karate ouch

[shotokanbeginner]

I have a friend who is in judo and is constantly saying how much more effective it is than shotokan and how unrealistic shotokan is. I think she only says this because of lack of knowledge, but it bugs me. What should I say or do? I know that judo is effective. Do all judo practitioners believe karate is a joke? I'm not saying this to be rude or disrespectful, I just want to know because I only know a little bit about judo. I know not all think that about karate because that would be just ignorant, but does a large portion of them think this? What can I say to open her eyes that shotokan can be effective so long as the student and teacher are good?

p.s. I think judo is great and may one day try it out so I am not flaming it.

Just tell her they're apples and oranges. Neither is better or worse. She may also be saying this to rib you some, and also to stand up for what she studies. People always want what they have to be the "best" so it's natural for some of this to occur.

As for the effectiveness of Shotokan, you're right about the student and instructor being key factors. FYI, one thing to keep in mind, is that in popular arts like TKD and Shotokan you are much more likely to come across poor teachers as there are so many dojos. Say for the sake of example that just 10% of the dojos are McDojos and that there are 100 dojos within an hour of you. Then 10 would be McDojos. In a style with only 10 dojos you'd only run across 1. So while the odds may be the same, the perception that there are more with the more popular style is due to the fact that there are more bad instructors. The point is that perceptions are built for several reasons, and some of them are valid.

Also, the techniques that you use will depend on many factors. In my case, the low linear stances of Shotokan just aren't very natural for me. Uechi is more upright and better suited to me. So while Shotokan may be great for you, it isn't for me. So when you compare them we go back to the apples and oranges. Also if I'm not mistaken, Judo is mostly ground work and Shotokan is mostly a striking art, so they often don't cover similar techniques. In Uechi we have a good mixture so while we're mostly a striking art, we also have some ground work. So in your case, learning some Judo from your friend might be a good complement to your Shotokan, and teaching her some of your strikes might be a good complement for her. In my case, I've been toying with adding more kicking to my Uechi as we do some but more extensive kicking would really complement my striking and grabs. So... just keep your open mind and learn all you can.

Yeah it is sad to see how many mc dojos there are. very good comment thanks

[shotokanbeginner]

Hey shotokanbeginner, are you a guy?

Just a shot in the dark....I mess with my guy all the time that my conglomeration of styles is better than his

(Primarily I started out in Karate, and he started in TKD)

Also, I think a lot if not most serious martial artists either practice both striking and grappling or would if they could or are working on it(like you).

Why yes I am, very good comment thank you muchly I like your perspective on this it is great.

[Hitman]

Every style likes to think they are the best. Why would you continue to train in a style if you think another style is better?? So a bit of ego gets in there. However, my father (who is my Instructor also) would always say, "The Art is the Art." In other words, who cares if this person uses a different technique to defend against a punch! It is defending it that matters!

One thing that I think gets forgotten a lot nowdays is that we are not training to fight each other in the Martial Arts. We are training to defend ourselves against some unknown attack from someone who wants to hurt us or take what is ours. Another Martial Artist will not be doing that- maybe this unknown thug knows some techniques, be he is NOT a true Martial Artist. As a Shotokan instructor, I should NEVER have to worry about defending myself against an equally qualified Judo instructor. Why? Because we would never have a real reason to fight. Even if one of us were really, truly mad at the other, one of us would still walk away before resorting to using what we know. A REAL fight between REAL Martial Artists looks a lot like this...these words written in a forum, peacefully debating our opinions.

ANYWAY, what I am trying to get at is that your argument is completely moot. Try thinking about it in terms of a team- what do you think would happen if BOTH of you were assaulted? Could you BOTH defend yourselves, and what would each of you be doing differently? You can learn from them, and they from you. OK, I am sounding like philosophy book now, so I'll shaddup...

[shotokanbeginner]

Every style likes to think they are the best. Why would you continue to train in a style if you think another style is better?? So a bit of ego gets in there. However, my father (who is my Instructor also) would always say, "The Art is the Art." In other words, who cares if this person uses a different technique to defend against a punch! It is defending it that matters!

One thing that I think gets forgotten a lot nowdays is that we are not training to fight each other in the Martial Arts. We are training to defend ourselves against some unknown attack from someone who wants to hurt us or take what is ours. Another Martial Artist will not be doing that- maybe this unknown thug knows some techniques, be he is NOT a true Martial Artist. As a Shotokan instructor, I should NEVER have to worry about defending myself against an equally qualified Judo instructor. Why? Because we would never have a real reason to fight. Even if one of us were really, truly mad at the other, one of us would still walk away before resorting to using what we know. A REAL fight between REAL Martial Artists looks a lot like this...these words written in a forum, peacefully debating our opinions.

ANYWAY, what I am trying to get at is that your argument is completely moot. Try thinking about it in terms of a team- what do you think would happen if BOTH of you were assaulted? Could you BOTH defend yourselves, and what would each of you be doing differently? You can learn from them, and they from you. OK, I am sounding like philosophy book now, so I'll shaddup...

Very good comment. This is a bit more of a one sided argument between me and her becuase I have great respect for judo but she has none for shotokan. All of you have helped me prove to her that shotokan is a fine art and now she pays it some respect.

[patusai]

All depends on you. You can train in the finest style (whatever that may be) by the finest teacher/s...even being trained by Matsumura himself but it all depends on ... you. Besides, there is no best MA there is only MA