

I agree with you there but I think it is important to point out that although point-sparring is taking over the shotokan world, unfortunately, shotokan combat is still an effective means of fighting. To tie it in with this thread, of all the asian styles I've seen I don't think there is one that has such a devastating punch as shotokan. Even though they are strong, but I'm biased.

I just read the book a couple days ago and found the theory to be an eye opener. Even if it is wrong it proved its point well enough for me to take a second look at things I previously took for granted. I am starting to gain a deeper understanding of shotokan just by looking harder. The book was a great read, entertaining and could change the way you see things.

The karate punch you described is the punch in its most basic form. In combat, or sparring, a karate practitioner should be free with his stance and allow his back leg to move as necassary. Also, a punch with full kime (focus and power) doesn't snap back at the hip until well after contact. I recall reading somewhere that a karate master (Okazaki possibly?) hit at 2000psi and a heavyweight boxer hit at about 1000psi. granted the karate-ka hit with just the knuckles and the boxer hit with his whole hand, presumably, but still...

As it has been decided the running and fighting and running and fighting strategy is a bad idea. What is the best way to fight multiple attackers? In shotokan we train to strike with one or two hits to incapacitate the attacker and move on to the next. What are other strategies that have been proven effective?

Here is the breakdown: Shotokan strength- hits really really hard, from a distance, quickly. Smart and strategic fighters. Shotokan weakness- most don't practice full speed/contact. most don't practice against other styles, most can't fight close-range. Judo Strength- full speed practice, comfortable in close range, quick, good balance. Judo weakness- lacks practice against strikers, lacks striking ability. Possibly unable to get a clinch on someone skilled who is trying to keep them far away. Conclusion- Shotokan person that can keep the Judo guy far away (or land that perfect technique we all dream of) wins. If the Judo guy gets a grip on the Shotokan guy, he wins. Best approach in real life- cross-train. I have trained Shotokan my whole life, and started cross-training with ju-jitsu and judo when I got my black belt. I recommend this for any serious karate-ka of any style because it has helped immensly in pretty much every fighting situation I have been in. Also, look at as many different styles as you can because if you don't know what's coming, how can you beat it? sorry for the long post.

If you have any full-contact stories, post them here. Did your art serve you as well as you hoped or did you find weaknesses you didn't know were there?

I think that hands are the most important to be proficient in but if you can become equally good with your legs, develop openings with your hands, and then follow through with a strong, balanced, accurate, fast kick...you're golden. *It may surprise some people that this condition is REALLY hard to achieve (14 years of training and I can do it well enough every once in a while, but then again, i'm a bit of a perfectionist.)*

I think that becoming a master isn't something that you can put a rank to, or a time limit on. There are many higher ranking individuals that simply aren't very good. The title of Shihan, which I interpret as Teacher of Teachers, should be given very sparingly. I would prefer if the system was just two belts. White until you understood enough to become a black belt and then black belt. Maybe when your belt faded to white, then you might be a master, a dedicated follower for life, and then some.

Heian Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, Yondan, Godan Tekki Shodan, Nidan Basai-Dai Kanku-Dai Kanku-Sho Jitte Hangetsu Empi Gankaku Jion Unsu Sochin

My mind, and my hands/feet. If it were more necessary and more legal it would be nice to have a pair of nunchuku in a sticky situation. But pretty much anything can turn into a bo staff.

I have sparred with bo, bokken, and nunchaku. It hurts pretty bad but it's a lot of fun, and certain weapons work really well against others. I use a padded training nunchaku and still managed to leave some pretty big welts on my training partner (he was using bo staff so I got hit a lot as well, but once I got inside it was all over.) Fighting with them is very similar to fighting hand to hand because they are so fast and natural to use.

Currently I am working on Sochin. I think it's one of the most powerful katas out there. Does anyone else get that feeling as they practice Sochin?