Shotokan, is one of the styles we teach at RASDAK. It also happens to be our only hard style, San Shou can go either way though. I don’t write about this style much, even though it was the first style I was trained in, It was also the last one I got my Black Belt in. There is nothing wrong with the style, Kenpo and Wushu simply fit my body type better.
I am 5′5 and weight about 155 pounds, not very big. Shotokan was developed on the idea of ending a fight in one strike. It is very effective actually, one proper technique should end the fight. However, pain tolerance in people vary, sizes vary, and so on. It simply helps to have a back up style.
I am not trying to knock Shotokan however, if your perfect it, it will work. It takes away the fancy manuevering and gets straight to the point. Even if you are already trained in another style I would still recommend learning the style as a great way to practice basics. It consist of all the basic movements found in all Okinawan and Japanese martial arts, and forms which implement the techniques in various ways. There are not a wide variety of techniques, but that is not a bad thing.
Bruce Lee once said, when it comes down to an actual fight, regardless of how many techniques you know. You’ll only use your best 6 techniques.
He was correct in this statement, if you’ve ever really been in a fight, you probably didn’t use a wide variety of techniques. A punch, a kick, and maybe a submisssion, not much more. That is why I am glad to offer this style, it is simple, to the point, and effective. And as a bonus, it helps compliment the basics to almost any other style you learn.
Tags: gichin funakoshi, hard style martial arts, japanese karate, martail arts, okinawan karate, shoinjiru, shoinryu, Shotokan
