big beefy guys

[neilo]

Is it just me ?

Or am i right in suggesting that the shotokan world is mostly ( of course there are exceptions ) dominated by big beefy men( japan exempted).

Not muscle men, but strong guys who look as though they are fit but eat a LOT of food. This makes shotokan similar to kyokushinkai and judo.

Its just an observation that im surprised i hadn't noticed it before. I don't think its a coincidence, its more of the nature of the art and how it is practiced ?

[Oshishinobu]

OSU!!!

I have to say you are correct, as I am a big beefy fellow and I do in fact train shotokan. Honestly I see it as a plus, shotokan is an exsplosive style and training big dudes to be exsplosive is just plan awesome! OSU!

[Oshishinobu]

I think the prevalence of my beefy brethren in Shotokan has to do with the sheer number of shotokan schools around. if you look for karate in any given metro area the majority of schools besides TKD are shotokan. Honestly I think if we look to Karate in general in the U.S. in particular, and this could be more with our national diet, the karate world is filled with large dudes.

OSU!

[Nidan Melbourne]

I have seen this in Melbourne a little bit, but not a whole lot.

[neilo]

Thanks for replies

My point is that if you are big and strong then you are more likely to "last the course" i.e. train for a long time and reach high rank, high ability and seniority in the shotokan/goju/judo/kyokushinkai world. Simply because you don't get bounced around so much.

Trading semi contact body blows and hard blocking with someone who out weighs you by 100LBs is not easy. It does make you think that perhaps aikido or wing chun might be a better idea ?

Of course, the lighter guy has an advantage with stamina and being light on their feet, but in the "old school" world of straight line shotokan, its not easy to make that count.

[Oshishinobu]

It's good to have the larger fellows, we make a dojo fun.

I mean who else in the sensei gonna "test" a technique on lol.

OSU!!

[wildbourgman]

I'm of Cajun French decent from South Louisiana and many of my Cajun brothers are short and stocky. South Louisiana has had some really good Shotokan karate-ka that were very short and very fast.

My first instructor was a national champion and a world competitor and he is a very small statured fellow. My current Shotokan instructor is only slightly taller than my first instructor and he's very impressive in the ring and on the floor.

I've have to admit I've seen some big guys in Shotokan ,but I've seen smaller folks too.

[Nevinyrral]

I practice shotokan and I'm tall but thin like stick

But it's true thera are a lot of beefy guys in karate, maybe it's because how it's trained or something like that?

[Oshishinobu]

Karate seems to be focusing on power more and more and beefy guys will gravitate toward that. OSU!!!

[LLLEARNER]

Another consideration that was briefly mentioned is national/world diets. With the increase of free trade since WW2 people have gotten bigger. Even in regions that historically had little lean guys.

I remember reading (many years ago) that the average height in Japan post WW2 increased dramatically. Mostly due to diet changes.

It seems to be support by a study I found.

"Just this month came the news that Japan's long-forecast demographic implosion has finally begun to materialize in the form of the smallest class entering elementary school since the statistics were first kept, in 1946.

But lost in the gloomy news, and even ignored by many here, is one measurement by which the reputedly diminutive Japanese have been closing the gap impressively with Westerners: height. In 50 years, according to statistics kept by the Ministry of Education, the average height of Japanese 11-year-olds has increased by more than 5 1/2 inches. The height of girls, who grow faster at that age, meanwhile, has increased even more.

So far, there has been no definitive explanation for the increased growth, but it is widely believed to be caused by improvements in diet and the elimination of once-common infectious diseases, both expressions of Japan's swift postwar economic rise. According to one recent study, for instance, intake of animal protein has doubled to 60 grams a day since 1960. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/01/world/tokyo-journal-the-japanese-it-seems-are-outgrowing-japan.html

With the increased availability of high quality foodstuffs worldwide people seem to be reaching their genetic possibilities.

Also it is cool to see big beefy guys do explosive things.