Theory of Karate

[Soheir]

Pros and cons are a matter of what you're looking for. Ofcourse, one can make generalisation of all those, but it would be somewhat pointless..

Everybody will anyway choose their style by what they want to learn. A person who's really into boxing propably couldn't care less if you were out to tell him how he will never learn good ground technique.

Karate is a self defence system, BUT is it that for everybody nowdays!?

[brickshooter]

Hi everyone,

I want to know Theory of Karate, can any one help or can provide any link.

What are the different style of karate?

How these differe from each other and their signature ?

pros and cons of each style ?

Two main schools of thoughts in Karate. The Shurite & the Nahate.

Shurite is linear karate. The emphasize is on generating singular knockout power with the maximum use of weight transfer. Imagine running full speed at someone and punching him at the last second. This school includes Shotokan, Shito Ryu, etc. under its umbrella. Pros - knock out power. Cons - what to do when you're in grappling range?

Nahate is more circular. It emphasizes close in fighting with strikes to weak points on a body to wear the attacker down before finishing him off. There are some similarities with White Crane Kung Fu. Under this umbrella, you'll find Goju, etc. Pro - nasty hockey fighting. Cons - lightweights will have difficulty generating knock out power.

Then there are combo systems that combine the Shurite & Nahate schools in theory. Under this umbrella you'll find Wado, etc.

And the last systems are more sports oriented one-on-one fighting. Under this umbrella you'll find Kyokushin & TDK. BTW, sports doesn't mean that they're ineffective. It means that you need to be more athletic and pain resistant since they often mean full contact. Pros - a lot of contact training. Cons - some techniques are too risky for self-defense use such as over-reliance on head kicks.