Rival martial arts

[SBN Doug]

We actually have a couple in KSW as well. Mainly stemming back to the whole "who was first" argument. The most promanent is Hwarang Do, but there is a lesser known connection all the way back to the beggining of Hapkido and to a failed attempt at a merger I've heard about as well.

[bushido_man96]

Just from reading some of what is being said here. Is it reasonable to believe, then, that there may have been some TKD precursors that did not practice forms?

Do you mean that all they did was basics and fighting? I suppose that it could have been that way. I am not sure, though. I think most of them were associated with some form of Karate or other at some point, and probably used most of those training methods, whether they created their own forms or used other forms.

Does that answer your question? Or am I missing it?

[tengu-raven]

Shotokan v. any Okinawan System ---> I don't think t

here will be much of a competition there.

there does seem to be something behind the suggestion you made about rivals existing between shotokan and okinawan styles.

the first problem is that i hear the europeans have made subtle changes to how they practice shotokan. which does'nt go over so well with the other dojos that are purists. hence a rivalry in shotokan itself. and i keep hearing more dojos talk about bunkai while many japanese sensei are inclined to dismiss the idea.

the second problem is that japanese and okinawan dojos appear to have different views of various karate branches not just shotokan. last time i visited japan there was some mention of two different styles of goju-ryu. from what i was told the japanese style is the original while myagi had incorporated softer chinese material later. the only view i heard was from the japanese side and the okinawans might have a different perspective there.

the third problem is there seems to be a difference between the emphasis of material. from what i've seen the okinawans seem to grab more while the japanese perfer to just block. while on that subject the okinawans use a lot of circular blocks while some japanese go with the stopping harder variety. the hand techniques are more open in okinawan dojos while the japanese use more of the fist. and the footwork of okinawan styles is more about mobility than japanese dojos. that's my impression from having watched both japanese and okinawan karate before.

last i'm curious why you don't think any competition would exist between shotokan and okinawan karate? not looking for an arguement just wondering.

[yingampyang]

I was recently thinking on this topic and wondered what you guys thought. There are certain styles that just seem to have a constant...grudge match of sorts going on. Here's a list that I can think of:

Judo vs BJJ

Muay Thai vs Kyokushin Karate

Wing Chun vs all other spellings of the same art

Shaolin Monks vs Ninjas

can you think of any others? What do the 'rival' styles have to offer each other and how did the rivalries start? How has times favored these?

It is not a rival of arts , but more so which country it comes from , be it korea , china, or japan.