Difference in Karate Styles?? Looking for other options.....

[Goju_boi]

If your looking to be street effective and want to find an art with no *, may I recommend San Soo. It isn't karate, it is Kung Fu but it fits your description. San Soo is one of the most brutal and comprehensive arts there is and it has evolved for over 2000 years. This is what you want.

yes, but it's hard to find

[johnnymac]

I thought Sensei Demura taught Itosu Kai Shito Ryu.

[Goju_boi]

i know he teaches shito ryu, just not sure which lineage of it

[Fairfax_Uechi]

My opinion as karate style practioner (Okinawan style) is that karate is not the fastest way to learn self-defence, however if you have the discipline of keep practicing and the right passion for what you are doing you'll become very proficent in self defence. JKD (just to take an example from my personal previous experience, I'm sure there are other arts where the same considerations apply) is faster because self-defence is the main purpose for it. Nevertheless karate training is richer and in the long run it teaches you a wider arsenal of techniques.

True, but you can think of it like a waiting period to buy a gun. If you study long enough you won't have the desire to fight. In my case, I started training to learn a traditional art. My goal was to learn self defense but also to make martial arts part of my life. Uechi isn't the fastest way to become a good fighter, but once you get up into the senior colored belts or black belts you develop a great deal of discipline, control, speed, technique, and body conditioning that makes you a handful for any punk who wants to mess with you. Can a street fighter beat you? Sure if he gets a lucky shot, or if he's real good, but the odds are in your favor with the right training.

One other thought was when I started, I wanted to learn how to punch, kick, and block. I wasn't keen on getting hit, and if someone had told me about all of the body conditioning we do, I would have run out of the dojo faster than superman. But now I enjoy it, and just add it to my bag of tricks. Oh yea, the other day my SO was horsing around and punched me. Scared us both as we thought she broke a few fingers by hitting me in the muscle. Luckily it was just a bad jammed set of fingers.

Anyway the point, is that the best things in life take time and effort. You get out what you put in.

[Charlie]

There's a lot of really good advice in this thread. If you're studying under a widely respected and admired master, which sounds like it is the case, then you might want to reconsider switching to another style as others have already suggested.

However, if you ever do want to study a "full-contact" style, this website lists most if not all of the "offshoots" of Kyokushin. These are usually full-contact styles. If you look at the website for each organization, they should list their member dojo and you can find one that is near where you live.

http://www.australiankyokushin.com/flavours.shtml

[Azula]

See if you can find Gosoku-Ryu(what I do) style karate, there are 54 dojos world wide, and 'tis a very useful art when applied in the streets. It was thaught to many police.