whether or not to start karate

[max silvani]

hey guys my name is max silvani and i am a 14 year old boxing fan and practitionor i am planning on starting a martial art to supplement my boxing and i was wondering if karate would be a worthwhile choice also is karate all striking or does it also involve throws thanks loads max silvani

[Hwa Rang]

No dude, don't start Karate. Its good you've got boxing, you just need to learn how to kick, grapple and use weapons. Muay Thai is great and your boxing would help you in it, Krav Maga is excellent as it will teach you everything you don't know and look at Escrima it is simply awsome and you learn weapons straight away!

Oh and some Karate classes have throws but these are usually stolen form Judo or Ju-jitsu. If you want a good throwing art do Judo or if you want weapons with that do traditional Ju-jitsu.

[koto_ryu]

No dude, don't start Karate. Its good you've got boxing, you just need to learn how to kick, grapple and use weapons. Muay Thai is great and your boxing would help you in it, Krav Maga is excellent as it will teach you everything you don't know and look at Escrima it is simply awsome and you learn weapons straight away!

It depends on what kind of karate he can take. Some forms of karate will add in the kicking and grappling he needs. MT isn't bad, but KM is straight McDojo unless you find a really good instructor, and Escrima only focuses on either blades or sticks, there's much more out there than just those two variables Don't forget, some forms of karate also use weapons.

Everybody steals everything off of everyone else anyways, so to lay claim to something like that is just silly. You're not doing anything new. MTers think they're the first to kick with the shin, when goju-ryu karateka were kicking with their shins long before the first Thai ever heard the word Krabi Krabong.

[Hwa Rang]

I guess Koto Ryu has a very good point , the Sabaki method of Karate has grappling and looks good and Okinawan Karate supposedly has Dim Mak pressure point striking. Kyokushin gives you baseball bat breaking shins.

I'd still reccomend Krav Maga first up as the one near me teaches the Police, the Army, The SWAT team and the Special forces in my country and others like South African security services and British SAS. It can't be crap if they teach all these guys. But yes, you do get your Mc Dojos .

Also they have intergrated other MA's to compliment what they teach such as Wing Chun, Panagmat, BJJ and Escrima. Also Our training is full contact and very realistic. My instructor beat the absoulte crap out of me on my second lesson.

Krav Maga is also one of the few arts to teach multi directional striking, and how to deal with all the stages of fighting and the emotinal side of things. They also strongly emphasize multiple opponents.

[max silvani]

thanks guys what do you think of shotokan

[koto_ryu]

thanks guys what do you think of shotokan

Shotokan is great if you have a good teacher. You'll become a very powerful striker and they do have some throws and limited grappling.

[max silvani]

thanks so is it worth starting shotokan then and does shotokan have full contact sparring competition

[Hikage]

One of their forms has a stance which looks like you're about to throw a fireball.

I've known three people who took shotokan. 1 was a police officer who took it for 20 years, got his butt kicked, and left. The second earned a 2nd degree and was going on the college circuit. He's been with us for 4 years and feels much more confident than he was. The third was just in BB magazine with his instructor sometime last year. Their from York, PA if you want to look him up. He seems to have his head screwed on straight, but I've never seen him do anything.

-Hikage

[max silvani]

so shotokan is full contact then

[Hikage]

so shotokan is full contact then

The guy I knew on the college circuit used semi-contact rules, as I call them. Basically any target was legal, but it is not bare-fisted. They used a very small pad on the outside of the hand. It was more for keeping the other guy's blood off you, than for protection. But that was just him. There are many tournaments and instructors. Each will have their own rules.

-Hikage

[Mad_Mally]

The stance you're talking about is called "Sanchin" dachi. In englinhs it's hour glass or boxer's stance.

[max silvani]

heyguys i started this karate classand quite enjoyed it but i need to improve my flexibility in my legs and also what do u think of me starting ju jit su to complement my karate and boxing thanks loads max silvani

[koto_ryu]

heyguys i started this karate classand quite enjoyed it but i need to improve my flexibility in my legs and also what do u think of me starting ju jit su to complement my karate and boxing thanks loads max silvani

Stick with the karate for a good while before looking at jujitsu. Best to take on one new art at a time. As for flexibility in your legs, stretch whenever you wake up and right before you go to bed aside from the times you stretch in class and you'll get more flexible.

[HtTKar]

For stretching also make sure that during these winter months you push yourself hard. Dont hurt yourself, but relax into your stretches and do as good as you can. Your muscles usually tighten up in the winter. When the warmer weather hits, you'll be able to stretch much better.

Of course if you have the money, a stretch machine is a good investment. Not that I have one of my own either. But they really do work.

As far as taking another MA right now, I would wait until your a black-belt or near there in experience. Mixing up too many styles right off the bat, without perfecting one might make it harder to learn individual styles. If you have a good instructor you'll already be busy learning plenty of new things. Remember a yellow-belt and a black-belt all do the same moves, a black-belt just does them faster, and better.