A question on behalf of a newcome to the Shotokan karate class I attend. I don't want to say too much, as I've told her about M.A.P and I am hoping she will visit herself. She can then introduce herself in her own way. Briefly - she is a young lady at University who holds a black belt at Tae Kwon Do, but has come into the Karate class as white belt to learn the art. What will cause her difficulty in 'converting'? What should she watch out for? Any advice would be interesting, and give her an insight on what MAP can provide. Apparently she loves sparring For those that don't know - I'm a blue belt at Tang Soo Do, and I use the Karate class as an extra exercise opportunity (by agreement of both the Karate instructor and my own). I have done very little sparring - so when I was lined up with her last night and the instructor shouts out "Be careful with the White Belt" I had to bite my tounge Life is about to get very interesting in this class, and I look forward to comparing notes with her. I wasn't sure if I should post this in the Karate or TKD forums (or just as a PM to Mrs Owt - who knows most about mixing styles ) so if any moderator thinks I've 'missed' then please move me over.
Theres a TKD black belt in my shotokan class as well, he found shotokan more difficult than tae kwon do because of the dominance of hand strikes in kumite. That said he graded to 5th kyu in 9 months so he obviously didn't find it too difficult. Theres just subtle differences between the two really, like where they hold their guards in TKD and their kiai's normally need to be changed. She'll probably like it (and if shes anything like my mate concede that Karates better than TKD within 6 months )
We had a rather talented young TKD junior BB train with us for a while. While has hands were his weakest weapon, his kicking ability more than made up for it! In his short period with us, he did very well in competition.
Yeah, most people find the switch fairly easy. And having watched the techniques used at the British Student Karate Championsips yesterday, a good quick ura-mawashi-geri is heck of useful skill to have - so she should have a head start there!
And on that note I'd just like to say *cough* Loughborough Shotokan - Mens Team Kata Champions *cough*
When Gen Choi set up ITF TKD, whether the Koreans want to admit it or not, Shotokan karate was a big influence - note the Koreans don't like the Japanese much, for obvious historical reasons. I must admit I've seen more TKDers come to shotokan than vice versa but in my experience they tend to adapt pretty well. Some of the commets I've heard is that they like the "honesty" of karate (WYSIWYG) as opposed to some of the "issues" that TKD suffers from.
Back in the 70's I studied TKD for a couple of years with S. Henry Cho in N.Y. The branch of TKD was called Ji Do Kwan and it wasn't "like" Shotokan, it pretty much "was" Shotokan. They did Heian, Tekki, Bassai and although we worked kicks a lot they were'nt as fancy as today's kicks. When I switched over to Shotokan I had very minor adjustments to make. The biggest difference was the depth of learning, the TKD was very shallow and seemed to only mimic movements. From what I understand you can trace the lineage back to Funakoshi and a couple of other Japanese/Okinawan instuctors. Tommy
To be honest to her ability to adapt to Shotokan Karate would depend on the syle of TKD she came from. If it was ITF then she probably would adapt quite quickly. If it was WTF then probably it would take longer.
Thanks for the replys guys - I'm going to print the full thread off tomorrow evening and take it to training. That will let her see what a broadminded, knowledgable, and civil group we have here at MAP. *covers head and waits for the thread to fall to bits* From the Tang Soo Do point of view, we also do the 'Korean Named' versions of Heian, Tekki, Bassai, and others. There are real and specific differences between individual TSD versions of the forms and the Karate version, but you can see the common origins of both. I'll be checking the distance between TKD and TSD for my own interest (provided she doesn't think me starting this thread is an indication that she has a prospective stalker )
Well my friend there are different kinds of TKD too. I am currently doing TKD Moo Duk Kwan which is vastly different from TKD ITF. As a Tang Soo Do practitioner you will have a decent understanding of the Shotokan style although they generate their power for hand techniques in an opposite fashion then we do in TSD or TKD. Our kicks are very different from theirs, traditionally. Either way though, they are both karate, and as long as she is humble and willing to change and try new things she will do fine. She is a black belt, so the principle elements are there. Good luck!!
ITF TKD is directly decended from Shotokan, though there has been some evolutionary changes in both since the split. ALL forms of all styles can be traced back to the 108 movement (long form) n Tai Chi Chuan. Moo duk kwan TKD and TSD have far less influence from shotokan and other Japanese arts, in these you will see more of a Chinese influence. OTOH, a kick is a kick, a punch is a punch and if they get close enough you trap and grapple .
Tai Chi Chuan??? Care to explain where the hell you get that from? You mean to tell us that Capoeira, Sumo, Silat, Muay Thai/Muay Boran/Krabi Krabong, and Shaolin are descended from Taiji?
I posted that all traditional forms (meaning katas, hyungs, poomse,ect.) can be traced back to tai chi, not styles. I base this on the best available historical research. Now be a good little first dan and don't argue with the nice Kwan Jang Nim .
Quick note of appreciative thanks from a TKD guy. Followed a link to this thread from the TKD forum in which I usually lurk. I'm amazed and grateful for the courtesy of the Karate practitioners' responses. Wow! What a opportunity to have blasted TKD and made broad negative generalizations. Instead, just honest, straightforward feedback that addresses the question at hand. Well... with maybe a well-deserved little jab at TKD here and there! Another example of how great MAPsters are.
