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Thread: One style over another?

  1. #1
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    Default One style over another?

    Looking through the forums it seems many not only favour their own style but also place it above others.

    So lets discuss the different styles and their strengths and short comings.

    I am interested in this to learn about other styles training methods and backgrounds.

    M.Miletic
    Katsu!


    The moon has no intent to cast
    Its shadow anywhere, nor does
    The pond design to lodge the moon.

    Ito Ittosai

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    Of course I'm going to place my style over yours or anyone elses. Because it is my style. I don't know the other styles (at least not the ones I haven't worked on).

    So, obviously, the others don't work for me. But mine works for me. And that is the key.

    The individual's specific style is always going to be seen is superior to that individual, right or wrong. For that individual, at that point in time, they are correct. That is why it is such a volatile topic. The individual has invested so much time and effort into it, that it is a sensitive topic.

    That is not to say that other styles may offer things that another doesn't, or have a different focus in how they do certain things.
    Respectfully
    Mark W. Swarthout, Shodan

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    Question

    Katsu
    what's your style and what is it's strength and short coming?
    Ken

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    It's indeed hard to be objective about your own style. We all invest time, money and passion in our chosen styles, so we seem to be inclined to think about them as better than the others

    I am doing Karate Shotokan. A good style if TAUGHT and learnt properly, but due to the existance of a lot of McDojos, the style is no longer considered good.
    Ramona Iftode
    Martial Arts

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    Smile Goju forever!

    I was orginally in Modukwan but after four years of that I started looking for something much more powerful. I have now been in Goju Ryu Karate Do for almost six years now and would never think of taking anything else. It's not that I think my style is better then any other style, but I'm just not attracted to any of the others.
    To me Goju Ryu's strong points are obviously the hand techniques and kata. Goju Ryu in my opinion has no weak points but I do wish my style got more credit and reconition for being the founder of kumite then it does presently. But I believe that's a different thread entirely.
    With much respect,
    Margeaux Ellis
    Karate is a matter of the heart. -Miyagi Chojun Sensei

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    I know that Yamaguchi has claimed to be the founder of free style fighting, as has Hironori Ohtsuka of Wado Ryu and Mastaoshi Nakayama of the JKA, but in fact experiments in various different fre style approaches were being made in the early 1930s. There are photographs of karateka sparring in armour at Keio university in the late 1920s. Actually no single person 'invented' free fighting - it developed in the university karate clubs of all the styles, probably inspired by Judo, Kendo and western boxing.
    Harry Cook

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    Quote Originally Posted by kyobukan
    Katsu
    what's your style and what is it's strength and short coming?

    I do Go Ju Ryu.

    As mentioned by risingsun our hand techniques are quite good as are our Kata.

    From a training point of view i really enjoy it and mainly due to my Sensei the training is very good. One thing how ever i find the lack of grappling and throw downs is a shortcoming.

    As to what Blackwood said i must disagree. To say that
    "Of course I'm going to place my style over yours or anyone elses"
    is a bit too much.

    Of course everyones style is their favourite since everyone puts all their effort into it. But to place it above others, well.
    My question is have you proven it in combat - and i don't mean point sparring?

    I don't think my style is the ultimate since all styles have their strengths and weaknesses.


    M.Miletic
    Katsu!


    The moon has no intent to cast
    Its shadow anywhere, nor does
    The pond design to lodge the moon.

    Ito Ittosai

  8. #8
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    Miletic San,

    If you dont think Goju is the best karate style, why train it. It is too me, the best karate style, if not i would of found something else. Besides the kata, we have Kakie, junbi undo, hojo undo, bunkai & Oyo, & iri kumi. Most styles dont do all that, & that is why i think it is the best, it's the deepest!

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    I practise Kyokushin,

    Do I think it’s the best style? For me at this moment it is, because is still have a lot to learn about this style and the other schools near me are not as dedicated and realistic in their approach to fighting. These schools teach shotokan and Go Ju Ryu. But It’s probably the schools that are lacking and not the styles, so for me the “representatives” of the other styles make their style look less attractive to me. That’s why I chose Kyokushin.

    The think that I like most about my teacher (I don’t say style because I don’t know if this is inherent to kyokushin) is that he is flexible. He doesn’t restrict his teaching only to techniques considered part of the roots. In other words if he sees techniques that he thinks would be a good addition he will teach it. (just like Oyama incorporated the thai low kick my teacher always stay’s open to other techniques and does not think that his style has all the answers and is the best of the best)

    Things that are less appealing about my style. I would like to have more grabbling and throws. But like I said no style is complete, so maybe I will take up BJJ, JUDO, Aikido over a couple of years who knows.
    Bob.


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    Shito Ryu, Muay Thai, and looking to get back into bjj(have about 2.5 years or so in it). I've also trained in Goju for a few years and have "dabbled" in many other martial arts but I think most people that invest time in martial arts do this at some point.
    I like shito ryu a lot, I had a sensei that was great for jiyu kumite and prepared me and a few other individuals well for point tournaments when I was a teen. I would have never got into Muay Thai, at least not at the time but the dojo I was at went out of business...
    I progressed quicker in Muay Thai than I did in Karate but I think this had to do with because I'm a dojo/gym rat and I had more hours available to train under my Muay Thai kru/instructor at the time.
    I like shito ryu for the kata, body punches, and sweeps that I acquired. I like Muay Thai because of the nature of fighting "more" full contact in competition but I have no immediate plans to step back into the ring or compete in a knockdown tournament, myself. I also like Muay Thai because I personally feel less restricted in sparring for what I can and can't do.
    Whenever I spar someone that is really well versed at Muay Thai I will resort to use a lot of my karate to "trick" them because they aren't used to it. I'm also getting to the point of not personally caring anymore about more "full contact" competition for myself so I may elect to focus on a more "softer" art here in the immediate future. I don't really like one style over another, I like a lot of different martial arts. I know some people may think I'm anti classical karate but I'm not at all.
    Last edited by powerof0ne; 15th December 2005 at 14:09.
    Brian Culpepper

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    Default Interesting subject...

    If you've been on any martial arts forums for any length you've probably seen this subject come up.

    I personally don't get it anymore. Most Karate styles have more in common than they do different. The differences tend to be what everyone focuses on, instead of the commonalities. Why?

    I see great differences in approach between Okinawan and Japanese karate, but they are both still Karate are they not?

    We tend to forget that syles, regardless or age, are man made, and therefore will change minutely from practitioner to practitioner based on perceptions, environment, and need.

    I'm particularly fond of Wado Ryu and Goju Ryu two very different approaches to Karate with very differnt results, but hopefully you'd admit that both styles are still relevant. Neither is more or less important or practicle than the other.
    R. Kite
    Budoka 34
    "Study hard and all things can be accomplished; give up and you will amount to nothing".

    -Yamaoka Tesshu

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Budoka 34

    I personally don't get it anymore.
    It's like this. My style is better than yours, especially if I have access to training in your style. Otherwise, I'd be a real idiot to train in my style, if I thought your style is better.

    Also, the Raiders are better than the 49 ers. Giants are better than the A's. National League is better than the American Leage. All the same sort of stuff.

    Rob

  13. #13
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    Best style--for me sure.

    Best style as objective fact?

    Impossible to tell--the very exsistance of so many methods of empty hand fighting would tend to indicate that different methods work well for different people.


    Chris Thomas

  14. #14
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    Default Kyokushin

    Well,

    I trained in kyokushin and a style that was supposed to be kyokushin but really wasn't, although it had its strong points too. As such I was exposed to concepts found in both goju ryu and shotokan/shorin ryu.

    Our instructor was well grounded in kata and was able to teach a lot of throwing techniques he felt were represented in the kata. We also had an ex-olympian in judo and a sambo Master of Games from Russia in our dojo, and that helped us to understand these aspects better.

    From my Japanese kyokushin teacher, I learned straight forward kyokushin concepts- sabaki, low kicks, tight maai, hard fighting, etc. I also got to work with ashihara people on the side here and there.

    I had the pleasure of witnessing one of Chinen Sensei's students at a small tournament in WA. He lost every match. He lost because he used technique straight out of kata and threw each of his opponents to the floor and stomped on them. He used Tensho's mawashi uke on an opponent's round house kick, he used seiunchin, and he used a jumping variation out of saifa. It was quite good. It was a point tournament, but he used a lot of throws and take downs. I was impressed at his ability to actually use his karate in a meaningful way that looked like goju. He lost every match.

    Obviously I do not think these styles are the best, as I don't practice them anymore. However, as someone else has said, that is more a function of the teaching. Not that it was bad, but it was unable to really take me where I felt I needed to go. So, now I practice in the Bujinkan school. It methods were able to answer questions I had.

    However, I still practice many skills from my karate training and use them to help my friends in Bujinkan when I feel they may be missing something or have an unrealistic opinion about other schools. Bujinkan is a hard school for most karateka to grasp or like, and I can understand why. However, when you meet those who can do it and get past some of the preconceived notions about what self-defense may or may not be, it has a lot to offer. Their concept of kukan (space) is really quite deep and has answered a lot of questions in a straightforward manner that in other arts were sort of left as "learned through experience" and such. It is a concept that is much more difficult to grasp and interesting than the typically linear concept of maai.

    I would say the Bujinkan's weaknesses are in some of its practitioners belief that their taijutsu will translate into any situation without them having to have experienced that situation first. Also, the tendency to stick to mostly technical training and not engage in any jissen or jiyu practice is a problem of some instructors. As I have done a lot of that sort of stuff in other arts, I don't worry about it too much and I work on such things away from my formal Bujinkan studies.

    Of this, I would say, don't live in glass houses. Don't live in a protective bubble created by your dojo. You don't have to study other arts formally, but everyone would be wise to really look at what other people are doing and try to figure it out. This can only improve your own budo if you are honest about it.
    Glenn R. Manry

    ---Iaijutsu, don't forget the doorman.

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    Default Who is doing the "considering"?

    Quote Originally Posted by dojo
    It's indeed hard to be objective about your own style. We all invest time, money and passion in our chosen styles, so we seem to be inclined to think about them as better than the others

    I am doing Karate Shotokan. A good style if TAUGHT and learnt properly, but due to the existance of a lot of McDojos, the style is no longer considered good.
    Like any other widely popular karate style, there is bad shotokan as well as good, but who is capable fo considering the style to be "no longer good"? Perhaps you have not experienced good in your area?

    What I like about JKA style shotokan: dynamic techniques, deep understanding of muscle/joint use, distance, emphasis on clean effective strikes. Beer with buddies afterwards doesn't hurt either.

    M
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

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