Go Kan Ryu/GKR (yes...the door to door ppl...)

Hi guys,

Six years I trained with GKR recruited from the door knocking technique. I initially started so my kids could get their foot on the MA ladder. Any true MA worth their salt will realise that is a very basic/watered down MA. eg, you will learn to kick, punch & block and get fit if you want too but please dont expect anymore than that. I could go on for hours about the bad points in all areas but I am not here to disrespect the club just pass on my personal views, the good points are few in my eyes though. New people coming to MA, it will increase general awareness and get you started but the further you go you will realise its downfalls quickly as a fighting art on the street. I would treat it as a taster in MA nothing more than that, but please as said in previous posts your instructor may not be what they seem and that applies to any club not just GKR.

Good look and tread carefully.....

 

Reply to all

I am 17 and a GKR student of 7 years and have only received my shodan several months ago, proving that the rumour that you can acheive your nidan after several months of training (or however long it was) to be untrue. And also the fact that in England there are only 3 nidans in the style.

The rumour about kata unsu being taught for low grades is also untrue as unsu is not part of our syllabus, thus not being taught to anyone.

Yes, we are the style where people go from door to door signing people up to the club. However we do not force people to join and out joining fees are £42, not £90 as someone once said, and there are discounts for families.

Lessons are £5 at a time but we do have programs where you can pay a certain amount in advance and train as many times as you like in the space of time which the amount covers. So we do not only think about money, we do consider the needs of the students.

The fact that in tournaments we compete in point kumite is because we are a non-contact style and there is a greater risk of injury in continuous tournament kumite. I have recently spent a month in Australia and watched a NAS (National All Styles) tournament. The majority of GKR students who entered received trophies and will be going to the NAS finals later this year. In the finals we do exceedingly well. Over the last 5 years, the mens open kumite title has been taken by GKR students 3 times and the female title twice.

Also a reply to the sarcastic comments about the article in blitz magazine saying " 30000 students". I would have thought that 30000 students is very impressive for a club that has been running properly only 10 years. We have dojos in 3 continents, 2 full time dojos offering more than just karate and have held 2 world championships within the style. The fact that we hire school halls is purely so that students from anywhere can train regularly in several places under several senseis. I once trained in Shotokan and had to travel 30 minutes to get to the dojo. The nearest GKR dojo to my house is 2 minutes drive away.

 

Hi guys
There you are Mike, it's obviously where I recognise you from and Jessie C hello.

I post regular on the GKR forum. Got to say their a good bunch of guys. I held a Goju kata course for them so that they could compare how their "goju" kata compares to how a goju karateka practices it. I didn't get a huge attendence but the guys that did go gave it their all and I was impressed by their efforts. It did come to light that they do very little partner work and mostly practice for form and do little contact, partner or padwork.

GKR should be marketed as Sport karate. SDC's should have a different title. They should not use low grade instructors. Their marketing is good and us traditionalists could probably learn from them in this respect.

I wouldn't recommend GKR to anyone.

 

Hi Telsun

I would echo your comments that on the whole the GKR people I've 'spoken to' on their forum seem like a nice bunch of people who are quite dedicated to their art. Sadly they seem to me to be the victims of rather cynical manipulation on the part of the people at the top of the organisation.

Mike

 

Do they compete Telsun?

 

GKR has excellent opportunities to compete. They have monthly competitions plus a national and international event, I think they use a ranking system, but I'm not entirely sure. I think that the competitions are restricted to GKR members but considering they have approx 40000 members this makes for a very large comp. Not sure of the standard but the kata that the guys at the course showed me was compareable to other styles albeit lacking any depth. Sparring is WUKO rules I think. Their training seems to revolve around this competition empthasis, hence my comment of marketing GKR as sport karate.

I would agree with you Mike. The students on the forum are dedicated to GKR and I would personally say that they are victims of a good marketing strategy. GKR has little to no martial value. Each to their own but once these people realise how lacking GKR is they tend to move on. All the people that attended my kata course have either changed styles or are looking to. This was not my intention, just a bonus

 

defection

I, being one of those defectors. I initially started up with GKR with no knowledge of MA and I was 'lured in by the GKR Banshee siren song' of promises of self defense blah blah blah. It gave me a good sense of basics so my time there wasn't wasted as such, i just need to add the meatier elements to my karate. GKR does nothing ( well didn't at the time and is only just starting to venture now) on Bunkai Jutsu which is my main reason for leaving. It was mainly line drills and punching/kicking fresh air.Kata 'performance' and some 'non-contact' sparring. Regional competitions are held 2-3 times a year for GKR practioners only. I know in Austrailia the NAS tournaments are predominently GKR but I don't think they encourage GKR ppl to enter into any other UK tournaments ( but dont quote me on that) other than a GKR tournament.

 

Ive only just joined this forum, and could not help but sit up when I saw the way you all talk about Go Kan Ryu. I have been doing this style for 2 and a half years, and have recently reached my 3rd kyu. Years ago, I attended a few Shotokan classes and was amazed at the arrogance of some of the students and instructors there. I personally think that door to door recruitment is a much more personal way to gain new students, and makes your first class less daunting. Yes, you do get the odd inexperienced Senseis, but GKR gives you the option to train where ever you wish, with a whole variety of instructors. We do get chances to train with Kancho Sullivan and the seniors quite a lot, and there are regular tournaments, with national and world cup titles. So for those of you who insist on slating GKR for all its worth, its all down to arrogance and the inflated opinions on your own ability. Give it a chance- it cant be that bad if it is the biggest karate club in the world.

 

Arrogance

That's because Mr Sullivan has an excellent marketing strategy Emma.

 

the odd inexperienced Sensei? GKR in the UK seems to be awash with kyu grade instructors.

Most of whom are kyu grades.

Having trained with a number of different teachers in a number of different systems perhaps its more down to the fact that I'm fairly good at telling the difference between quality martial arts and snake oil? You don't know me yet you call me arrogant and say I have an inflated opinion of my own ability. Perhaps it is you, not I, that is being arrogant here? As for my ability, I would describe myself as mediocre, I'm nothing special. But I can fairly easily spot when an organisation is motivated by making money rather than teaching good quality martial arts.

I gave it a chance for one lesson. I was not impressed. Perhaps you should try your hand at some other styles of Karate to broaden your horizons of what Karate is all about. When you've done that, perhaps we can discuss the subject in more depth.

Mike

 

Emma,

I too probably felt like you once and its good too hear you think you've found what you consider to be the best for "YOU".......

Some of your rantings as Mike explained are a little wide of the mark too say the least. Myself and my family trained with GKR for 6+ years before walking which was totally justified. My personal opinion of GKR has nothing to do with arrogance or an inflated opinion of my own ability it is fact, it happened, I was there you were not, in fact if you re-read what you originally wrote you seem to have a very high opinion of your own ability by making that kind of arrogant statement anyway.

McDonalds is probably one of the biggest food companies in the world does it make it the best place to eat ?

You like it others don't, please dont try force feeding people who may know better than yourself.

Good Luck, now try taking off the blinkers

 

I watched videos of some of the katas.
No strength, very little closed fist, too many shouts = Eye Candy
No offence to the art but Id say its really badly managed and not very well structured

 

Just cause its near you does not mean its any better! I travel for 1 hour 20 min three times a week for my class!

 

hiya again. thats fair enough what you guys think, and its nice to get other peoples opinion on it. however, i cant help but feel like it devalues what myself and my friends in class have worked so hard to achieve in the past years. are there any gkr people about who agree with this?

 

Not trying to be nasty or anything but you say you 'worked hard to achieve' something. From all the content in this post it seems that you learn nothing and hence achieve nothing. Just from what others have said thats a tall order

 

Emma could be a shining example of the 'good bit' of GKR.

Keep it up Emma.

 

The thing that devalues your efforts is not that I and others point out the obvious shortcomings of GKR. Rather, it is that your Regional Manager and his superiors take the p*ss (and the cash) out of you and the other students by teaching watered down rubbish and, even worse, by getting relative beginners to teach other beginners. These people are not interested in your development as martial artists. You’re simply a means to an end to them – the end being to make money. Of course, they also get a nice ego massage as well by having the thousands of students like yourself look up to them and regard them as something special.

I really don’t wish to argue with you or to upset you in any way. I merely wish to open your eyes a little. Please go and try out some other karate clubs in your area. Then decide which you think is best for you.

Mike

 

I'm assuming that the katas are not actually done as in the videos?

 

The one time I went to a GKR club the kata were practiced briefly and quickly. There was very little (if any) feedback given on performance. We just ran through Taikyoku 1 & 2 then Saifa, twice each if I remember rightly.

Mike

 

is gkr in the usa?

Is GKR in the usa? I never really have seen it in my neck of the woods..we have many other watered down "karate" schools where I live that somehow have a lot of students. I guess the only thing that makes sense to me as how these schools stay in business is inflating egos/giving belts away.
One such gentleman where I live earned a legitimate shodan, and possibly up to nidan in ****o ryu in the 70s. My father was a blue belt when he was a white belt; now the gentleman is a 10th Dan. The persons' original Soke is none other than Teruo Hayashi who just recently got up to 10th dan. I know of another individual that is a "10th Dan" in shotokan and a "7th dan" in Aikido that is convenient for me to train with. I've never heard of this individual in any serious discussions of high ranking instructors or being a world champion fighter, having world champions, etc.
It's actually pretty simple people...if a person is claiming to be a 6th dan or higher and isn't known outside of the small area they live in they're more than likely a fraud. If they have 8 y/o black belts, more than likely a fraud...I'm sorry for those of you that train at schools where the average person can earn a black belt in a couple of years and a whole lot of cash thinking you're in a good school. Get out and look at some other schools and actually be honest about your skills than you just might realize that you've been fooled. Oh well you probably won't listen to anything I have to say because there obviously are a bunch of naivette in the world for these kind of martial art schools to exist.