karate styles

[martialartsresearcher]

hi guys, i was wondering? is karate considered a complete art? or is it just some karate styles that handle all aspects of combat? thanks in advance. see ya.

[Kumite988]

Traditional Okinawan karate covered just about everything stand up to grappling. That I know. Other than that I don't know much about it.

[Rich_2k3]

There are quite big differences in the four main styles of Karate, like Kyokushin and Shotokan, the first is based on power and body conditioning and the other a more lighter karate style, that favours some of the traditional ways, I'd say Shotokan was the closest style to TKD and Kyokushin, I'm not too sure, it has a large body conditioning aspect that could reflect some of the "external" Kung fu styles. But i'm no expert those are simply my observations.

[AndrewGreen]

All depends on how you define complete.

 

For my objectives, nowhere near complete.

 

For others it is.

[martialartsresearcher]

So it all depends on the karate-man. ok cool, thanks all.

[equaninimus]

Actually, I would place Kyokushin closer to TKD in its emphasis on artificial rules for sparring, i.e. no hands to the head, and its disdain for kata. One look at the way Oyama modified the Kata shows he didn't "get it," and that to him, Karate was all kicking and punching.

 

I would agree with Kumite 988 that the original Okinawan styles were "complete" arts, and I would venture to put Shito into the same category, depending on one's instructor. Certainly it is as taught by Minakami sensei in Seattle. Wado also has the potential to be a "complete art" depending on how it is taught. The Wado Ryu Renmei organization tends to do so, in my opinion, whereas Wado Kai does not. Once again teh disclaimer, I'm a Wado Kai person.

 

Goju definately is a "complete system," although again this depends on the teacher. Shotokan,though I love how dynamic it is, is not, and is not even really a fighting style as taught by most instructors.

[ESA-Shotokan]

I would definitely say that the Shotokan style as taught by the ESA is very complete. The teachings are incredible and really do open your eyes to so many aspects of karate.

 

[Rich_2k3]

I think what ever style u do there wont be much of a grappling side of it. Oh, and a question are there any styles of Karate (except traditional) that trains with weapons?

[stuey-san]

tbh i didnt know traditional karate fought with weapons, i know that the name has been translated to empty hand from chinese hand, but the fact that its empty hand doesnt that mean that like u dont do weapons?

[aefibird]

'Empty hand' doesn't always mean literally empty - it is supposed to signify the clearing of the mind and body in preperation for training. It also signifies 'empty of any evil intent'.

 

There are many karate clubs that incorporate weapons training, especially traditional Okinawan style clubs. However, a lot of clubs do borrow weapons and aspects from other styles too. For example, there are Shotokan clubs that train with kobudo weaponary, even though Shotokan is not a traditional weapons-based system.

 

As for the grapplig, there is a lot of that in karate. It just depends on your instructor as to how much you do. Karate isn't just about kicking and punching, but sometimes the other aspects of it have to be 'looked for'.