Thinking of trying Karate out..............

Tat2dDom624

I've been thinking about maybe trying out Karate (not sure which one). Last week i saw some videos with some Karate practioners that were doing Kumite, and i was really intrigued by what i saw. Looks like that kind of art might be more to my taste, since there are forms and kicking like TKD, but with punching as well.

I know some of you here take (or have taken) Karate. Can you tell me which type of Karate you practice(d) and what's involved in that particular one? My TKD contract runs out in November, and i was looking for some input from some of you practitioners.

Thanks!

TheRoadDog

Some styles may suit some body types or persons better than others. I think what may be more important is the Teacher. I, personally, started with Shorin-Ryu -- an Okinawan syyle Karate. In the ealty 70's. In Okinawa. When I returned to the United States, I bounced through many different styles: Judo, Aikido, Ju-Jitsu, Kung Fu, Shotokan before joining a TKD class and meeting the Instructor that I would train under for decades.I can't stress how mucxh more important the relationship with your instructor is than the particular style.

Good Luck on your journey.

Tat2dDom624

Some styles may suit some body types or persons better than others. I think what may be more important is the Teacher. I, personally, started with Shorin-Ryu -- an Okinawan syyle Karate. In the ealty 70's. In Okinawa. When I returned to the United States, I bounced through many different styles: Judo, Aikido, Ju-Jitsu, Kung Fu, Shotokan before joining a TKD class and meeting the Instructor that I would train under for decades.I can't stress how mucxh more important the relationship with your instructor is than the particular style.

Good Luck on your journey.

I totally understand what you're saying. I really like my instructor, and the other students are really encouraging as well. Looking for schools over the years, i've been really picky about what i'm looking for in a school, and i finally found a good one in my TKD school, but seeing there might be another art out there that's more appealing, has been tough to ignore. Plus, i don't know how my son would react if i was to go somewhere else. He and i go to the same school, and i'm sure he likes that we have that bonding in that type of environment. So in other words.............i'm torn, and have to think this out. Thanks for your input!

KyleB65

It also depends on what you want to get out of your training. My limited experience with Karate was just endless katas. And, I have had a friend complain about endless forms in Kung Fu.

If the repetitive muscle memory training style suits you then it is a matter of what is close by to where you live. (Not excluding the previous and very valid comment about the personality of the instructor!).

There are also some very interesting modern military fighting style that "steal" from a variety of martial arts to create compact fighting styles. Systema & Krav Maga come to mind. In addition and with a more philosophical outlook is Jeet Kune Do (My preference and bias as it is what I study).

If you are transitioning from TKD and are looking to expand you fighting skills? I would suggest giving Judo a try. It is a great way to build a solid understanding of body mechanics. Not a big "punching" style! But hey, if you want to learn how to punch, take boxing! Very few fighting styles can match the speed & precision of western style boxing.

Just remember to have fun!

trackercasey76

You mentioned punching and not doing it in TKD. This REALLY surprises me, we punch at least as much if not more than kick in our class. I think I would discuss your concern with your current instructor and see if he has a solution that will keep you interested.

rstoliker

IMHO it depends on what EXACTLY you are looking for as a final goal. To my understanding...Kumite is sparring, or can be referred to for competition, which most styles offer to a degree. In my experience, I took Budokai, which is a toned down version of kokorokan karate. The praticitioners of the original Kokorokan school would beat the bloody hell out of each other...but thats part of that specific school's teaching.

in my Judo/Jiu Jitsu club, we spar, or have randori, for at LEAST a minumum of 30 minutes each class, at 5 minute clips. so, again, overall...it depends on what you are looking for long term and what appeals the most to you. If it's a traditional setting, then there may be more emphasis on forms and kata. Just something to think about.

jfinnivan

I practice Uechi-ryu karate, which is an Okinawan style that originally came from a style of kung-fu in China. It is considered a "hard" style, which means we condition or bodies to take a beating, and emphasize grounded stances and moving. There are also some soft and flowing components as well. There are only 8 kata in the style, and, technically, no kicks above the ribs (though we practice as high as we want). We do two kinds of kumites, one being traditional sparring, and the other a series of prearranged attack and defense scenarios. We typically don't compete too often in non-Uechi tournaments, because during sparring, we are trained to sometimes take a hit to gain an advantage over an opponent, and we are also allowed to kick knees, do sweeps, etc.

I will be testing for my third degree black belt (Sandan) in a few months.

bushidowoman

Like others have said, what you get out of martial arts training will depend on you--your philosophy, where you want to focus, your relationship with your instructor, etc. Whatever style you learn is going to have its strengths and weaknesses. You will eventually take what you have been taught and combine it with what you learn on your own to fill in the weaknesses.
I may add some more later. Mama duties.

CallMePat

I can't tell you to much about other Styles of Karate, but I study Wado-Ryu meaning Way of Harmony(or Peace). It came from Japanese Jujitsu and (pretty much) Shotokan Karate. It's a pretty different style because of a few things: We generally fight out of a front stance, Most stances are more natural (not as deep, but often train in deeper stances while doing basic techniques), more partner focused drills and kumite than most, and Body Movement (a little difficult to explain but for the most part karate [defense] is intercept the attack, redirect the energy, shift your body but in Wado its more like shift your body, redirect the energy, intercept the attack [or not]).
Like I said I don't know too much about other styles but I know the Big Three are Goju, Shotokan, and S.h.i.t.o. I think Wado and Kyokushin are big too, so you'll find more choices for a Dojo under them.
If you have any Wado Q's let me know.

ColoradoRobin

I study Shotokan with some additions from other styles added by my instructor. The main thing is finding a dojo you are comfortable at, and a teacher whose philosophy and teaching style mesh with your own. Consider how much you want to focus on sparring vs katas, weapons vs empty hand, and if you want to enter tournaments. There's no one best style, except for Ameri-do-te of course! (take a look at Enter the Dojo on YouTube for that reference. Hilarious!)

Cookme1

I study Shorei Goju Ryu started by master Trias in the 1950s. The current style head is Hanshi Herb Johnson. It is a blend of syles from Okinawa. Most Okinawan and Japanese styles are similar and have one or two forms from Funikoshi Sensei. Father of Shotokan and founder of modern karate.
My Sensei, a student of Hanshi Johnson uses karate, small circle jujitsu, judo and Aikido. We basicaly will use anything from another system that works, so we constantly keep evolving and bettering our arsenal.. Like others have said you just need to find an instructor that you click with or like the feel of the dojo. Hopefully they will offer a few free classes so you can make an informed decision. Be warey of anybody that says they are the best because all martial arts are good, its just a matter of finding the right one for you, and what you want to stress. Self defense patterns, kata, sparring, weapons, trapping and imbolization, or ground work.
Good luck in your quest.

stephinpitts

Lots of good stuff in this thread.

Style: Genbu-Kai
Duration: About 2 1/2 years

We had a TKD guy in our karate class last fall. He had been training for about 13 years. Prior to that, in I think 2009, I took part in a Taekwondo dance / demonstration (which was very limited exposure to TKD, but still lots of fun).

Sparring the TKD practitioner was an interesting experience. His punches were not bad, but not particularly good either. However, his kicks made up for it. Sometimes he would bring a kick up to my head from punching range! Good stuff, I really enjoyed sparring him.

Genbu-Kai is a sub-style of ****o-Ryu. You can think of ****o-Ryu as something like a family tree from which there are several major branches. You can read a bit more about ****o-Ryu here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/****o-ryu or here: http://www.****oryu.org/skills/skills.htm

edit: Oops, looks like the filter got my links and other text! It's supposed to say Shi.to-Ryu.

Each dojo & sub-style will be different, of course, but in a broad sense we:

* Incorporate a great deal of punching and blocks
* Make use of several kicks too, of course!
* Make use of joint manipulations
* Use some pressure point strikes
* Focus a great deal on movement
* Have several kata (Genbu-Kai itself has 50-some kata, just remembering off of the top of my head)
* are a traditional school (we learn the Japanese words for various strikes & blocks, have a dojo kun, & so on)
* (optional) train in traditional weapons (bo, sai, nunchaku, sword (Batto), & so forth)

****o-Ryu, thus Genbu-Kai, combines both hard styles and soft styles (meeting force with force & strength, versus meeting force with movement & redirection).

At our dojo we focus on the hard style techniques first. We never stop focusing on the basics (the foundation), and there are, clearly, a lot of kata to learn and practice. I'm not a kata man myself, but it's good exercise and I've noticed that I'll unconsciously use techniques from kata.

I'm just starting to hit kata that focus on soft-style techniques (eg; Tensho).

kendrafallon

I'm surprised you don't do punching in TKD - I would say that is more to do with your instructor and the style of TKD that you're doing. Certainly in the TKD I've done, we've focused as much on various strikes with the hand as we have on kicks.

I also considered doing Karate, but couldn't find a class that fit in with my current schedule, instead I'm doing Jujitsu