Comparing styles

[patusai]

I hear that a lot of masters were "thugs" and they practiced their art and perfected it in the streets. I did not know that Funakoshi was one of them.

[ovine king]

to be fair, it was a different time and a different culture and "thug" is probably the only modern(ish) word we have in english that would describe them in general. Also, him being a fighter by nature, if he were not "thuggish" i doubt he would've gotten to the level that he did. Don't forget that in those days, training WAS fighting. As I have said elsewhere on this forum, I may not know shotokan but I am 100% sure that what is practiced today as shotokan is nothing like what Funakoshi practiced. Quicte simply, his methods are simply not suitable and possibly not even permissable in todays society.

[patusai]

You make a good point. KArate in general has probably been watered down to be more acceptable in the modern society.

[RichardHangHong]

I agree with everyone else, that's the smartest thing I've heard someone say in a long time.

[Menjo]

to be fair, it was a different time and a different culture and "thug" is probably the only modern(ish) word we have in english that would describe them in general. Also, him being a fighter by nature, if he were not "thuggish" i doubt he would've gotten to the level that he did. Don't forget that in those days, training WAS fighting. As I have said elsewhere on this forum, I may not know shotokan but I am 100% sure that what is practiced today as shotokan is nothing like what Funakoshi practiced. Quicte simply, his methods are simply not suitable and possibly not even permissable in todays society.

One thing that has remained is the passing down of knowledge through kata.

For traditional martial arts kata(changed alot) has been one of the few critical factors of passing down the art(although as stated, it was mostly real combat that provided training). I just thought I'd make that addition.

[nanfeishen]

As has been previously stated, those were different times and often violent times, but i would say calling them"thugs" is a little harsh , i would say they were the rough lot, the guys who nobody willingly picked a fight with unless they considered themselves good enough, the guys you hired to protect your assets or your property, there are always guys like that around, good natural fighters, who have a talent for the rough stuff, who arent afraid to face a fight, they often enjoy it and dont hesitate to act on a situation, men (and women) of good character.

Unfortunately today with our "civilised society" there are far too few of these characteristics left in the martial arts, they were often, not always though, men (and women)of great honour and integrity, following and living by codes of conduct and etiquette that are mostly lost today.

Today we can walk into any school or dojo, fill in a form, hand over our cash and bingo we can train, they on the other hand had to earn the right to train , often cleaning up, running errands, manual labour, etc etc, before being invited to do a little training, maybe being shown one or two movements and being told practice, never knowing and certainly never daring to ask for more, in other words they had to earn their place, and therefore worked or practiced so much harder for it.

The martial arts are a tool to build and develop character, unfortunately too often nowadays all it builds are ego's.