SHOTOKAN, a watered down art...

[battlin_bard]

hi guys, i meant no offense by posting this topic, its just im curious why do many people think this way of this beautiful art? and how they lambasted their practitioners.

 

Pls enlighten me....

[Sho-ju]

hi guys, i meant no offense by posting this topic, its just im curious why do many people think this way of this beautiful art? and how they lambasted their practitioners.

 

Pls enlighten me....

 

because in most schools it's heavy on the 'do' and too light on the 'jitsu.' the emphasis in most dojo is the art form and not the practical self defence.

[ESA-Shotokan]

Also too many schools practice tippy-tappy-crappy sports karate and call it Shotokan Karate.

 

It is a thing that the JKA are guilty of in that too much emphasis is placed on offence and not enough on defence. I have attended a few classes were the sensei has advised me to be "in and out" with a combination and not wait around, whereas I felt that was wrong. If I am at close range with an opponent, I will normally stay there until they are down, not get in and take the advantage and then lose it by skipping out again; what use is that? If you have the advantage, use it and forget scoring a quick point.

 

When you consider that a lot of the "attacking" techniques were originally introduced to "test" the defensive methods of shotokan. Over the years, it somewhat got twisted.

 

Edited February 28, 2004 by ESA-Shotokan

[kempocos]

Also when Karate was taken from Okinawa to Japan it was changed. The advanced techniques were removed by Funakoshi when he created his style. The goal being an art that would be able to used by school children.

[G95champ]

Because it is the most practiced form of karate in the USA there are a lot of BAD teachers out there who dont know what their teaching and thus Shotokan has gotten a bad name because some do not teach it as Funakoshi taught it.

 

Much like TKD which I am not a fan of but its so public a lot of people see the bad and forget the good.

 

Ture Shotokan is anything but watered down. Its very basic and simple. Not many kicks or strikes. No more than 29 kata and as few as 12 depending on your association. In fact that is the usualy concer I hear about it, thats its to simple and not complex enough.

 

However it is a very deep art with lots of throws, takedowns, locks, weapon def, etc that you will one day dig out of the kata.

 

Can you tell what art I practice. LOL

[battlin_bard]

i hear you guys, i have nothin but respect for this art, in fact im thinking of starting to train with it, alongside kali, kyokushin and aikido that i do. The associations name is Shotokan karate academy, said to be affiliated with JKA....i think ill have to have a chat with the instructor first b4 i do sign up.

[Sho-ju]

I have a nidan in a form of shotokan ryu, I think you'd be better off in kyokushin. If offers many elements traditional shotokan offers, but the kuimte is better.

[shotokanwarrior]

The only water in my shotokan class is the bottle that I gulp down during the hard training that I endure. Yes kids get a little less because you dont want a 8 year old beating on other kids and seriously hurting one.

[Killer Miller]

I think you are confusing Tournament JKA training instead of true application training. The quick in-an-out is taught by many instructors to the Judges can clearly see that you made a point. Alomg with this concept is a big pull back with the arm, looks more dramatic with the judges.

 

However, with true sparring/defense application and training, the big tournament actions are not necessary - because both are just as effective. With this training, instructors teach more of going THROUGH......your opponent - big tournament actions are not necessary. I don't know if you are Dan ranked yet, but you will get more into higher level concepts when you do. Prior Dan ranks have a tendancy to think that they've seen all there is to see in the art. In reality, you are just starting to learn in Dan ranks and have only learned the basic necessary to truly learn the art. It's a good thing to work and wait for - trust me.

 

- Killer -

I have attended a few classes were the sensei has advised me to be "in and out" with a combination and not wait around, whereas I felt that was wrong. If I am at close range with an opponent, I will normally stay there until they are down, not get in and take the advantage and then lose it by skipping out again; what use is that? If you have the advantage, use it and forget scoring a quick point.

[Killer Miller]

I don't get all of the bad mouthing thing. For years and years other groups/styles bad mouth the JKA. We politely invite these people to come and train with us - they rarely do so. When they do, with the exception of a couple, they go home huffin & puffin, sore/bruised, and above all very quiet, head/shoulders down with a lot more respect than when they came in. Usually, no more bad mouthing afterwards. Although, we would typically mend relations with a Beer afterwards and * about MA in general - just to show we're not the jerks everyone thinks we are.

 

- Killer -