Hi,
I am thinking about beginning to study shotokan karate and I was looking at the philosophy posted on this site. One of the precepts listed was to avoid violence. My questions is, is it against the philosophy of shotokan to participate in competitions, particularly full-contact matches?
Re: Shotokan philosophy
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if you are good at sparrign does that make u good at fighting in a real situation
Re: fighting
We’ve all heard of the three R’s, right? Well, karate has something similar. The Three K’s. What are they? Simple:
Kihon (Basics), Kata ( Forms), Kumite ( Sparring)
When practiced together, the above will help to create a more rounded martial artist. They will teach how to do the basic movements (kihon), how to put movements together (kata) and how to use the techniques in “real life” situations (kumite).
“The best defence is a good offence!” We’ve all heard that before. And, yes, it is true, in most cases. So, does that mean we should be beating up everyone before they beat us? No, not at all.
Shotokan is a martial art. It is a fighting system. With it, we can cause serious damage to others (and ourselves if we are not careful).
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Once you have learned the Kihon sets, it’s time to start learning the Jiyu Ippon Sets (semi-free, one-attack sparring).
As with Kihon, there are 5 sets to master. The major difference between these and the Kihon sets is that they are conducted from the Jiyu Dachi (free standing) position. The sets begin with quite simple moves. For example, Set 1 Jodan is an Oi Zuki attack to the head, countered by side-stepping away from the blow, defending Shuto Uke, and countering with Chudan Zuki (it’s not really possible to describe in words - you need to be in the Dojo to see it demonstrated). Set 5, however, involves much more complex defences, including jumping-kicks, and take-downs.
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When you see two boxers fighting in the ring, they are sparring with each other. Each tries to score a point by landing a blow to the target area of their opponent, and the winner will be the one who has the most points by the end of the match.
Of course, boxing matches also sometimes end when one of the protagonists is knocked out, or when the match is stopped by the referee because one of them has been seriously hurt. This may be because (a) some of the artistry of boxing has been lost, and become subservient to the pressures of commercialism, or (b) because the boxers aren’t very good at boxing, just fighting.
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