What Happened to Karate?

[platinum_angel]

i studied karate for 2 years and then i decided to quit. the main reason i quit was because we never-not once- did full contact fighting. we did this crappie pretend to punch each other and when i was doing that i was using all these stupid techniques. for instance i would punch with my wrist. in a real fight you would break your wrist doing that. not only that but they restricted me from using the techniques that i wanted to use like hooks, tackling, straight blasts, cresent kicks, ect. in other works they just taught me to fight like a mindless idiot that followed one way. then their predetermined katas are just as stupid. the sensei's would never fight-and i mean never.

about three months after i quit. they sent a letter to my house(i must had still been a member). inside the letter contained a resignation from the high school(dojo). the letter said they were moving to Toledo due to a need to commercialize. i was so disgusted i decided to just train by myself. fortunally for me i wised up a bit and decided i will join a new martial arts school(BJJ) once i get my license(two more months ).

[ryanhall]

the sensei's would never fight-and i mean never.

here's something for all you matt thornton lovers out there: he said something to the order of "if a teacher refuses to roll with you, don't learn grappling from him. if he won't step into the ring with you, don't learn striking from him. most people can't teach what they can't do/show."

i have to agree with him for the most part. btw, muhammed ali's trainer was one of the exceptions, not the rule.

[jesse7]

OMG punch with your wrist!!! LOFL. Im happy to say that at least the the karate I do we actually do full contact sparing, there are a few basic rules though of corse. I have only seen two sensai's fighting (from the clubs around our country) the one from my club and the one from the other club we visit sometimes. The other higher up guys I have never seen them fighting .. yet I have only seen them at gradings and I dont train with them so I wouldnt know.

We are encouraged to do whatever we like when we spar and can use other styles if we like. At interclub competitions the same goes except we have to abide by the few rules, that there are.

Not all clubs are as bad as Platinums.

[Szczepankiewicz]

Jesse,

Do the sheep get in the way when you're sparring?

[jesse7]

No they dont get in the way I havnt seen a sheep for years. And if it did get in the way I wouldnt try to sue sometime for something stupid like, the sheep made me fat.

LOL I dunno.

Wheres your pic?

[Budoguy]

Cheers mate, and season's greetings. And thanks for being open-minded. I hate MacDojos and some styles of karate aren't really legit, even though they claim lineage. One style developed through an affair with the Sensai's daughter, which lead to marriage, which lead to a founding of a new style, which is now somewhat prominent. So karate has its corruptions and failings and if you encounter them early on, its easy to write it off. But thanks for having an open mind. You would find that most karate players are very open minded about MMA, but we have limited time and really enjoy our kata.

Please believe me, I am 45 years old, have trained in Judo, Jiu Jutsu (4 years judo, 2 years ju jutsu - japanese, not brazilian), I worked door near Detroit for a few years, lived on the streets and survived a little bit of jail time. Honestly dude, if you find a good teacher, and I can't overemphasize this enough, a competent teacher, kata will teach you how to fight.

The best thing to do is to see each kata (at the black belt level, up to that point you are just training technique and movement) as a complete fighting system. So in theory, if I know the kata Saipai well, I can use just those moves to fight anyone. This doesn't guarantee victory, but then, nothing does.

Honestly dude, I just wish you could come train with us for a day and see what real kata is about. I train one on one with my teacher, is mostly just an Aikido instructor now, but still instructs me for my dan gradings. I think you would change your mind about karate if you spent a day with us training. Shame that you encountered cheesy "zip zap kick, punch bazoom" karate.

Its like Scotch whiskey dude, there's the crap they serve you at Holiday Inn, and then there's Single Malt.

Cheers, and again, thx for being open minded.

[akja]

Why does karate have to be dead? If a gung-fu man modifies and moderizes his gung-fu, is he still practicing gung-fu? If a jujitsu man modernizes his art, is he still practicing jujitsu? All martial arts get modified, its traditional, its been passed down and modified since the beginning. I think instead of blaming the arts, we should be asking why our generation tried so hard to leave it alone and not modify it! Modern day martial arts didn't change much for nearl 100 years, that is until recently. Bruce Lee was saying this 30 years ago, but our instructors and their instructors didn't listen. My background is very diversified and I'd hate to think it was all a waste!!
see ya!

[akja]

Budo guy, I'm surprised to hear someone with that kinda respect in here. People don't seem to understand that we can learn from the old masters. I'm training under a few "real"Hanshis. I train and teach eclectic and traditional martial arts. With what I've been through in the arts, it would be hard to prove me wrong!

[robertlee]

The moves in any kata is just a set put together for solo training. Broken down is how to apply them no fight can be fought by the kata theorey. Kata has allways been for solo training only Bunki just shows the use of the tools. A fight is now you use what comes to mind not the kata. Saipi kata has some tools that require timeing to exacute. Though they can be good if you can get them to work, if dwelled on it wont happen. A chapter in the book is a kata But all tools wont work for all people as well. Break it down test the use keep what works for you . Many karate tools use the respond base. When attacked you respond. You have to make it work in the offencesive mode. kata can show the tools you must find the ones you need.

[jesse7]

Most people here are blinded by their lack of experience and their belief in others opinions. 90% of them havnt even tried it.

[MrPoopy]

I tried Isshinryu Karate a while back and I think it really sucked. The instructor was a cool guy. His students seemed ok. But looking back, it seems like they were a bunch of misinformed people.
This one guy at a factory I was working at starting taking classes under the sensai of my sensai. After one year he was already a brown belt and was sporting a super bad ass attitude. I guess he didn't realize that he had very little to back up his attitude. If I could spar with that guy now... he'd be humbled very quickly.

[akja]

Originally posted by robertlee
The moves in any kata is just a set put together for solo training. Broken down is how to apply them no fight can be fought by the kata theorey. Kata has allways been for solo training only Bunki just shows the use of the tools. A fight is now you use what comes to mind not the kata. Saipi kata has some tools that require timeing to exacute. Though they can be good if you can get them to work, if dwelled on it wont happen. A chapter in the book is a kata But all tools wont work for all people as well. Break it down test the use keep what works for you . Many karate tools use the respond base. When attacked you respond. You have to make it work in the offencesive mode. kata can show the tools you must find the ones you need.

Robert, are you my great great sigungs brother? Before you answer, heres my sifus site:
http://www.geocities.com/Tao_Of_Gung...f_Gung_Fu.html
If you are who I think you are you should get in touch with my Sifu, he and his father are important links to someones life that was cut short. Their conact info. is on their site, just tell him that his lost brother Jim sent you. He might think I'm gone but I'm not, I'm just waliking another path and eventually it will bring me back to Hayward, but for now my self discovery is in overdrive.


JK

Originally posted by jesse7
Most people here are blinded by their lack of experience and their belief in others opinions. 90% of them havnt even tried it.

I tried it and got to 1st Kyu Brown Belt level. At the time I desperately tried to convince myself I was learning something good for self defence. All I really learnt was a strong reverse punch and two reasonable kicks.

Everything else, including the katas and stupid blocking methods, was more dangerous to me than anything else.

And yes, before you say it, Brown belt level is not that high. Not in Karate, but thats because the grading system has no validity. If I was a true Brown Belt at BJJ you would all be impressed (rightly so).

I still think there will be small pockets of karateka who are excellent and deadly fighters. But not many. The rest of it is just 2nd rate sport.

Anyway, your logic is at fault. People who have not tried it can have an opinion. I havent tried Ballroom dancing, but feel that I know enough to comment on its lack of effectiveness as a martial art.

[jesse7]

Yeh .. you fit into that 10% .. no one is claiming ball room dancing is an effective martial art (well not yet anyways).

I do mostly agree that karate and some other martial arts, are generally crap anyways. But there are some forms of karate out there that are good and useful .. this is all I am trying to get across.

Personally from my limited karate experience I gained more than you. And I didnt even make it as far as you did, belt wise .. and I rarely graded as I thought it a waste of time, but I wanted to be able to go to competions :P.

Its possible I had a better instructor. But where I trained still wasnt good enough I got all I wanted from it within a year. But I still go now and then. Im working on Maui Thai instead now.

[AAAhmed46]

Thier are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many styles of karate out there, alot with full contact and such in them.


So, if you say karate sucks atleast SPECIFY DAMN IT!


btw, most dojo's in this contenent suck.