I call on the extensive articles & material & Masters cited on this blog, to support my thesis. E.g Funakoshi was trying to spread an "alien" practice to mainland Japan at a time when Okinawan culture was frowned upon. OKINAWAN VS. JAPANESE KARATE COMPARISON DEGRADING??? *Traditional martial arts are the original martial arts that were created (Related reading: Exposing The Lost Secret of Matsumuras Mysterious Bo Staff). They do not care how many degrees the toes should point somewhere, or how wide or long the stance should be. I've been studying and practicing Karate, practical self-defense and Zen Buddhism for more than 35 years. Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website. In the 90's we had three from the Dojo, where I began my training, who were world rated professional kick boxers, long before MMA. On you list of kobudo, you forgot eiku bo. I loved your article. which i am going to present in university. Mmmm, may have to unsubscribe, I just can't compete with the better styles :). I'll go for sure to Okinawa and find some place to practice Karate. Let's be honest, if we're comparing Okinawan Karate to Kyokushin, this article is 100% correct. Ive noticed that for some time, a lot of dojo's are trying to go "the old ways" like the kissakikai movement. Here is video from Okinawa https://www.facebook.com/seisho.tanahara.5/videos/1609511249266214/ with Shinjo Kiyohide Sensei, where is knowing as on of strenghten tradicionalist. This phenomenon, along with tournaments, is the reason why many movements of Japanese Karateare bigger and more simplified than Okinawan Karate movements. Put your feet close together about one shoulder width apart and are turned inward, at a 45 angle. They need to be easily seen byhuge massesof people! Jim, Thanks for chiming in Jim-san! Important Okinawan masters of Naha-te: Arakaki Seish Higaonna Kanry Miyagi Chjun Kyoda Jhatsu Mabuni Kenwa Uechi Kanbun Another great article Jesse. Okinawan Karate masters alwayspromotephysical conditioning. There are more than 90 katas in this style, and most of them are focused on either attacks or blocks. Unless you're actually practicing against a live resisting opponent, then it's not going to be helpful. Ossu! //-->. Tuidi Techniques. serious in their karate, to understand these differences.. We all have heard about karate since our childhood, but only a few of us know how it actually began. No. Stances were very high and light, btw, as shown in #1. Good job, also if hai means yes in Japanese why is it said in an Okinawan dojo? You are right again. However I am not, nor do I encourage my Students to be a "Stylist". the strike was always there as one simple bunkai.. Have you ever seenthe famous one-inch punch by Bruce Lee? Fully agreed with your comments. Quite naturally, this aspect of combat also involves other nasty things like choking, unbalancing, throwing, trapping hands, hitting pressure points and nerve bundles. As far as I'm concerned all styles of Karate are "valid". As I stated I would never make statements like this about another system because I don't have the knowledge of the other system necessary to make the comparison. Your weight is 90% on the back leg and 10% on the front foot. *Yokoso*! The Essence Of Karate-Do By Shoshin Nagamine, 3. Another difference between modern karate and traditional karate is that the traditional form focused on a minimalistic approach in fighting spaces. You cannot build a house on a weak foundation. having one-on-one attention from, say, a math teacher. During a seminar with Shiomitsu Sensei from England they started using this term. The elbow is hyperextended and a chest bump will drop the opponent. The most famous Okinawan Karate masters of all time were: Kanryo Higaonna was the founder of the Naha-te fighting styles. Will these kinds of high stances build leg strength and stamina? Training in *martial arts* can be intense as well as entertaining. I watch tournaments and ask myself - how would you use that technique (what are the Bunkai?)? Shotokan practiced according to the original karate-DO syllabus does have a developed grappling component, not always seen in the typical curriculum, and you know more than I on that score. Well, thanks for the article, I will continue reading your site and I hope I helped you in some way. it realy opened my eyes to okinawa karate. Got questions? Now try explaining that to a mainland Japanese who thinks Kyokushin is the be all or end all of karate. The purpose of Okinawan Karate has always been mainly self-defense oriented (the Why). For Okinawan Karateka, this martial art practice was a way of living. If it wasn't for Funakoshi's (Shotokan)first steps of demonstrating and propagating Karate to the public, who knows when would it see the "daylight". Single karate techniques as well as the low stances and rigid footwork, which allows for quick and flexible movement, can be fairly effective in a real fight or for self-defense. I especially enjoyed the reading on Tuidi techniques. 5. Great article, as you say yourself, its a generalizations. Due to a reason i cannot explain i am unable to see the images in #3, #4, #6, #8, #9, #10, Thank you so much for your very informative and inspiring articles. Put your front foot in front of you at a 45 angle. *school teachers train in traditi *Karate & Kobudo go hand in hand as both use the same hand and foot "Men are rational animals" (Aristotle) is a definition, whereas men have two legs, and so forth, is just the description of men. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. The easy thing to do is look @ a karate style, here Shotokan, and point out something that seems lacking. So you see when you make assumptions about anything you set your self up to look foolish. Thank you. Whoop's, struck a nerve hey? In old Dojos, there were just empty rooms with hardwood floors to fight on. And, SMALL groups in the class. Approved. Thank you! Thanks for the article Jesse! Kanryo Higaonna(1853-1915) was known as the highest authority of Naha Te. Bring your rear leg backwards with your foot at a 45 angle. Tuidi is the Okinawan method of grabbing,seizing, twisting and dislocating anopponents joints. I like the idea of personal attention from your instructor (sensia ?). Awesome experience, we did our own training at the Budokan. My understanding of it: "Bring all your energy to one point (in time and space)!". The Okinawan karate stances are meant to be practical for self-defense by being natural and quick. [bow] :-. Interesting articles to read through - thanks again Jesse :), iam an indian 61 years old practising karate and a 4th dan in grandmasters hayashi ha shitoryu karate in india your article on japanese and okinawa styles is very enlighting for me. Incredible power can be generated by a martial artist using proper stances with hip rotation and focus. It instills in some students the idea that I can only use this technique to defend only this or attack only that. In 1962 Zenryo Shimabukuro built his own Dojo and named it Seibukan, spreading the Okinawan Karate style ofShorin-ryu. While they understood why people would do deep stances, they preferred we didn't. In some styles, yes, and in some styles, no. Really? TRUE OR FALSE?? Hall-of *WE **CHALLENGE YOU! Wado Ryu uses natural stances especially during kumite, we are a style that is based on Shinto-Yoshin-Ryu Jujutsu and karate from Funakoshi Gichin Sensei, Motobu Choki Sensei and others that the first Grand Master Otsuka Hironori trained with. Great job Jesse in explaining and defining the concept of karate roots and applications. You are shown the how. Maybe the Canadian and the Swedish versions of Shotokan are just as different from each other as from the Japanese version. He and his successor Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953) made several basics. As with every aspect of Okinawan Karate, there is more than one definition. *Following decades of fulfilling a lifetime dream with the opening a One uses what I would call kiba dachi and the other uses the higher naihahchi dachi, what my style would call soto hachi monji dachi.