Which style of karate should I change to?

Discussion in 'Karate' started by banddrag, Jul 28, 2019.

  1. banddrag

    banddrag New Member

    I've been training with Go-Kan-Ryu Karate for a few months now and I've only just started toread the criticisms towards this style. So hesitating whether to switch over to somewhere else... there's a place that teaches Koshiki Karatedo, I'm not sure if this is more legit? I will be moving in 3 months as well and there will be more opportunities in my new home. I have heard shotokan Karate is meant to be the more traditional style to learn... but what do you lot recommend? Thanks.
     
  2. bassai

    bassai onwards and upwards ! Moderator Supporter

    Shotokan is pretty wide spread , and if I’m honest , quality can vary , I was lucky to drop onto my teacher.
    That being said , I’ll be the first to advise that once you move drop in on the local classes and see which one feels right for you and ticks the right boxes.
     
  3. Mitlov

    Mitlov Shiny

    Besides the aggressive marketing, one of the main criticisms of Go Kan Ryu karate is the emphasis on "no-contact kumite." If this bothers you, be sure to judge a Shotokan school by the school itself and not the style. As Bassai said, Shotokan is all over the map on this front. I've trained in a Shotokan dojo where every practice would lead to visible bruising, where we learned to hit and get hit from basically day one. And I've trained at a Shotokan dojo where you basically did kata and kihon (forms and moving basics) for the first five years--no padwork either--and then no-contact kumite would be introduced at brown belt.

    I've never heard of Koshiki karate before, but googling it, it appears to be a split-off from Shorin-Ryu. The distinguishing characteristic of koshiki karate appears to be the sparring rules. It's point sparring, but with more protective gear and more contact than is typical for point sparring.



    You won't know for sure if the school is good until you try it out, but that sounds like a promising recipe to me.
     
  4. Tom bayley

    Tom bayley Valued Member

    from my brief experience of karate I get the idea that the club has a big impact as well as the style. Where I currently train in shotokan the syllabus is fairly simple up to blackbelt aimed at point sparing with controlled contact. but the teachers also do a fair amount of off syllabus "old skhool" karate for practical self defence. This is nice for me because apparently my kung fu is also fairly "old school" so there is a lot of crossover.

    the thing to do is to go and visit your local schools. tell them what you are interested in practising/ learning ask them at what point would you begin to do it at thier club and how long would it take an average student to get to that point.
     

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