What has surprised you most about your style?

[Montana]

What has surprised you most about my style?

Well, after working on it since January of 1975, what surprises me the most is how much sense it makes, and how practical it is in philosopy and in application of its techniques.

It's not fancy, nor flashy, but in the half dozen times or so that I've had to use it in the street, it has NEVER failed me. The one time I tried it in a tournament (black belt level) I walked away with 2 trophies (2nd in kata, 3rd in sparring--single elimination) and a plaque for Outstanding Tournament Competitor.

I have total faith in this system for what I chose to take if for...which is to protect myself, my family...and anybody else I chose to protect during my life. It isn't designed to function as a competition/tournament system, but from my own experiences and those of a few students that compete occassionally, it does quite well if you stick to the priciples that it teaches you and use them as they are intended.

Oh...and we don't break boards either...

[TokyoSuitsMe]

Something that has suprised me is that it's not the end of the world if you get hurt.

I used to watch and think "there is no way I could stand there and take a hit like that..." but after a while, you get used to it and it doesn't seem so bad.

I'm suprised at how quickly your body becomes accustomed to being hit.

[tallgeese]

Bujin- the sheer number of places it's taken me.

Gokei- the mental finishing school that it turned out to be for combatives.

BJJ- the high level of technical proficiency inherent in the game. And that rolling slower with less effort makes you learn more.

[WireFrame]

Shotokan: I'm surprised at how it's given my muscles a better memory than my brain! Seriously, muscle-memory is an amazing thing.

[RichardZ]

Simple is better.....mastery comes from doing a few things a thousand times, not by doing 1000 things a few times.

Partly agree and disagree.

This depends if the few things a thousand times has worth and doesnt create long-term detremental effects.

What surprise me the most?

Having each instructor send me to another without having any reserved martial art politics and prejudices.

[Shizentai]

What surprised me most?

That after my whole young life of listening to people tell me my body was too sick and frail to even participate in school p.e., karate training alone has made me the most physically capable person I know, male or female.

[Patrick]

That's great, Shizentai. Congrats.

[Blade96]

What surprised me most?

That after my whole young life of listening to people tell me my body was too sick and frail to even participate in school p.e., karate training alone has made me the most physically capable person I know, male or female.

yeah thats me. i was born with an underdeveloped cerebellum (which means that my balance and coordination isnt as perfect as others) and all my life I had family members say 'the only reason you'll get anywhere is your brain and not your body'. well I'm doing shotokan and I also learned to ice skate (neither of which they agreed with) and Im doing well and now they're having a lovely big feast of crow and saying how right i am to do it.

anyway shotokan? what surprised me about it?

that with regards to learning stances kicks and punches and katas and movements and so on balance is less of a factor than people, er, that family who said i couldnt do it - talking to me made it out to be (because you don't stand on one leg very long when doing a kick at normal speed for example)

what else that surprised me was how fast i knew I had found my MA when i went and glanced at a class for just a minute (september 5th, 2009 approximately) and given how little i knew about ma at the time I was surprised how quickly I recognized the MA I wanted to find after seeing an actor I like, Wesley Snipes, (my forum name is the famous character he plays haha) who is 5th dan shotokan, do it in the movies. Seriously! I went to watch a class, looked, and just after 2 mins of watching, "thats it" I joined around september 10th, and fell completely totally in love with shotokan and been doin' it ever since.

what else? The fact you spend your time hunkered down in a crouch (not standing but your legs are bent a lot) and how much exercize it gives your legs. I didnt know about that til I started shotokan. and how much my calf muscles have grown after less than 3 months of it. Mine are already bigger than my older brothers or my fathers, and I'm only a small girl! btw my mom thinks she's more fit than me and better at exercizing, so I challenged her few days ago, Crouch down like this (and I broke down and gedan barai'd) Now I said, Do it for an hour. I bet you won't be able to take it. Yet that is what I do, twice a week for an hour each time i train (and since i do something in my training every day, well.....)

other thing is the philosophical side of it , the 'do' part. It really is a way of life. and what also surprised me is that its founder Funakoshi, is also a philosopher and when I learned about him, I also love what he stood for. Of course that made me love Shotokan even more. Its also very artistic and spiritual and there is beauty and grace in the movements. Im from an artsy family and I learned to love the arts as a child. (its also my degree I just finished at university.)

btw whoever said they love shutos - Me too. and in my kata, heian shodan, I get to do 4 of them! Lucky me.

Edited December 5, 2009 by Blade96

[Ichi_Geki]

The traditional Uechi Ryu Kara Te Do that I so dilligently practice is not really 'traditional' persay. Their are two Uechi Ryu traditonal styles. The traditional era after 1950 and the classical Uechi Ryu as taught by uechi kanbun

[Nobodysaidbella]

I never fail to be surprised by, in any style, the number of pointless, fancy moves that work in theory, but never do.