Thread: Okinawan Karate

Spanky,

You being the mod of this forum, should refrain from this, it IS the Japanese Art s forum


For bvermillion

Okinawa Karate Like Karate is e generic term, there are different styles of Okinawa Karate, some look as if they have the same name but stil differ

The shorin group, consist of matsubayashi , shobayashi and kobayashi meaning Pine, old and young forrest but all can also be pronounced as shorin ( japanese for shaolin)
Euch schools might have forms of the other but the complete set of each scholl diffeers

In Goju I believe it is so that each teacher/school on Okinawa has it's own curriculum


Uechi ryu is a family style thast has a couple of forms from the Goju line but also has it's own forms

Isshin ryu , is odd one out, e.g. it uses the vertical vist

Shito can be seen as a combination of Goju and Shorin but again several schools that differ slightly othen the name of the specific teacher is added plus ha so Hayash ha Shitoryu

there are some very small styles on Okinawa but I do not think you will find a school of those in you area

Then there is something called Koryu Uchinadi (ancient Onkiawan fighting arts) which in fact can be done as a addition to your regular karate training and will help you to understand what the forms were intended for
It is the result of decades of research and interviewing old masters on Okinawa and in China, finding some of the forms that the karateforms came from ( so back to the roots when TMA were still effective as SD)

I don't understand, what did Bri say that upset you Grey Fox?

He's right, marching up and down like robots may well drill you into learning the correct poisition, but if you do only that you are little more than a robot (an easy to hurt one at that!).

Semi contact will teach you to pull punches and I can't think of any time an average joe will be able to warm up and use a high kick as a practical self defense

bvermillion,
i have practiced taekwondo, as well as some okinawan karate jutsu (not karate do) ryukyu kempo.
for the most part karate is karate, they are from one (or more) of three basic styles..and in reality you can define karate simply as follows: karate=the study, breakdown, and application of kata. if you think in these terms...specific styles become somewhat irrelevant.

1: shuri-te=shorin ryu
2: tomari-te=mostly absorbed into shorin ryu
3:naha-te=goju ryu
other mentionable's

UECHI RYU, uechi kanbun studied pangai noon kempo in china under shushiwa, the kata in uechi do not come from the naha te lineage(even sanchin), they are directly from china, largely unchanged. a couple of the kata are to be found in goju but were admittedly changed, the point is that they both come from china, and uechi ryu's do not come from naha te.

the system is based on the movements of three animals, dragon, tiger, and crane. it contains both upright, and semi low stances (not overly rooted like some goju stances), soft circular blocks, and both straight and circular strikes, one thing that sets it apart is it does not really use a "regular" fist, but a one knuckle punch, nor does it contain any kicks other than the front kick, which also differs because they kick with the big toe as opposed to the ball of the foot. (a note: uechi ryu has been recognized by the okinawan govt. as being one of the three main roots of all modern karate along with shorin ryu, and goju ryu) another characteristic of this style is the sanchin kata, which differs from the version found in goju ryu, and in uechi, it is the foundation of the entire system "everything comes from sanchin"...originally there were only 3 kata in this system, however 5 more were added by kanbun uechi's son kanei later.

ISSHIN-RYU, founded by tatsuo shimabuku, it is essentially a blend of goju ryu karate, and shorin ryu karate, with influences (mainly in kumite/sparring) from tomari-te ala choki motobu. the system favors more upright and mobile stances as opposed to low wide rooted stances. this style does'nt separate karate from kobudo (weapons)...the kobudo is actually part of the style. as was mentioned this style uses the vertical punch as opposed to the horizonal punch (arguably it is not vertical but diagonal) also this style does away with the beginner kata like the pinan series, and they do the kata naihanchi backwards (starting to the left, traditionally it was started to the right)

SHITO RYU, founded by kenwa mabuni as was said in an earlier post is a blend of goju ryu and shorin ryu karate, most schools teach shorin ryu kata first, then goju ryu katas last...a characteristic of this style is that it contains ALOT of kata, is quick yet forceful.
more specifics,

SHURI TE=SHORIN RYU, is so named to give recognition to the shaolin temple (shorin=shaolin) and relies (supposedly) on more upright and mobile stances, and quick forceful counterattacks. although some styles of shorin ryu use low stances as well. primarily based on the buddhist martial arts of shaolin.

NAHA TE=GOJU RYU, founded by chojun miyagi, goju translates as follows go(hard) ju(soft,gentle) so it is a blend of soft circular (ju) blocks combined with hard and strong counters (go)....all soft is weak, but all hard is stiff and breakable. it is mainly influenced by taoist tradition, and therefore places much more emphasis on controlled breathing (shorin relies on natural breathing) and internal energy, and low strongly rooted stances.

TOMARI-TE=a blend of the two. it is fairly uncommon to find tomari te as most of it was blended into shorin ryu. although ryukyu kempo is probably the closest to tomari te.
more important than style, is to have a good teacher who really understands karate (harder to find than you think). also more important than style is the realization that most of them do many of the same kata, with only slight variations.....and ALL of them come from three main sources...shorin ryu, goju ryu, and uechi ryu.

by having a good teacher you would realize that all that marching and fist chambering, stances, "blocks"(not really )are not the combat applications of those movements. just what everyone sees (wrongly of course) hope this helps

[Edited for white space by Spanky]