Transition from Shotokan to Kyokushin

[pers]

LOL ! OK dude , so you were not impressed ....as you were then dude .

[DoctorQui]

I'm a bit confused why a particular style (shotokan) is being singled out really! To me it seems that its just the club that the OP has a problem with and how that club teaches Shotokan! Remember that GKR et al teach Shotokan/Goju Ryu mix with no contact.

There are thousands of Shotokan dojos out there that operate full contact knock down kumite, mine included.

The thread does seem to be decending into a 'which style is better' argument which we are all aware, never goes well and is largely pointless!

Edited September 13, 2012 by DoctorQui

[Dobbersky]

Let's not get into a "this style is superior to that style" argument please. :}

Totally agree, OSU!!!

[Kuma]

I'm a bit confused why a particular style (shotokan) is being singled out really! To me it seems that its just the club that the OP has a problem with and how that club teached Shotokan! Remember that GKR et al teach Shotokan/Goju Ryu mix with no contact.

Interestingly nobody was singling out Shotokan nor attempting to make this a "style vs style" thread. All I did was correct a misconception and share a simple opinion with the disclaimer that it was my opinion. I have no problem with systems. It's faulty training methods I dislike.

[pers]

I'm a bit confused why a particular style (shotokan) is being singled out really! To me it seems that its just the club that the OP has a problem with and how that club teached Shotokan! Remember that GKR et al teach Shotokan/Goju Ryu mix with no contact.

Interestingly nobody was singling out Shotokan nor attempting to make this a "style vs style" thread. All I did was correct a misconception and share a simple opinion with the disclaimer that it was my opinion. I have no problem with systems. It's faulty training methods I dislike.

was it not you who called kyukoshin superior then ? sorry it must be my poor English !

[Dobbersky]

I'm a bit confused why a particular style (shotokan) is being singled out really! To me it seems that its just the club that the OP has a problem with and how that club teached Shotokan! Remember that GKR et al teach Shotokan/Goju Ryu mix with no contact.

Interestingly nobody was singling out Shotokan nor attempting to make this a "style vs style" thread. All I did was correct a misconception and share a simple opinion with the disclaimer that it was my opinion. I have no problem with systems. It's faulty training methods I dislike.

was it not you who called kyukoshin superior then ? sorry it must be my poor English !

Guys you know that if you wanna talk which style is better you need not look any further than this

[Kuma]

I'm a bit confused why a particular style (shotokan) is being singled out really! To me it seems that its just the club that the OP has a problem with and how that club teached Shotokan! Remember that GKR et al teach Shotokan/Goju Ryu mix with no contact.

Interestingly nobody was singling out Shotokan nor attempting to make this a "style vs style" thread. All I did was correct a misconception and share a simple opinion with the disclaimer that it was my opinion. I have no problem with systems. It's faulty training methods I dislike.

was it not you who called kyukoshin superior then ? sorry it must be my poor English !

Actually I referred to their sparring method. As stated several times - my opinion. Let's not get defensive.

[DoctorQui]

Guys you know that if you wanna talk which style is better you need not look any further than this

I could not stop laughing from start to finish! Simply brilliant and scarily accurate in so many cases!

Good find Dobbers!

[jaypo]

The goal of any martial art is to be able to defend yourself in the most efficient way possible. It seems that the discussion here is whether or not Kyukoshin sparring is better than Shotokan sparring. I actually had a similar discussion the other day after a long sparring session. I train in a Shorin Ryu/Shotokan based system that also incorporates some akido, tai chi, and muay thai. But our sparring (for safety and insurance purposes) is light contact. We don't stand there and kick the crap out of each other until we bleed, but we do spend time working on good technique, powerful strikes, and good sound karate. Even though we don't focus on physically destroying our fellow students, I'm pretty sure any of my classmates would be able to effectively destroy an attacker on the street. And I firmly believe that the skill and talent of the student makes a huge difference. There are black belts in my system that are bigger, tougher, and have trained longer than me. However, I have more speed, better technique, and a lot more strength. Just because I don't kick them with enough force to break their ribs doesn't mean that I couldn't!

I feel confident if I'm fighting someone with the same skill level as me in another system, I could adapt to the rules we are fighting within. I don't currently go full contact. But I'm pretty confident that I could! I had this conversation the other day with a black belt I had just sparred with for 10 minutes. I told him that sparring is fun, but on the street, I'd use a lot of leg kicks, traps, and a lot more devistating techniques. He had popped me in the face right from the beginning because I got lazy and he knew what I was going to do. He apologized after, and I told him not to. I actually enjoy being popped every once in a while! It trains me to keep my guard up, and I doubt anyone would take it easy on me in the street.

There is no perfect system, and while some styles may have superior components to other styles, all styles have their weaknesses. That's why they're always evolving. Hell, Gracie JJ set out to prove thru the 90's that it was the best style in the world. So fighters were forced to evolve. They realized that to compete, you had to have a strong base in grappling as well as striking. Look at UFC 1 vs. UFC 150. I know that cage fighting isn't the same as what most of us study, but it is a martial art. And it has evolved drastically as all arts should.

[pers]

I'm a bit confused why a particular style (shotokan) is being singled out really! To me it seems that its just the club that the OP has a problem with and how that club teaches Shotokan! Remember that GKR et al teach Shotokan/Goju Ryu mix with no contact.

There are thousands of Shotokan dojos out there that operate full contact knock down kumite, mine included.

The thread does seem to be decending into a 'which style is better' argument which we are all aware, never goes well and is largely pointless!

I agree with you but could also use the opportunity to debate about our form of martial arts ,for our freind's sake who is a 6th kyu and is looking for answers we maybe able to share our own experience and help him make a better decision .

That is all I was trying to do for our friend from Athens becuase I was in that situation myself and I felt the frustration myself .

Of course without knowing anything about the club he is training we can't comment about the club ,but even if the problem was that it is not shotokan which is at fault .

In my own case I had to make the switch from one dojo to another and join a different asociation at 3rd kyu level and it was like going from primary school straight to university and I am not exagerating !

Both clubs were shotokan but the difference was as I said like primary school to university.

I had to relearn all the basic techniques and remove all the bad habits that I had learned for the past 3 years ,it was extremely hard and frustrating for me who was not a natural to karate , facing dan grades from 4th dan down to shodans who wanted to prove themselves as new dan grades and who better to take it on but the brown belts !

It took me 5 years from third kyu to shodan !! I did both the basic class and the brown black belt class during that time and they were excellent .

There were only 2 or 3 people that did double class regulary and I was one of them , becuase my standard was very low and I had to work hard to improve it ,otherwise I would not be able to progress in brown black belt class .

Interestingly even after I graded shodan I carried on with the basic class for another 4 years and enjoyed every one of them ,great work outs and I used to love the one step kumite , trying to land a jodan chudan punch or kicks , doing them served me well against all those dan grades who didn't do the basic class and I felt I over took them with speed and efficiency .