Go Kan Ryu

[Dobbersky]

The thing is how effective IS GKR against other styles, I have NEVER heard of a GKR practitioner winning an Open (that is not just GKR - other styles as well) Championship. I believe the sparing is not even semi contact - I practice Full contact knockdown Karate. “Tippy Tappy Bouncy Bouncy” will NOT work on the street. Man, if someone who is not used to hitting someone full force does they'll break their hand (it is medically proven that the average person upon hitting the face of an attacker will break their hand within 3 strikes), unless they train correctly for it.

And to be called Sensei and not be a Yudansha is insulting to those who have worked hard to get where they are. I may take a Yoga class for 3 months then open my own class it’s just the same.

Right I feel better now where's my hug and my teddy

go through the latest NAS results - in australia or the UK and you will see that GKR students regularly achieve outstanding results....

http://www.nationalallstyles.com.au/media/nas/pdfs/tournament-reports/nationals/2010/national-titles-2010.pdf

Respectfully, America has the World Superbowl for Football, not too sure about other sports, But how many Non American Teams take part???

Yeah sure you can get a tournement and call it all styles but its up to the organisors what clubs etc they invite.

Now if this is genuine and some GKR fighters do win, just ask yourself are they pure GKR stylists or have they been bought into the "family" from other styles.

There are a few "offshots" of GKR in the UK now and they practice a "Shotokan/Goju Karate" but the good ones that I've seen are originally from a different style and looked at the money side of the business rather than the art!!!

You Tube is full of examples where you can compare a GKR stylist against another person from Shotokan or Goju Ryu performing the same kata and being completely outclassed. the best is a female GKR 2nd Dan performing Bassai Dai and being outclassed by a brown belt from Shotokan.

Kancho Sullivan can be seen being outclassed by a lower blackbelt in sparring although its "Non Contact" OMG how would Non Contact help someone defend themselves in the street.

[wayneshin]

The thing is how effective IS GKR against other styles, I have NEVER heard of a GKR practitioner winning an Open (that is not just GKR - other styles as well) Championship. I believe the sparing is not even semi contact - I practice Full contact knockdown Karate. “Tippy Tappy Bouncy Bouncy” will NOT work on the street. Man, if someone who is not used to hitting someone full force does they'll break their hand (it is medically proven that the average person upon hitting the face of an attacker will break their hand within 3 strikes), unless they train correctly for it.

And to be called Sensei and not be a Yudansha is insulting to those who have worked hard to get where they are. I may take a Yoga class for 3 months then open my own class it’s just the same.

Right I feel better now where's my hug and my teddy

go through the latest NAS results - in australia or the UK and you will see that GKR students regularly achieve outstanding results....

http://www.nationalallstyles.com.au/media/nas/pdfs/tournament-reports/nationals/2010/national-titles-2010.pdf

Respectfully, America has the World Superbowl for Football, not too sure about other sports, But how many Non American Teams take part???

Yeah sure you can get a tournement and call it all styles but its up to the organisors what clubs etc they invite.

Now if this is genuine and some GKR fighters do win, just ask yourself are they pure GKR stylists or have they been bought into the "family" from other styles.

There are a few "offshots" of GKR in the UK now and they practice a "Shotokan/Goju Karate" but the good ones that I've seen are originally from a different style and looked at the money side of the business rather than the art!!!

You Tube is full of examples where you can compare a GKR stylist against another person from Shotokan or Goju Ryu performing the same kata and being completely outclassed. the best is a female GKR 2nd Dan performing Bassai Dai and being outclassed by a brown belt from Shotokan.

Kancho Sullivan can be seen being outclassed by a lower blackbelt in sparring although its "Non Contact" OMG how would Non Contact help someone defend themselves in the street.

NAS is an Open tournament and quite big in Australia but nowhere near the standard of AKF (Australian Karate Federation). There are numerous examples of AKF fighters doing well in NAS (last years female champion of champions) but not so much vice versa.

[Shizentai]

Politics and business and everything else aside, I do find it ironic that they would choose the same kanji for "go" as in "gojuryu" since it means "hard" and apparently (based on what a practitioner said in the other thread) GKR has a no-contact policy. It sounds to me like "Jukanryu" would have been more appropriate.

[Dobbersky]

Politics and business and everything else aside, I do find it ironic that they would choose the same kanji for "go" as in "gojuryu" since it means "hard" and apparently (based on what a practitioner said in the other thread) GKR has a no-contact policy. It sounds to me like "Jukanryu" would have been more appropriate.

totally agree with you there,

Ju Kan Ryu would have been a more fitting name.

The thing is GKR IS the McDonalds of the karate would. you get what you pay for, JUNK food!!!

Non Contact Karate should NOT be marketed as a realistc Self Defence method, as if one GKR BB gets beaten up "defending" themselves then the press make it look like its ALL styles of Karate not the Non Contact stuff. This is why Karate has been considered as the weak style for many years, because of McDojos and Belt Factories like this one

Sorry to rant on but my students have to put so much into there training and WHEN they earn there Black Belt, they will have put many years of hard work, blood sweat and tears, not like they do in these GKR etc schools

[bushido_man96]

TKD is considered a hard style, although there are some organizations out there that practice light contact sparring. Its not the sparring necessarily that is indicitave of how the style is labeled, but the way the techniques are performed, linerar/circular, etc.

I do see what you guys are getting at, though.

[AlwaysInTraining]

I trained at a GKR offshoot for 4 years (Kenshukai Karate) and i was recruited to the club the same way as described by someone knocking on my door. Because i had no knowedge of martial arts or their ways and methods i just accepted that it was normal. I only realised things we'rnt right when after a while i would grade nationally with about a hundred or so other people (that was the only way we could grade) and everyone would pass including people who were not good or barely put any effort in. I was lucky, however, that i was taught by a couple of instructors who put effort into their lessons and enthusiasm which rubbed off on me and made me want to try hard and learn. Unfortuantly by the time i had reached 4th Kyu i had more or less mastered the entire sylabus beacuse there wasnt that much to learn and every other grade was a repeat of the kata of the grade before. They had also started grooming me to teach but after being an assistant instructor for a bit i realised that everything became about getting class sizes up and handling people who had done their time and were looking to grade again (which i was encouraged to do). Eventually i left and took up kyokushinkai karate instead and in 4 years have trainined very hard a gone from 10th kyu to 2nd kyu and im working for 1st kyu in 6 months time.

Since leaving Kenshukai Karate i learnt much much more about martial arts am much happier ofr it. I know for a fact that Kenshukai's gradeing sylabus is exactly the same as GKR's (as im pretty sure most other offshoots with the same business practices are) and im actually glad i left as i now dont have to deal with politics . I also learnt how unfit i was when i started to spar in Kyokushinkai as I would always get my backside handed to me every time we spared which was a surprise to me as i was one of the best in Kenshukai.

However It wasnt all bad being there because i did learn basic stances and movements but it only took me so far and i used to meet black belts that i could match so my advise to everyone thinking of taking it up is dont deal with the politics and use it as a starting point and then move on.

[MasterPain]

OMG how would Non Contact help someone defend themselves in the street.

Every time I hear non-contact I imagine a BJJ class run that way.

Picture someone doing the BJJ wormy dog butt-scootin boogie and butterfly sweep while someone across the room practices holding base. What's next? No touch armbars through chi projection? By the Holiness of Gene Lebell's Pink Gi I hope to never see the day.

[bushido_man96]

OMG how would Non Contact help someone defend themselves in the street.

Every time I hear non-contact I imagine a BJJ class run that way.

Picture someone doing the BJJ wormy dog butt-scootin boogie and butterfly sweep while someone across the room practices holding base. What's next? No touch armbars through chi projection? By the Holiness of Gene Lebell's Pink Gi I hope to never see the day.

Thats a good way to look at it. I think some contact is mandatory in sparring. We don't have to be taking knockout blows, but knowing how it feels to get hit is good for when it happens for real.

[MasterPain]

Exactly. Just spar honestly. No need to hurt each other, just a little pain is all.

[Fudoshin_Ryu]

I think it's funny how many people get into a martial art expecting it to be something soft and cuddly, and then they automatically expect it to make them into leaders or something of the sort. Pain is something that's natural in life, your gonna experience it with or without sparring, so why do people get so caught up in being afraid of the little 'love tap' from your peer or senior?

I can understand when your young...thirteen and under and being afraid, but it's a responsible step in martial arts, sparring that is. Or at least I think so.