Karate not being the choice for self defence?

[50inches]

Like most people say, crosstrain to other martial arts that you feel are more bennefical for you.

[Justin Treadaway]

I took isshinryu karate for a few years and i thought it was good until i moved and starting take Sil Lum Kung fu. I have been doing kung fu for a few years now and I feel a lot more comfortable with my fighting skills. The main thing that i found that i didnt like about karate was it is so "hard" (as in blocks) and straight line. I found kung fu more to my liking it is a lot softer, very similer to JKD. Most of JKD is right out of wing chun kung fu.

[Lephisto]

Go with your gut feeling, i was doing some weird karate style until i found the style that I've got now and its awesome, i like my style because of its uniqueness and how i like it how i can apply the moves and techniques on my opponent remember what the greatest martial artist Huo YuanJia said " No style is superior..."

[ARADOX]

I tend to disagree, if your teacher is a good one, he will have realised what works best (for him at least) and will be teaching you the same techniques, these are techniques that WORK, the low stance that some of you seem to be having trouble with, it's there (in kata) for a reason, a strong stance has an overwhelmingly prfound effect of your attacks, blocks the ability to move with, out of the way, against your opponant.

I've been doing shotokan karate for ages (since I was five, I'm now sixteen) and I've found it to be a system completely out of the league of some other styles (jkd especially) in terms of self defence, yes it may lack the showy flashiness of jkd but it WORKS so much better, and yes I have experience in this field.

It does help if you study an art or two related to shotokan like aikido and kung fu (combined with shotokan that makes you VERY dangerous)

[ARADOX]

I tend to disagree, if your teacher is a good one, he will have realised what works best (for him at least) and will be teaching you the same techniques, these are techniques that WORK, the low stance that some of you seem to be having trouble with, it's there (in kata) for a reason, a strong stance has an overwhelmingly prfound effect of your attacks, blocks the ability to move with, out of the way, against your opponant.

I've been doing shotokan karate for ages (since I was five, I'm now sixteen) and I've found it to be a system completely out of the league of some other styles (jkd especially) in terms of self defence, yes it may lack the showy flashiness of jkd but it WORKS so much better, and yes I have experience in this field.

It does help if you study an art or two related to shotokan like aikido and kung fu (combined with shotokan that makes you VERY dangerous)

by the way, the best martial artist was not huo yuanja it was miyamoto musashi

[swdw]

The problem is that alot of teachers wont have to fore-thought to realise that what "works" for them may not work for someone who doesnt share the same physical attributes. And in what context do these techniques "work"?

I couldn't agree with you more.

What makes a really good teacher is someone who can modify an application for the individual. I've seen my Sensei take 2 approaches. First, if he wants students to get an understanding of the gross movement, he'll show everyone a standard way. Once the gross movement is developed, he goes along and modifies parts of it for individuals to make it more effective for them. His second approach deals with an application that just won't work for an individual if given in a standard approach. He will immediately modify it for them, after explaining it to the rest of the class, so that individual doesn't become frustrated with something that would otherwise not work.

Of course, in order to do this, the Sensei has to have an in depth knowledge of what he teaches

[swdw]

I've been doing shotokan karate for ages (since I was five, I'm now sixteen)

Ages huh? Lessee, you're 16. I guess that means those of us who've been training longer than you've been alive have been practicing for eons. Have you ever had to use your training when dealing with a T-Rex? Us ancient farts could tell you what it was like back in the cave man days.

It does help if you study an art or two related to shotokan like aikido and kung fu (combined with shotokan that makes you VERY dangerous)

Let me pick my ancient brain . . . aikido and shotokan . . . oh yeah- that's also called Wado-ryu

Previous comments were all in fun so don't take them wrong. Keep training, and keep an open mind.

Edited May 31, 2007 by swdw

[Montana]

..........i thought hey, there is nothing similliar to that kind of defence in karate which is not a thing to ignore.

You need to change your wording somewhat, in that when you say "karate", you are lumping many, many different forms of martial arts all into one basket as the same thing. Shotokan is just one system of karae. There are many more, and not all like Shotokan. Many styles of karate are excellent for self defense.

[Justin Treadaway]

It does help if you study an art or two related to shotokan like aikido and kung fu (combined with shotokan that makes you VERY dangerous)

b

I hate to say this but shotokan is as far away from kung fu as you can get.....

[ps1]

It does help if you study an art or two related to shotokan like aikido and kung fu (combined with shotokan that makes you VERY dangerous)

b

I hate to say this but shotokan is as far away from kung fu as you can get.....

Of couse I am only speaking in regards to Poekoelan Chuan Fa (Indonesian)and could never hope to speak for every kung fu system, but there are more similarities than you might think. Especially in terms of the crane and tiger systems. You'd never see it by watching the forms/kata, but the applications are very similar.