Shotokan is the system of Karate used by Japan's Self Defense Forces and in this video show's it's applications and techniques, [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMRY97ygLJE"]Japan Military Shotokan Karate - YouTube[/ame]
Not sure if this was the audio, but did the commentator say that they weren't allowed to protect their faces?
Yoshitama Muneo, the JSDF instructor, is pretty damn good. There used to be another video of him doing his stuff on youtube, but unfortunately it vanished. I certainly wouldn't want to mess with him.
This video cannot be shown enough. It is certainly not everyone's idea of a good time, but if anything it shows the versatility of Shotokan - regardless of how many people actually train as such.
I think there are a lot of people who think sparring in shotokan is always practiced to one point. In my experience, dojo sparring isn't done that way, but plenty of people believe that we just bounce on the spot, tap a gyakuzuki then break. I guess this is an example of a video where that's not the case.
I see. To me this is just a video of standard modern Shotokan sparring by people with good technical ability.
I agree. They're a bit nastier to each other than average, but it is largely just normal non-shiai kumite being done by good practitioners.
You've had the debate for me. Maybe its versatility is rather a matter of perception - i.e. it's not always what people think
If it's being circulated as a motivation for people to up their intensity, I'm all for it. If it's being used as some sort of talisman about the art as a whole--"I don't train this way but nevertheless you should take my art seriously because other people on another continent train this way"--it's bad. I ultimately quit Shotokan because the attitude of my entire regional division--not one club but the entire division--is that Shotokan training should not involve hard contact. Videos like this (or Machida's DVD series) actually eroded my interest in Shotokan because they were stark reminders of what we weren't doing. EDIT: I'm not saying anyone here is treating it as a talisman, but I did feel that way about some of the people in my region who felt that kumite should not involve actually hitting each other.
If you're going to punch each other hard in the face with no protective equipment on wouldn't some sort of guard be appropriate? :whistle: Mitch
Personally I think that the contact is the worst part about it. Contact like this is a sham. It might make them mentally tougher, but it isn't training them to hit harder and they are having to pull most of the shots or choose false targets to avoid incapacitating each other. To me this is creating worse technique and habits than the method of no contact in sparring but plenty of contact against pads.
I really hope people aren't doing that because it displays a lack of faith in their own karate. I hate the fact that so many karate people these days act as if they need a "talisman". If you don't like what you're learning in your martial arts club people should, as you did, move on elsewhere. I don't think people should be learning karate and getting disspirited because they want to be learning MMA and are disappointed that their karate club isn't teaching it. You either value karate for what it is, or find something that gives you what you want.
I value Karate and I loved my days in Shotokan, but unfortunately I left training in Shotokan due to the lack of contact. Punching thin air, hardly any pad work (in the dojo's I trained in at least) and pulling punches doesn't get you used to hitting something (hard) - the effects hitting something hard and unforgiving has on your knuckles, forearms etc are quite severe if you've never done it! Also it doesn't get you used to being hit by people!
The only difference is that those who were sparring in the video are military personnel unlike most of us civilian Karatekas.