[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Karate? (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 2/26/2010 1:02:48 PM EDT
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Gents,
I'm starting Karate next week. It's Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan Karate, traditional Okinawan. It's taught at Eggleston's Karate, who has dojos in Farmville and Richmond VA. Apparently, it's a very traditional approach, though he's oriented towards competition. I'm mainly looking to improve my unarmed combat skills, as well as for physical fitness and better life focus. I had wanted some kind of BJJ school, but they are an hour away. My background is limited in terms of martial arts, though I did wrestle competitively for years in middle and high school, and I took the mandated defensive tactics in the police academy. What do you guys think of this style in general? How applicable will it be to real-world use? I figure I'll train on it some, and then consider other styles if it really isn't working out. It is very convenient, though, and as it's the ONLY martial arts dojo in the area, my choices are somewhat limited. Looking for any feedback, thanks! |
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I have no idea about that style. However, Karate seems to be broken down into three very distinct categories these days.
1. Sport Karate/XMA/whatever. All total garbage. Unless you want to see how loud you can scream and twirl a toothpick staff, stay away. The only successful use of it, to date, was to break into Hollywood and bang Taylor Swift. (See Taylor Loutner). 2. "Traditional" karate. Lots of katas, occasional one step sparring, heavy on the "religious" aspect of the martial arts. More for spiritual enlightenment than self defense. You will spend a lot of time standing still while throwing reverse punches. You'll break a sweat and get out of the house a couple times a week, and there may be a hot chick in the class, but that's about it. 3. Real "Traditional" karate. Holy cow this stuff will teach you to fight. Training consists of beating the ever loving crap out of each other. You will basically learn to non-stop wail on someone while head kicking them until they are hamburger. Alternately, people will also be trying to do this to you, so you'll learn to defend against it pretty well. Also, you will become a lot tougher, which is good. I'm a BJJ guy, and I've seen some of the training these guys do, and I said "no thanks." I'm never concerned about which style is better, just which style is good. This style is good. |
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Thanks for the info. I was talking to the sensei the other day before signing up, and I made it clear I was looking for more than just katas and demonstrations. He said it was full contact, that they wore headgear and other pads, but that I should expect to 'get my bell rung' more than once. So apparently it's not just for show...
I'm a bit apprehensive but I'm looking forward to it. |
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Quoted:
I have no idea about that style. However, Karate seems to be broken down into three very distinct categories these days. 1. Sport Karate/XMA/whatever. All total garbage. Unless you want to see how loud you can scream and twirl a toothpick staff, stay away. The only successful use of it, to date, was to break into Hollywood and bang Taylor Swift. (See Taylor Loutner). 2. "Traditional" karate. Lots of katas, occasional one step sparring, heavy on the "religious" aspect of the martial arts. More for spiritual enlightenment than self defense. You will spend a lot of time standing still while throwing reverse punches. You'll break a sweat and get out of the house a couple times a week, and there may be a hot chick in the class, but that's about it. 3. Real "Traditional" karate. Holy cow this stuff will teach you to fight. Training consists of beating the ever loving crap out of each other. You will basically learn to non-stop wail on someone while head kicking them until they are hamburger. Alternately, people will also be trying to do this to you, so you'll learn to defend against it pretty well. Also, you will become a lot tougher, which is good. I'm a BJJ guy, and I've seen some of the training these guys do, and I said "no thanks." I'm never concerned about which style is better, just which style is good. This style is good. This is how I know of the system, if you have a good instructor that is; you better plan on dealing with alot of pain. There's no BS with this style, with that said, you should figure out pretty quick after sitting-in on a class to be sure it's not the other (2) stated categories above. I've banged-it-out with a few guys who were trained in this style and they were tough, the only down-fall with the style is the foot-work is limited; they were fairly linear with their attacks. For myself, I like hitting angles using good footwork......but, you can't go wrong with the style if it's instructed well.......just like any other style. |
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Quoted: Spot on. I have no idea about that style. However, Karate seems to be broken down into three very distinct categories these days. 1. Sport Karate/XMA/whatever. All total garbage. Unless you want to see how loud you can scream and twirl a toothpick staff, stay away. The only successful use of it, to date, was to break into Hollywood and bang Taylor Swift. (See Taylor Loutner). 2. "Traditional" karate. Lots of katas, occasional one step sparring, heavy on the "religious" aspect of the martial arts. More for spiritual enlightenment than self defense. You will spend a lot of time standing still while throwing reverse punches. You'll break a sweat and get out of the house a couple times a week, and there may be a hot chick in the class, but that's about it. 3. Real "Traditional" karate. Holy cow this stuff will teach you to fight. Training consists of beating the ever loving crap out of each other. You will basically learn to non-stop wail on someone while head kicking them until they are hamburger. Alternately, people will also be trying to do this to you, so you'll learn to defend against it pretty well. Also, you will become a lot tougher, which is good. I'm a BJJ guy, and I've seen some of the training these guys do, and I said "no thanks." I'm never concerned about which style is better, just which style is good. This style is good. Unfortunately, today, there are way too many #1's and almost no #3's. It's hard to sell a school/instructor unless you have a gazillion trophies on the wall. The good ones, you'll find have blood on the carpet and smell like a sweat shop and no trophies to be seen anywhere. |
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The biggest problem with ANY Karate is this: The katas and traditional training DOES NOT RESEMBLE WHAT THE SPARRING LOOKS LIKE. EVER. Train the way you fight, fight the way you train. OP, how close are you to Herndon? IM me with your answer...  Unfortunately I'm about 3 hours from Herndon 
Hell I'm only an hour from Richmond, where there are many more gyms... the problem is commute time. If it's local, I will be going more often than having to block out an entire evening to drive an hour each way. I'm not sold entirely on this place yet, we'll see. I'll have more to report after the first class next week... |
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Well so far I've found the following -
Excellent work out, I leave sweating each night. They've got me starting doing some simple katas along with kicks and punches. Apparently full contact, multiple round sparring is heavily encouraged. The instructors have said many times they want to know if you can actually FIGHT. Open sparring is held one night a week, older youths and adults only. Apparently the upstairs workout rooms have blood on the floors and holes in the walls haha. I figure a few more weeks getting some basics down and then I'll give the sparring night a shot. I've talked to a bunch of students (many of whom I already knew, just never knew they took martial arts) and they say this gym is heavy on fighting and competition but they like money. Fees for tests, etc, which is something I had never thought of. So we will see... it definitely doesn't appear to be simple kata work - sounds like you gotta sweat and bleed to move up. Just fine with me... |
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I dont really see the big hype of this bjj i mean sure 1vs 1 its good but really you think if you are fighting some one his friends are going to just stand and watch as you have there buddy in an arm bar?
stomped melons if you can find a good karate class its worth the pain =) |
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Here's the school I'm considering. It's further than I want to drive but if I do Karate I want a traditional school rather than someone teaching tae kwon do or kickboxing and calling it "Karate" so I'll do it if I try the school and like it.
This school's been around since the early-to-mid 70's and seems legit from what I've read but that's as far as my knowledge about the school goes. I am disappointed that I don't see any Makiwara around. The Hojo Undo stuff is a primary interest for me as 95% of my motivation is fitness. Goju Ryu Karate |
| Well from what I see they look good, real good, The techniques shown are all traditional Goju-Ryu. I like the 3 monmth membership. Around here schools are $70 + a month. The white gis crack me up though, they are longer than all the students. When I started in the 60s the gis were 8" s up our legs, they never sized them for bigger Americans. That and heavyweight Gis were $12. MrsWind just got a new gi, $99, at least my price is half, SHe wants a Tokado Gi, they run $250. |
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Quoted:
I have no idea about that style. However, Karate seems to be broken down into three very distinct categories these days. 1. Sport Karate/XMA/whatever. All total garbage. Unless you want to see how loud you can scream and twirl a toothpick staff, stay away. The only successful use of it, to date, was to break into Hollywood and bang Taylor Swift. (See Taylor Loutner). 2. "Traditional" karate. Lots of katas, occasional one step sparring, heavy on the "religious" aspect of the martial arts. More for spiritual enlightenment than self defense. You will spend a lot of time standing still while throwing reverse punches. You'll break a sweat and get out of the house a couple times a week, and there may be a hot chick in the class, but that's about it. 3. Real "Traditional" karate. Holy cow this stuff will teach you to fight. Training consists of beating the ever loving crap out of each other. You will basically learn to non-stop wail on someone while head kicking them until they are hamburger. Alternately, people will also be trying to do this to you, so you'll learn to defend against it pretty well. Also, you will become a lot tougher, which is good. I'm a BJJ guy, and I've seen some of the training these guys do, and I said "no thanks." I'm never concerned about which style is better, just which style is good. This style is good. While true, keep in mind it is how you train. You can be in the most serious business dojo in the world and if you train for exercise and little more that is about all you will get out of it. Even with the best instructors and most effective techniques, if you don't train seriously you have lethal looking ballet. By the same token, you can be in a place that is all about "sport karate" and if you train to be able to actually fight, you will be able to actually fight. Granted it is a lot easier with the correct environment and guidance specific to your goal, but it can be done. |
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While true, keep in mind it is how you train. You can be in the most serious business dojo in the world and if you train for exercise and little more that is about all you will get out of it. Even with the best instructors and most effective techniques, if you don't train seriously you have lethal looking ballet. By the same token, you can be in a place that is all about "sport karate" and if you train to be able to actually fight, you will be able to actually fight. Granted it is a lot easier with the correct environment and guidance specific to your goal, but it can be done. This post should be required reading for anyone that wants to learn a martial art of any kind. Wing Chun, JKD, Taekwondo, Aikido, etc can all be used effectively by the right person. I had one of those MMA style talks with my main instructor about 15 years ago, about useless techniques and such. I'll always remember what he siad: "Do you want to know why a spinning back kick doesn't work anymore? I'll tell you. It's because nobody wants to spend hours a day training anymore. When you master a technique, the key word being master, you can pull it off when you need it." |
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I have been in the martial Arts for over 20 years. No one style is made for everyone, we cant all grapple, we all are not Mike Tysons in power.
But no mater what style you do its the training that matters, the closer to reality you are the better off you are. So that means putting on the gloves and fighting. Back in the 70's when i was a kid everyone said boxing is self defense, because they train like they fight. And against the majority of guys you will fight in the street (untrained) boxing will still work. When you start sparring will differ in schools, but eventualy you will need to (in boxing you do not start sparring right away) And the more you do, the better you get. So in the end, style doesnt matter, experience does. |
| Now you are making me feel like really old, 41 years of training, and yes boxing will beat an untrained guy...also develops fast hand techniques, but then as a yellow belt I out punched a guy that was seriously into boxing, he competed in Golden Gloves. As for the Spin kick....it is so easy to defeat when you understand the principals behind it. I have choked out a few guys that have tried it on me. And no one art is perfect for anyone. That is the main concept behind JKD. you develop the skills that relate to you |
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The biggest problem with ANY Karate is this: The katas and traditional training DOES NOT RESEMBLE WHAT THE SPARRING LOOKS LIKE. EVER. Train the way you fight, fight the way you train. OP, how close are you to Herndon? IM me with your answer... Karate mean empty hand. That means something that should be there isn't. What should be there is a weapon. The katas and traditional training are focused on blade oriented techniques, but without the blade. That is why they usually don't fight the way they train. Karate was developed by blademasters, so the way they fought was bladed... when they took the weapons away, they still fought the same way. Filipino arts make more sense since they start with weapons and end in empty hands. Once you do blade fighting, you know exactly what they are doing and why. If you never really get the weapons part into your mind and instead stay in the empty hands framework, then the kata and techniques don't make sense and it makes sense to go to something empty handed like boxing. I used to do wing chun and thought karate was stupid... after years of learning the knife and the sword, I see exactly where karate came from... I know why they call it empty hand instead of fist. |
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I have no idea about that style. However, Karate seems to be broken down into three very distinct categories these days. 1. Sport Karate/XMA/whatever. All total garbage. Unless you want to see how loud you can scream and twirl a toothpick staff, stay away. The only successful use of it, to date, was to break into Hollywood and bang Taylor Swift. (See Taylor Loutner). 2. "Traditional" karate. Lots of katas, occasional one step sparring, heavy on the "religious" aspect of the martial arts. More for spiritual enlightenment than self defense. You will spend a lot of time standing still while throwing reverse punches. You'll break a sweat and get out of the house a couple times a week, and there may be a hot chick in the class, but that's about it. 3. Real "Traditional" karate. Holy cow this stuff will teach you to fight. Training consists of beating the ever loving crap out of each other. You will basically learn to non-stop wail on someone while head kicking them until they are hamburger. Alternately, people will also be trying to do this to you, so you'll learn to defend against it pretty well. Also, you will become a lot tougher, which is good. I'm a BJJ guy, and I've seen some of the training these guys do, and I said "no thanks." I'm never concerned about which style is better, just which style is good. This style is good. It's been a long time since I took Shotokan Karate. It was somewhere between number 2 and number 3, above. Probably closer to 2. ETA - Here's what I took: http://www.washotokan.com/main/desc.asp?file=desc_karate |
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Try to remember one thing when studying unarmed combat. Fighting is fighting. It really depends on the attitude of the instructor and his intentions of what he or she wants to teach you. Because Karate is one of the most wide spread (and ironically diverse) styles of unarmed combat in the world, instructors vary from place to place. I have my background in quite a few unarmed combat styles, but am currently under a Shorin Ryu Karate school. I have been blessed with an instructor who appeases both my love for Okinawan and Japanese culture with the cultural aspects of teaching, but also the street applicable parts of fighting as well.
While I know most dont have the time to cross-train, the best ounce of wisdom I can give anyone (if I have any to give haha) is that NEVER get "style struck". Even if some styles are seen as not as combat effective as others, there is always a way to adapt it to be so. A man (or woman) can only punch or kick or grapple a finite amount of ways. It all comes down to general theory and not specific moves. Concepts over specifics. Cross-train with whomever is around regardless of style while you are studying at your school. It makes you great friends and gives you the best hand to hand education possible. I hope this helps and forgive me for taking you guys to death! I simply cant contain myself when the subjects on hand to hand stuff! |
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The biggest problem with ANY Karate is this: The katas and traditional training DOES NOT RESEMBLE WHAT THE SPARRING LOOKS LIKE. EVER. Train the way you fight, fight the way you train. OP, how close are you to Herndon? IM me with your answer... Karate mean empty hand. That means something that should be there isn't. What should be there is a weapon. The katas and traditional training are focused on blade oriented techniques, but without the blade. That is why they usually don't fight the way they train. Karate was developed by blademasters, so the way they fought was bladed... when they took the weapons away, they still fought the same way. Filipino arts make more sense since they start with weapons and end in empty hands. Once you do blade fighting, you know exactly what they are doing and why. If you never really get the weapons part into your mind and instead stay in the empty hands framework, then the kata and techniques don't make sense and it makes sense to go to something empty handed like boxing. I used to do wing chun and thought karate was stupid... after years of learning the knife and the sword, I see exactly where karate came from... I know why they call it empty hand instead of fist. Karate katas do not come from any edged weapon. In fact, the key thing about many traditional karate kata moves is they try to develop lots of power in unarmed striking due to the lack of weapons. The key problem with many karate moves is that they are theory based, like many asian martial arts. |
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Wrong.....Asian Arts are based on real fighting....you are used to many of the ways that Asian arts are taught to 'round eyes' Martial arts are either based upon theory or upon full force competition. Most Asian martial arts are based upon theory. That's how you end up with things like lunge punches and reverse punches. And styles like Aikido. Western boxing and grappling styles are based upon full force competition. As are several Asian martial arts, like Judo and Thai boxing. No martial arts are based upon 'real fighting". The options are theory and competition. |
| Huh.....you are totally wrong....the martial arts are organized lessons learned from real situations. I like to use the term raw martial arts that are closer to the origins and battle. Filipino arts are such, 50 years ago there were death matches. a little further and you have WW2. |
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Huh.....you are totally wrong....the martial arts are organized lessons learned from real situations. I like to use the term raw martial arts that are closer to the origins and battle. Filipino arts are such, 50 years ago there were death matches. a little further and you have WW2. "Organized lessons learned" = theory. Real combat is hard to learn clear lessons from. Survivors recollections are typically at odds with reality. And in any case such a system lacks the feedback of competition based arts. Feedback from events 50 years ago is not the same as continuous feedback from ongoing competition. |
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yea ok, well let's see I just got some feedback from my daisempai....in the Marines, seems that they are teaching the same techniques, The difference I am pointing out is the difference from full force competition, where techniques evolve constantly, and systems where a theoretical understanding is applied to develop and improve fighting techniques. Most of the Marine fighting techniques are based upon theory. These theories may come directly from battlefield experience, but it is still a theory based approach. The problem is that when applying weapons like firearms, you can't evolve tactics using full force on force competition. You can develop a theoretical based framework and possibly set up something like an IPSC course, or you can set up force on force competitions with SIMS or MILES, but you are still working based upon theory, since the SIMS or MILES gear isn't going to replicate exactly bullet performance. You run into the same problem trying to learn how to fight with knives. As someone in another thread put it, there are no "knife fighters". There are people who have committed homicide with knifes, there are people who played tag games with fake knifes, etc., but there is no equivelent of MMA with knives. Intrinsically, knife fighting skills are theory based. I've heard of prisoners who use very short "shanks" to practice with, and while I don't know if it is true, it still isn't a real knife. Many styles of striking are also theory based. This includes the various Asian martial arts that use flowery moves, like various styles of Gung-fu, and hard karate styles that use powerful reverse punches or lunge punches intended for a one punch win. And Aikido is a theory based grapplying system. There is a reason MMA is dominated by styles that are full force competition based. There is also a place for theory based martial arts: we may need to practice knife fighting, or bayonet fighting, or combat shooting, and we can't evolve those as full force sports. The same can also be said of brutal street self defense techniques. On the flip side, some of the Asian martial arts took theory beyond practical utility. |
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I will have to differ to your so called expertease, I only have have 4 decades and many job related situations, including training with the guys you read about. This isn't about expertise. It is about recognizing things for what they are. You have two basic types of martial arts. One is the type where they are developed based upon the feedback of full force competition. The other type is based upon theory. The theory may have real world combat experience feeding into it (or it may not), but it is still a theory based system where someone is developing techniques or tactics based upon ideas. MMA is one of the former, and has shown that the latter type don't fare as well when put to the test. We still need theory based training, because we can't do everything full force on force. |
| Juijitsu and karate were developed from the battlefield, Kendo like MMA is sport evolved from a war skills, kenjitsui, karate, juijitsui....you make no sense. Full contact sports did not just appear, they evolved with rules, Krav Maga evolved from karate back into a war skill...do how would an MMA do against member of the Sayeret Matkal and his Krav Maga? |
| Juijitsu and karate were developed from the battlefield, Kendo like MMA is sport evolved from a war skills, kenjitsui, karate, juijitsui....you make no sense. Full contact sports did not just appear, they evolved with rules, Krav Maga evolved from karate back into a war skill...do how would an MMA do against member of the Sayeret Matkal and his Krav Maga? |
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Juijitsu and karate were developed from the battlefield, Kendo like MMA is sport evolved from a war skills, kenjitsui, karate, juijitsui....you make no sense. Full contact sports did not just appear, they evolved with rules, Krav Maga evolved from karate back into a war skill...do how would an MMA do against member of the Sayeret Matkal and his Krav Maga? BJJ was developed fromm judo. Karate was from the battlefield? I'm not sure that's true. Krav is similar to the style I first poracticed. It is similar also to JKD. These are composite arts, built from several other more traditional arts. What I initially studied was a mix of TKD, boxing, judo, aikido, and other martial arts.. Yet these remain essentially theoretical martial arts. My point is simple: there are full force competition based arts, and theory based arts. What they are derived from doesn't really matter. |
| You need to go read some history books, you are so clueless, BJJ came from a Japanese diplomat that was befriended by Helio Gracie. Karate was usued by the Okinawians as they fought against the Japanese invaders that denied them weapons. Judo was a sport version of Jujitsui developed by Kano. As for Krav Maga there are some similarities to JKD, but not like you are saying. They may be both blended arts, but origins are quite different and directions are quite different. Learn more and we will talk, until then Good day |
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I dont really see the big hype of this bjj i mean sure 1vs 1 its good but really you think if you are fighting some one his friends are going to just stand and watch as you have there buddy in an arm bar? stomped melons if you can find a good karate class its worth the pain =) Coming from a BJJ background, and doing it years ago before it was "cool" I had an arrogant perspective of it. However, as I grew wiser (older?) I accepted that BJJ is an excellent way TO GET YOUR ASS KICKED in the street. Assholes are never alone, and going to the ground is a sure way to get yourself stomped, stabbed, kicked, etc to death by Asshole's friends. Self defense is no different be it with guns or your hands, one must respond with OVERWHELMING violence until the threat(s) is gone....not laying the guard position waiting for a triangle choke. Bottom line, if this karate class teaches you how to harness your aggression and really explode with violence against a human being in an effective manner, then great. |
| Chewbacca, that is all that can count...I teach my students to grapple, joint lock, but they are in addition to and not exclusive to learning striking techniques, I don't teach blocks anymore...I use a concet of stops...but with a strike. You punch me I don;t block you I break something. wrist, arm, hand, whatever. within the first month or two, I start with two man drills, you work with two attackers, rarely one. Even my escapes are based on striking your attacker, and with a lot of time on the streets, starting in the early 70s, I can;t recall any situations withj one scum bag....always two or more. |
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You need to go read some history books, you are so clueless, BJJ came from a Japanese diplomat that was befriended by Helio Gracie. Karate was usued by the Okinawians as they fought against the Japanese invaders that denied them weapons. Judo was a sport version of Jujitsui developed by Kano. As for Krav Maga there are some similarities to JKD, but not like you are saying. They may be both blended arts, but origins are quite different and directions are quite different. Learn more and we will talk, until then Good day BJJ was brought to Brazil by Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese judoka. He was also known as Count Koma. He was a prizefighter, not a diplomat. He became a citizen of Brazil. I am aware of the basic origins of Okinawian karate. I just doubt it had any practical combat utility against actual weapons and armor. Both JKD and Krav are blended arts, and neither was created on a foundation of true competition feedback in the manner of boxing or BJJ. Both are basically theoretical. Bruce lee developed JKD based upon his experience in a one on one fight, where he did not perform as well as he had expected. Both JKD and Krav have some combat feedback in the mix, but neither were developed in the constant feedback environment that arts like boxing and BJJ undergo. This is an inherent flaw in any system designed for "street defense"; theoretical elements must creep in. The competition arts have their own flaws, of course, since they evolve around their rule set and not self defense senarios. But I believe they are the better core basis for self defense. My approach would be to develop a core skill set based upon competition based arts, and add theory based self defense training on that core. |
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Awesome thread.
I started Karate classes a week ago. When checking out my local dojo, I noticed holes in the walls and chuckled. The Sinsei is an MMA guy as well (he's a 2nd-generation Karate instructor) who prefers sparring to katas. Although he teaches traditional material, he's very clear about the fact that the heart of Karate is fighting. Thanks for the info, guys! Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Don, again you are wrong, you must be just quoting Wikipedia, thehy are known to often be opinions or inaccurate. According to the Gracie webpage, it is Juijitsui, and it was Esai.....just leave it be. Well, for one: http://www.onthemat.com/articles/Mitsuyo_Maeda_Count_Koma_Biography_10_13_2005.html Maeda's training was in Judo. Although at the time Judo was still a branch of Jiu-Jitsu (whcih is archaic spelling). In reality, the histories/myths of thesse arts doesn't matter. Your street experience doesn't really matter. The key point is that force-on-force arts evolve, and prove themselves in the ring. Granted, early MMA w/o rounds and gloves was a better (as in, more realistic) environment. Theory based dojo arts that can't do well in the ring are . . . interesting and may have some good points. But the core of unarmed martial arts is fighting one on one unarmed full force. The idea that some dojo theory can't compete in the ring yet is somehow a good form of street defense against weapons and multiple opponent is 
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You still are not listening, come back when you have learned a lot more So, you are unable to argue your point? Your argument so far was to drag in your supposed experience, and talk old history (or myth) on the creation of martial arts. Ths simple fact is, the MAA ring has provided a good means of testing the validity of martial arts, and the styles that dominate are those that are based upon full force competition. If this was still 1985 and we had no answers, we could make solid arguments for theory based arts. But it isn't 1985 anymore. |
| Not worth arguing to you....I was there in 1985, and 75 and 65. I trained one of the last PKA Champions. As for MMA, I was there in the start, had one of the first Gracie students, trained with Bruce Lee's students, and many others. MMA offered many insights, my cousin is a MMA competitor in Austrailia, but here is the problem with MMA....greed. The lower levels have many good fighters, but to make money....they went the way of Pro-Wrestling....scripts....that is how the winners are determined now. If you don;t like it..tough, that is the realitry of the situation. And you are not worth wasting my time with any more. |
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OP good for you. Rule number one I guess is to get out and train. I am shodan in Shorin Ryu and Shodan Goshin Jitsu which is just another back belt but in self defense application. All fighting arts have strengths, the only weakness is for someone to say a style is the end all style. Get out and train, you do drills and kata to develop muscle memory. strength and speed. Later, you will learn to apply these principles to self defense. As far as competition, get and see what you can do. Kata will make you better, helps you strive for improvement. Fighting and sparring is good to get used to ... well fighting. Try to do continuous sparring not just point fighting. I also got into breaking because this helped me really work on generating power.
Later, you can work on ground fighting and pressure points, weapons and many other things. You will find that a real martial artist is always open minded, and willing to learn. Watch out for self promoted, or "I created my own / hybrid" styles. Also, stay away from contracts, if it is not for you or you are not feeling it at that dojo, you need to be able to go somewhere else. Stay away from ATA TKD.... Good luck and welcome. |
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Gents, I'm starting Karate next week. It's Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan Karate, traditional Okinawan. It's taught at Eggleston's Karate, who has dojos in Farmville and Richmond VA. Apparently, it's a very traditional approach, though he's oriented towards competition. I'm mainly looking to improve my unarmed combat skills, as well as for physical fitness and better life focus. I had wanted some kind of BJJ school, but they are an hour away. My background is limited in terms of martial arts, though I did wrestle competitively for years in middle and high school, and I took the mandated defensive tactics in the police academy. What do you guys think of this style in general? How applicable will it be to real-world use? I figure I'll train on it some, and then consider other styles if it really isn't working out. It is very convenient, though, and as it's the ONLY martial arts dojo in the area, my choices are somewhat limited. Looking for any feedback, thanks! I am a 4th Dan in the Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan association. It is one of the oldest most well established systems on planet earth. Some of the best instructors in the world are on the East Coast of the US. Ask the Sensei if he ever gets to train with Sensei Doug Perry. These guys teach the real thing. You are lucky to be so close to a Shorinkan Dojo. |
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Seems like a lot of pee-cocking going on around here. If you wanna learn to street fight, take a fighting art thats based on people fighting for there life i.e. Karate - kung fu - TKD - krav - muay thai (no ones mentioned it yet - muay thai kick equals death!) even wing chun, If you wanna learn to to fight in an areana, for show while still being pretty good at self defense take bjj, some mma based training. Just realize street fights are never 1 on 1 and when they arent and you go to the ground expect some kicks to the god damn face. Either way taking training you'll be better at defending yourself, not taking training you become a keyboard wizard.
I never took formal training but just what my father taught me and sparred with me from age 8 on and off till i was 25 when he passed 2 years ago. We did some katas, but mostly he showed me what he felt were the most practical punches, and blocks with some kicks thrown in but barely focusd on. I don't think kicking is that smart in a street fight anyway. He took Shotokan Karate from a Okinawan for about 8-10 years starting at age 20 when in England where i was born and he grew up. I never got all the details about his teacher, or the dojo i just have 2 leather Adidas bags from the 70/80's stacked with gi's, and a couple old t shirts falling apart with the shotokan name and a picture of Okinawa on them. Ive had the pleasure of not having to be in many street fights, but i was witness to my father basically shit kicking 3 guys who didn't like the fact my father had a strong British accent. They came up to the car and asked him to get out. I was about ten and sat in the car as my father got out to just talk to these guys, things got wierd and he dropped these 3 guys with just a couple punches.. It was the only time I ever saw him raise his hand to anyone and after the fact he had wish he didn't have to. Ive always had a soft spot for Karate, but never liked the Americanized belt factories that give you ranks for yearly dues. I think as long as you are under good tutelage any quality martial is better than none at all. Find some schools, check them out, most places will let you watch a sparring class. My only bone is the cost of most dojos, but that's all part of the game teachers have to get paid. Ive never had the spare change to put down on taking classes, but now that I do I think im gonna search out some Karate or Krav classes. Good luck finding a class though! |