SKA and SKIF

[TnRedNeck]

Anyone know the technical differences between these two

I have a local SKA that I was thinking of joining.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Maybe starting by clarifying the request would help others help you. What do these accronyms stand for? Assuming the K stands for karate, but at a loss for the rest.

[ineluki]

What do these accronyms stand for?

SKIF = Shotokan Karate-Do International Federation = Kanazawa'S Org

SKA = Shotokan Karate of America

But anyone who is able to explain the technical differences should know the acronyms anyway...

[TnRedNeck]

Thanks guys.

[JohnASE]

I don't have a good answer for you, but since no one else has chimed in yet, I'll put what little I know.

SKIF and SKA are both traditional Shotokan organizations, and traditional Shotokan organizations tend to pride themselves on teaching pretty much the same things in all of their member dojos. I assume this means they rarely if ever change anything, and they all still teach pretty much the same thing that Funakoshi Gichin taught back in the day. Differences will likely be minor, at least at the lower ranks.

I don't know this for sure. Kanazawa (SKIF) and Oshima (SKA) both broke away from the JKA a looong time ago, so they might have changed some things over the decades. And, of course, this is very general. Each sensei is different and brings his own spin to what and how he teaches.

[sensei8]

I don't have a good answer for you, but since no one else has chimed in yet, I'll put what little I know.

SKIF and SKA are both traditional Shotokan organizations, and traditional Shotokan organizations tend to pride themselves on teaching pretty much the same things in all of their member dojos. I assume this means they rarely if ever change anything, and they all still teach pretty much the same thing that Funakoshi Gichin taught back in the day. Differences will likely be minor, at least at the lower ranks.

I don't know this for sure. Kanazawa (SKIF) and Oshima (SKA) both broke away from the JKA a looong time ago, so they might have changed some things over the decades. And, of course, this is very general. Each sensei is different and brings his own spin to what and how he teaches.

Solid post!!

[bassaiguy]

Well, this is months out of date, but I just logged on for the first time here in forever...

SKIF is Kanazawa's Shotokan. It is famous (or infamous) for including the influence of tai chi in some of its movement, for modifying slightly some of the advanced kata (for example, Gojushiho) and for including kobudo in its syllabus. It is still 100% Shotokan, but it is definitely Kanazawa's interpretation of Shotokan.

SKA is Oshima's Shotokan and it preserves the Shotokan style karate of the 1940s and 1950s more closely than some other Shotokan factions. The grading only goes to 5th dan because that's as high as Funakoshi was graded during his lifetime (unlike other Shotokan orgs which promote to 10th dan), it uses only the 16 kata in Funaksohi's Karate-do Kyohan text and emphasizes ippon kumite over other forms of fighting. It is also 100% Shotokan, but a bit anachronistic and different from what the JKA and other some other big groups practice today.

[wildbourgman]

I assume this means they rarely if ever change anything, and they all still teach pretty much the same thing that Funakoshi Gichin taught back in the day.

I think the second part of this sentence is highly debatable but I agree I don't think the differences between JKA, SKIF and SKA should be that drastic.

I would only debate if any Shotokan styles actually teach the Shotokan style as it was taught by Funakoshi. In my readings it looks like that Shotokan was changed by first by his son while he was still living and then even further by Masatoshi Nakayama, Teruyuki Okazaki, and others.