What other style of combat meshes well with Shotokan?

[Vagabond]

I would find a Dojo that teaches Judo and Juijutsu. The reason is that Judo is an excellent component to add to your Shotokan training, but as someone said before the Gi grips can be difficult to put into an MMA situation.

Where I study Judo a lot of Juijutsu (Dan Zan Ryu) people cross train. As a result a lot of them modify some of the throws to "no gi" throws. Judo also intrinsically have "no gi" throws and sweeps. I personally have found it an excellent addition to Shotokan, as well as a popular sport, which makes variety for practice easier.

[mizu]

If you want to compete in MMA then you should train at an MMA gym. Training in Shotokan and then judo/ju-jitsu/wrestling is complimentary of course (I train in Shotokan and did judo for a while in addition to add some throws and locks) but is no preparation for proper MMA competition.

[brickshooter]

Judo matches up with Shotokan very well. As a Shotokan guy, you're going to use alot of momentum to generate knock out power. Notice that when you attacks fail, you often end up body slamming into your opponent at full speed.

As rediculous as it feels, this accidental running into your opponent is most beneficial to a judoka as you're able to close the distance without getting hit + the momentum is used to unbalance your opponent and set him up for a throw.

This is true. However, if your purpose is to fight in mixed martial arts, why would you want to spend hours learning gi grips? Also, traditional Judo will not give you any experience with striking in a clinch.

True. I missed reading his later post where he stated that he wanted to compete in MMA.

He should head straight to the MMA gyms then, where he can get both wrestling and BJJ training.

[tallgeese]

The thing is, the level of BJJ training is all over the board right now in mma gyms. There are plenty that have a solid program run by someone with legitimate rank in BJJ. Due to the influx of popularity, there are also plenty with a wrestler from the local high school running the grappling program. Just look into what your getting before assuming that the local mma gym has a BJJ coach with rank. The two are not synonymous.

[ShoriKid]

The thing is, the level of BJJ training is all over the board right now in mma gyms. There are plenty that have a solid program run by someone with legitimate rank in BJJ. Due to the influx of popularity, there are also plenty with a wrestler from the local high school running the grappling program. Just look into what your getting before assuming that the local mma gym has a BJJ coach with rank. The two are not synonymous.

This is truth. Listen well and benefit greatly from it. In addition to this, you have to be careful of gyms who don't have any qualified instruction for ground grappling, but are billing themselves as an MMA gym and teaching grappling. A few youtube videos and plenty of old mma fights on tape and they know just enough to hook some folks that don't know better.

Mostly, be clear on what you really want to do. Your end goal. Then lay out the most direct path to it. If MMA competition is something you want to take part in, find a qualified gym, with good instructors in both BJJ and striking (you'll find plenty that are the reverse of what Tallgeese warned of). Don't be afraid to visit several gyms before picking a place to train.

[bushido_man96]

Since you'll have a good base in a stand up style, I'd recommend getting into a grappling style of some kind, to help round out that area. It would be a good balance.