The best karate

To address a few points, I want to say this -

My knowledge has come from the information that I have researched regarding the different styles of karate. The training regiments used in Goju-Ryu and Kyokushin really caught my eye. Their training regiments are very tough, and their focus on discipline is top notch. You see Goju-Ryu Karateka with calluses on their hands because of their training regiments. You see Kyokushin Karateka chopping empty beer bottles in half because of the same reason. They train you hard and tough in order to prepare you for real fights. To strengthen your body. The style implores that type of training regiment.

To me, cross-training as only a shodan seems disrespectful to my dojo. I am only a shodan. I want to grow and expand my knowledge within the Shotokan Karate arts, but I feel like my training won't amount to anything but just for competitive tournament fighting training. Now, how positive am I about this? I won't make assumptions, but I am going on what I have been taught already. The discipline that my sensei executes probably is one in a million. Why? To me, his sense of discipline is incredible. He uses a bamboo stick and whacks you. I love that form of discipline. He whacks me when you start to rest your legs when he has you doing squat holds. He wants you to maintain your form and master it and become stronger. The problem in the long run that I see is that the style of martial arts that I am practicing only seems to train me for competitive tournament fighting. It comes with the nature of being a Shotokan Karateka. Am I 100% certain this will be true? Of course not. Will my sensei have different techniques to teach me in the future? I don't know, but I know that compared to Kyokushin and Goju-Ryu, Shotokan puts a lot of emphasis on tournament fighting. A system surrounded by rules and limitations. Not letting your training truly expand and grow. Kyokushin is a full contact sport. The system of rules and limitations don't apply - and if they do, definitely not to the level that Shotokan has them from what I have seen through videos.

I just don't want to devote so much of my time to Shotokan, and in the end all of my suspicions came true. Hell, my sensei could implement into the shodan training regiment toughness drills like I see in Kyokushin. I don't know. But that's not what worries me. Shotokan is first and foremost a competitive tournament karate sport. And I don't want that. Am I jumping to conclusions with my dojo? Yes, but I am not ignorant to the background of Shotokan, and especially to my sensei who is a certified judge in tournaments.

And if I leave the dojo, what then? Start up from the beginning again in another style? I really didn't give Shotokan a true chance because of suspicion. I don't want to give up Shotokan, but I don't want to feel like I wasted my time in the end because the training that I thought I might receive never happened.

 

hamah,

It sounds to me like you should address your concerns to your sensei. Asking questions isn't disrespectful, as long as you ask them in a respectful manner. We can share our knowledge and experience with you, and answer questions from our points of view, and it sounds like you are trying to find answers to your questions, but you are still stuck in the same rut. I've trained with quite a few people with Shotokan backgrounds that clearly learned a lot of self defense in class. Is it exception rather then the rule? I can't answer that. And I have seen martial arts schools that focus all on competition. Is yours one of them? You seem to be under that impression. I would ask if you could do more self defense in class, and better explore the bunkai, etc.

 

Your school isn't helping you meet your goals. Train somewhere that does. You might find a shotokan school that does help you meet your goals, but as you said, most shotokan schools do focus on competitive sparring, so that may nt be easy.

There's nothing disrespectful about cross training. If your instructor isn't offering what you want, or simply not offering all you want, you should supplement or entirely change your training environment. You don't owe him loyalty. Your debt for his instruction is paid in your class fees and your work ethic. Now he may be offended if you leave or cross-train, but he has no right to be. If he is exclusively teaching competition shotokan and your goals don't mesh with that, it'd be wrong to try to keep you from achieving them.

For all around self-defense, you're simply going to have to cross-train. Very very few teachers teach all ranges in one style. A very small percentage of those are competent across the board. Your odds of finding one are very very slim. And on top of that, each range will be better taught by a specialist in that range anyway.
This is why most of the good schools that teach all ranges of fighting teach more than one martial art. They'll have a wrestling, judo, or SAMBO class for clinch grappling, they'll have boxing, thai boxing, kickboxing, karate or savate for standing striking, they'll have BJJ, CACC, SAMBO or judo for groundwork, they'll have escrima, pekiti tirsia or kali for knife and stick fighting, they'll have classes on fight psychology, legal considerations, de-escalation, target hardening, etc. They may reccommend a tactical pistol course. Usually there will be mixed classes where you learn and practice blending the ranges and make your transitions from one to another smoother.

With so much to deal with a training week can fill up quickly and most people find that even if there is someone who claims to teach it all, you'll get far superior groundwork and takedowns training with a sambist, better striking and standing footwork with a boxer, etc. than one generalist is able to provide.

 

hamah,

I got not much to say but two stories to share with you. The first was a story I heard from different people and read accounts, so I figure it is fairly common.

"Long time karateka was so used to pulling punches from training and competition that it became a bad habit, then when he (or she) got into a real self-defense situation they ended up pulling their punches against the attacker."

The second story is one from a long time martial artists and police officer about the first time facing an attacker with a knife.

"The attacker struck down with an ice pick type grip on the knife. The police officer used age uke (rising block) instinctively and it stopped the knife arm surprising the attacker, then the officer proceeded to punch the attacker out. Afterwards the officer figured out that it worked because he had spent years practicing the technique done correctly so it came instinctively without hesitation when he needed it."

 

I think this thread has run its course. The OP is not ready to take on board the advice that has been offered.

Hamah, I wish you luck in your training. Only you can make the decision as to whether Shotokan is the right vehicle for what you want, and only you can do the training to make yourself more effective.