Is Karate any good?

Discussion in 'Karate' started by Bruce_Lee93, Apr 22, 2010.

  1. Timmy Boy

    Timmy Boy Man on a Mission

    Knight Errant, for the avoidance of doubt, Gary Enshin teaches a full contact style of karate called Enshin, and I have been to his club which is excellent. The Sabaki Challenge to which he refers is a full contact sporting competition, a bit like kyokushinkai but with (as I understand it) more throws and more evasion. Here's a video, not sure how to embed: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c_nz-VLCKw"]YouTube- 2008 World Sabaki Challenge[/ame]

    EDIT: looks like I worked out how to embed the video :D
     
  2. Knight_Errant

    Knight_Errant Banned Banned

    No disrespect, I'm about to say something disrespectful? You can <Cheese>.

    I'm not casting aspersions on 'Gary' or his school. I just wish he'd stop casting them on me.

    [If you're not going to discuss without resorting to telling people where to go, don't bother to discuss at all]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 25, 2010
  3. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

  4. Timmy Boy

    Timmy Boy Man on a Mission

    Well, now that the misunderstanding's been cleared up let's just get back to the debate :)
     
  5. Knight_Errant

    Knight_Errant Banned Banned

    Yes, the debate. :)
    The instructor in question is a a tool. He may or may not be a good judoka, but he can keep his opinions about karate to himself until he can say something sensible.

    As to the wider issue: Is Karate any good?

    An unequivocal yes. I know karate's not as fashionable as MMA. But MMA is a fad every bit as much as karate was in the 1970s. However much I might think MMA is cool, acknowledge the good it has done and admire the skill of the participants, I still can't shake of the feeling that it is a martial art for the kind of person who reads books like '7 habits of highly effective people' and 'the demon haunted world' and imagines them to be works of profound philosophical significance.
    Karate, on the other hand, is for the sort of person who reads and understands Nietzsche. It is as physically dangerous as you care to make it, and has a certain beautifully simple, very japanese elegance.
     
  6. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    So what grade are you in Wado?
     
  7. Knight_Errant

    Knight_Errant Banned Banned

    Sorry, I thought the bit where two old farts were accusing me of being a troll with no experience because I dared to say a word that didn't present their pet martial art in a 100% positive light was over? And didn't I tell you to , Kenneth? Go and get your drama elsewhere.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 25, 2010
  8. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    What you did is come over very disrespectful and ignorant imo.

    No wonder the "Karate" you perceive - is a laughing stock.

    You aren't exactly an ambassador of it - are you?

    BTW - telling someone to "po" doesn't stop them from responding.

    Gary
     
  9. Knight_Errant

    Knight_Errant Banned Banned

    Only to somebody being overly touchy. Sorry, are you blind? Even karate's biggest fans would be hard pressed to say that it's regarded in universal high esteem these days. And I make a better ambassador for karate than some stuck-up borderline orientalist prig who yacks on about 'discipline' and 'perfecting character', or for that matter a conceited posh london twerp whose only response to criticism is to ask the critic to get his credentials out.

    BTW - If only it did. But you might take the hint and ....
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 25, 2010
  10. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    Brilliant - so coming from London means I am posh and conceited!!??

    And no I am not about to "po".

    I may have my "old fart" views about discipline and character but at least a have a modicum of both - or at least strive to.

    Gary
     
  11. Knight_Errant

    Knight_Errant Banned Banned

    No, asking random people on the internet for their credentials because they disagree with you makes you conceited. The 'posh' and 'london' bits were just a bit of a shot in the dark, made out of social prejudice in the hope that they hit home. Which they obviously did.
     
  12. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    I dunno, the best karate instructor I ever trained under was a truck driver.
     
  13. Knight_Errant

    Knight_Errant Banned Banned

    Really? Cool. It might still be 'true in spirit' though.
     
  14. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    Actually, he ranted repeatedly about "coffee-shop karate" (his term) and complained about karateka who theorized too much and didn't hit each other enough (my words). Not really the same thing, even in spirit, as reading and understanding Nietzsche. More like learning how an engine works by tearing it down and rebuilding it.
     
  15. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    @ Knight - Not being funny, but you seem to want to appear an expert in a martial form that is so broad ranging there is no such thing in the first place, but even when quizzed about your experience in a particular corner of it – you become over defensive to the point where you are obnoxious and rude.

    How can you then in all seriousness make comment about it one way or other and therefore seek to compare it to other ma?

    Gary
     
  16. Gary - Enshin

    Gary - Enshin Valued Member

    Crikey, I pop upstairs to read a story and all hell breaks loose.

    Timmy, thanks for your kind comments and for posting the video. Glad you enjoyed the training.

    I've not worked out if I'm the "stuck-up borderline orientalist prig" or the "conceited posh (london) twerp" yet, but I'm definately an old fart.

    :)

    Gary
     
  17. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    Shot in the dark - hmmm. Bit like the ****okai thing earlier - dooh!!??

    Gary
     
  18. GaryWado

    GaryWado Tired

    I'm guessing that's me Gary - the clues in where I live I guess?
     
  19. Knight_Errant

    Knight_Errant Banned Banned

    You're neither. I thought you'd calmed down and gone home by now. The former was a generalised insult direct at overly hidebound 'traditional' karateka, and the latter was direct at garywado.

    Sorry, was my response to when you asked where I trained obnoxious or rude? No. I became obnoxious and rude when you and the other Gary did. I am now refusing to play your little game because I'm tired of it.

    I'm not sure what you're trying to say- that karate is so broad ranging that it does not exist? What? In any case, at no point have I claimed to be an expert. Expertise is not necessary to have a useful opinion on a subject.

    ot that my experience in karate has any bearing on the discussion. I could train in a completely different martial art and I would still be perfectly entitled to express my opnions about mainstream karate. For that matter, so would somebody with no experience in any martial art. All this crap about demanding to see credentials and painfully striving to establish credibility is just defensive behaviour from people who have no real argument.
    Fair enough. I sympathise to a certain extent with the viewpoint. But what you've described is, funnily enough, in the same kind of spirit as Nietzsche's philosphy...

    Oh, I'm stung :rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2010
  20. Gary - Enshin

    Gary - Enshin Valued Member

    Hang on, just so I'm clear. Have you really read Nietzsche or just posted 10,328 comments about it because you've read a few different books?

    (Sorry - cheap shot but couldn't resist!)

    Lighten up a bit Knight Errant. I take training seriously, but not myself. That approach comes in useful at times just like this ...

    Gary
     

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