Anyone know about Shidokan?

Discussion in 'Karate' started by Van Zandt, Feb 13, 2018.

  1. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    I'm making arrangements to spend a fair bit of next year working in Costa Rica, so I've been checking out websites for various martial arts clubs in and around San José.

    I saw this place, which appears to be a CrossFit box and MMA gym:

    CrossFit Kabac, Shidokan Martial Arts, MMA Costa Rica - Marcas WEFIT

    I'm interested in the Shidokan. Done a bit of Google Fu and I'm under the impression it featured heavily in K-1. My background is primarily taekwondo, but I also have an extensive number of years in Kyokushin and American kickboxing. Can anyone here give me a hint what to generally expect from Shidokan?
     
  2. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    I got to 1st Kyu with the Shidokan in the UK. It's not a widespread style so there aren't that many places that do it.
    Impression I got was that it massively varied from gym to gym and country to country. In the UK it's very heavily Kyokushin/knockdown influenced (all of the people that do Shidokan here originally did Kyokushin) but I felt in America and Europe it had gone more towards MMA with a knockdown Karate flavour (although I didn't personally experience that as I just trained in the UK).
    If you've done Kyokushin then you'll be right at home with Shidokan. The kata are the same (Pinans, Tensho, Sanchin, etc).
    There are some Shido fighters that you may have heard of (Shonie Carter, Richard Trammell, Peter Angerer maybe) but it's not produced the same level of K1 fighters as Seidokaikan.
    They make a big thing about being the "triathlon of martial arts" but all the sparring and gradings I did in Shido was modified knockdown with 3ish seconds of attached clinching and if you got a throw or went to the floor you got some leeway to apply a submission but if it stalled you were stood up.
    No idea what it'd be like in Costa Rica!
     
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  3. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    One of the main things I liked about the style was that sessions could be quite varied. You could do a session that was pretty much straight Kyokushin.
    Seiza to start, mokuso, Japanese terminology, Kihon, traditional Kata, body conditioning, padwork, knockdown sparring, etc.
    Another session would look more like Thai. Using Thai pads, clinching, boxing gloves, etc.
    And another might look more like Judo or BJJ.
    It's a great style with massive potential but a lot of it boils down to what the instructor can do and brings to the class.
     
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  4. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Thanks very much for that info my good man! I have definitely heard of those fighters. Your experience sounds much like the image I had in my head, although I guess I won't really know until I step on the mats over there. At the very least, I can do the boxing and MT classes and covertly observe the karate classes to see if I'll like it. :)
     
  5. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Sounds right up my street that.
     
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  6. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    My instructor in the UK did 2 sessions a week and it was hard pad work one session and more traditional the next (kihon, kata, etc).
    As he was primarily a karate guy he even valued and let me sow some of the stuff I had from BJJ. :)
     
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  7. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Who was your instructor in the UK? May travel for a few classes before I head out to CR.
     
  8. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Dr Steve Fenwick in York. A good guy. Not spoken to him in years. Stopped doing Shidokan a few years back due to time, family, age etc. Really wanted to get my blackbelt in it but the older I got the more preparing for 10 rounds of knockdown became a fading possibility. :(
     
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  9. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Cheers buddy. Just scanned the website, looks good!
     

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