Surprised by GKR

[Nidan Melbourne]

As we know GKR like never competes outside of their own tournaments or NAS competitions. But when i went to look for the results of some of my friends who have competed recently, I was given a surprised.

I was honestly surprised by 1 lone GKR competitor, he competed in a Victorian Karate League tournament and came in 3rd Place for kata and 2nd for kumite.

The Victorian Karate League is a series of 4 tournaments in Victoria, you have to attend these 4 tournaments to be selected for the State Squad. These tournaments are approved by the Australian Karate Federation (Australia's top karate federation).

The Referees & Judges are sanctioned by Karate Victoria, for each event, if there is any chance of bias (a competitor and official train at the same dojo or relationship between them) then the referee will step away from the mat and another official shall step in.

I know we do give GKR a lot of flack for being a Mcdojo. But this may be a small sign that there are some people who train there are actually good.

[AdamKralic]

McDojos do produce high quality fighters.

How?

It's the fighters themselves. They train hard and get the results one expects from hard training. Now the McDojo might not produce the level of competition that they require to be the absolute best that they can be...but one can learn a lot by fighting even "inferior" fighters if the repetition/number of fights is high enough.

[guird]

In addition to what adam said about good students sometimes emerging from bad schools, GKR is slowly improving from what I've heard.

It's simply that the longer they are in an area, the more experienced karateka they accumulate, and so there are fewer of their characteristic under qualified instructors.

If they stay put long enough, the only reasons to be upset with them will be their history of dishonesty.

and the name. The awful name.

[andym]

Yes, GKR have produced some good karate-ka : in Australia ! Imagine have good they would in a good set up ? I noted long-ago the difference between GKR in Oz and in GB.

[ps1]

Just goes to show; it's as much or more about the individual training rather than the style they train.

[Wado Heretic]

I have heard good things about the quality of Go Kan Ryu in Australia, though one can never forgive the name. I have also heard that they do organise trips to train under, or alongside (not sure), a Goju-Ryu group in Japan.

I have heard disparaging remarks about the National All Styles, but GKR has always represented and done well in Australia in the NAS. As a sport karate group they appear to represent themselves well there.

In contrast; in the UK I have only stumbled across their bad and unethical business practices, and they fail to do well in the NAS here despite excellent representation.

To be frank; as a sport karate I do not think they will have "made it" until they have representation appear in a WKF or IKF tournament. To hear they have some attempting their luck in the AKF is promising but concerning. GKR is given such flack for being a McDojo, but what does that say about karate if we see the arrival of GKR in the World Games.

Might be a lesson for us all; throw dirt at people and you'll always get some on yourself.

I hope the quality of GKR in Australia reflects a general rise in quality for the organisation world wide.

[sensei8]

It's possible that that lone 1 GKR competitor does something that most McDojo students don't do...Practice!! I've seen a sprinkle, over the many years, of McDojo students that looked quite effective in their techniques, in that, their three K's look solid.

Purposeful practice with an intent to improve ones MA betterment can turn a stereotypical McDojo student into that which can be lacking for the others!!

[Wado Heretic]

True enough, but I consider my self an eternal optimist. If GKR can produce a student, even if it is that student's own effort that is the decisive factor, that is willing to compete in the wider forum of the general karate community than hopefully it will influence other students within GKR to change their attitudes to the general karate community.

Edited May 24, 2014 by Wado Heretic

[andym]

Interesting side light on GKR and what others think of it. Yes, GKR members go to Japan to train along with JFK member's - but they do not go as GKR. They are told NOT to wear there GKR badges and to say they are from GKR, but to say they are from 'Shodokan'. This is mostly because of the low opinion they held in, but also when founded, they didn't do their research very well. 'Gokan' means rape ! Says alot about the depth of knowledge within GKR IMO.

[Nidan Melbourne]

Interesting side light on GKR and what others think of it. Yes, GKR members go to Japan to train along with JFK member's - but they do not go as GKR. They are told NOT to wear there GKR badges and to say they are from GKR, but to say they are from 'Shodokan'. This is mostly because of the low opinion they held in, but also when founded, they didn't do their research very well. 'Gokan' means rape ! Says alot about the depth of knowledge within GKR IMO.

It says something about them if they're told not to say which school they are from.

If they say they are shotokan the teachers would work them even harder.

As you said shodokan (notice the spelling difference between the two) it is an aikido style.

But as everyone has said this 1 student has done something that you don't expect to hear from a 'typical' mcdojo.

I have heard good things about the quality of Go Kan Ryu in Australia, though one can never forgive the name.

What did you hear about them?

I attended several classes run by their "sensei" and all of those schools were discouraged to attend any AKF sactioned competition.