How good is Shotokan Karate?

Discussion in 'Karate' started by Kadafee, Feb 16, 2006.

  1. Kadafee

    Kadafee New Member

    My brother has joined a local Shotokan Karate club, before he went to his first lesson he wanted to find out a few things and these are:

    how good is it for self defence?

    how good is it compared to other forms of karate? (i know it isn't the best but how good is it compared to the others)

    basically what i am trying to say is, is it any good?
     
  2. Moosey

    Moosey invariably, a moose Supporter

    It's as good as any other martial art. It's a traditional martial art which means that it doesn't focus exclusively on street scenarios like (e.g.) a course which labelled itself "women's self defence" would, but it teaches fighting skills. Like all martial arts though, it takes quite a while before it becomes "second nature" and you automatically use the skills when under threat.


    You know this do you? Despite not knowing anything about the style and having to ask people on a messageboard what it is, you somehow have been granted some mystical insight into its quality? That was a bit of a daft thing to say.

    Shotokan sometimes gets a bad rep because it's popular. Everyone who wants to prove that their style is "teh new improved" starts out by saying "shotokan has these flaws - we know how to fix them". This is pure marketing rhetoric. Shotokan is popular because it's good and has stood the test of time.

    Yes it is. There's less fluffy messing about that a lot of TMAs and lots of punching, kicking, sweeping, throwing and generally pretty much what you want out of karate.
     
  3. Kadafee

    Kadafee New Member

    what i meant by not the best is, when i ask someone what karate is the best most reply by saying kyokushin or something like that
     
  4. Alexander

    Alexander Possibly insane.

    How long is a piece of string? - Same kind of question. It really boils down to the competency of the instructor and student.
     
  5. kitsune

    kitsune New Member

    Go Moosey! Quality response!! :D
     
  6. Sam

    Sam Absent-ish member

    I honestly didn't catch that he was bashing Shotokan there just that he didn't want to start up a 'Shotokan is better than everything else debate', but i could be wrong.

    As alexander said it's on the individual, yes shotokan is good and effective and good for self defense but if the practitoner is crap and/or their sensei is crap then it's good for nothing, just like every single other perspective martial arts out there, you've got awesome karateka across all styles of karate on the other hand you've not so good ones.
    You get back what you put in.
     
  7. sukhjitsingh

    sukhjitsingh New Member

    Why is it that so many people bash Shokotan Karate?
     
  8. Moosey

    Moosey invariably, a moose Supporter

    I didn't think he was, but I thought he was reporting second-hand opinion as fact which is a dangerous thing to do. If we all believed whoever has the loudest opinion on internet messageboards, we'd all be doing UFC style fighting and there'd be no variety at all!

    Didn't mean to cause offense kadafee - you've got no reason to listen to me any more than you have anyone else (apart from that I practice shotokan as an adult so have a good idea what it's like). I'm happy to admit that I'm biased, so feel free to disregard my opinion if you like. I think my intial summing up of the self-defence applicability still stands though.
     
  9. Sam

    Sam Absent-ish member

    Your entire post is still applicable.

    And i think moosey answered your question too sukhjitsingh.
     
  10. Moosey

    Moosey invariably, a moose Supporter

    The main reasons are:

    1. There are a lot of clubs so, by sheer volume, some of them suck badly! If you visit one that sucks you're gonna leave with a bad impression of the style.

    2. It practices kata, some people hate that and see it as a waste of time.

    3. Competitions tend to be semi-contact (as in 90% of TMAs) which makes people who think martial arts should be all about proving who has the biggest nuts turn their noses up.

    4. Shotokan is often used as "representative" of karate since it was one of the first mainland Japanese styles. People who want to bash the "old" karate to prove that their "new" karate is better tend to pick shotokan.

    5. People tend not to understand that the basic training that you do in shotokan is less to do with karate than body strengthening, they therefore expect shoto practitioners to fight in unrealistic stances.
     
  11. sukhjitsingh

    sukhjitsingh New Member

    OK, right, that cleared that one up!
     
  12. Kadafee

    Kadafee New Member

    how much is a usual lesson? the one next to me is £5 a session which is 1 and a half hours
     
  13. Moosey

    Moosey invariably, a moose Supporter

    :D
    That seems a little bit costly and a little short, but it all depends on how expensive the training hall is to hire I guess.

    I train at a university club which is dead cheap, but the nearest non-uni club charges £3 for 2 hours.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2006
  14. sukhjitsingh

    sukhjitsingh New Member

    I would have thought it was £3.50. £5 seems a bit steep, I would question them?
     
  15. Sam

    Sam Absent-ish member

    I pay £4.50 for a two hour lesson. It used to be £3.50 but due to relocation of club and the fact that there aint many of us they needed to cover costs (which they just about manage).
    If they charge £5 think about why they charge it if the situation above applies then i wouldnt be worried about paying £5 after all theyre doing you a favour.

    My advice though is ask about all other costs before commiting, licensing, equipment, administration fees.
    If you are paying by the lesson then the only other things you should be forking out for is license yearly and equipment. If they start throwing in joining fees, 'beer money for the instructor' fee's. Backpeddle.

    But 5 a lesson? Not the best, but not extortionate IMO.
     
  16. sukhjitsingh

    sukhjitsingh New Member

    Yeh, £5 does have to be questioned but if the service and the club is more than adaquate, then it may be worth it!
     
  17. Ryo452

    Ryo452 Valued Member

    I took Shotokan for about 4 years until I earned first dan. I was lucky enough to go to a dojo that practiced alot of hard sparring. I think that is one of the main things for any Martial Art to be effective. So yes I beleive Shotokan can be just as street effective as any other Martial Art as long as it's trained properly.

    I do boxing now because I think they have better hand techniques, but I still love Shotokan and I think it's a great art to learn.
     
  18. bassai

    bassai onwards and upwards ! Moderator Supporter

    I'll go with moosey (i'm equaly biased :D ) shotokan has everything you'd want from a karate style , but has already been said due to sheer numbers there are some really bad clubs out there.
    As long as the instructor is seen to promote good basic stances in the early stages , and teaches a good mix of kihon , kata & kumite (with at least medium contact) you're probably in one of the better ones :Angel:
    These are only rough guides , but probably the most basic things i'd look for if i ever went to another club.
     
  19. karate princess

    karate princess Savvy??

    £5 is ok, but it depends on how good the teacher is. If he's like a 4th or 5th dan upward then you can kinda expect that much because the teaching is probaberly better.

    My club costs £6 for 1 hour. I suppose that is quite expensive, but my instructor is a 4th dan so he can charge what he wants really, and people still pay it so...
     
  20. aml01_ph

    aml01_ph Urrgggh...

    How effective is shotokan? Hmmm....

    Kadafee, I think the better question is how effective a person is, rather than the martial art.
     

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