# Shotokan on the street



## Greb0603 (Feb 18, 2009)

Does it work?


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## terryl965 (Feb 18, 2009)

For those that have trained for the streets, remember training is only good if the person being trained is any good!!!


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## seasoned (Feb 18, 2009)

terryl965 said:


> For those that have trained for the streets, remember training is only good if the person being trained is any good!!!


I will second that Terry.


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## jim777 (Feb 18, 2009)

It absolutely does, yes. Almost anything you put your heart and soul into will, but I have seen Shotokan on the streets and in bar fights, and properly taught and practiced it is devastating.


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## Brandon Fisher (Feb 18, 2009)

Yes I agree Shotokan can be very devastating when taught and practiced correctly in the non sport sense.  Very effective, fast and powerful.


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## JadecloudAlchemist (Feb 18, 2009)

Of course it works. The question is can you apply the techniques to make it work for you.

It is not the techniques that are the question it is the person applying it.

Does the person know when and how to apply it?


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## Aikicomp (Feb 18, 2009)

In my opinion, I do not know anything about Shotokan Karate (I'm a American style self-defense Ju-Jitsu teacher myself) but, all martial arts have the potential to be quite effective and they also have their weak points (yes, including mine) and as was said before it is the matching of a competent teacher and a good student and proper execution/application of techniques as well as mental frame of mind to actually use the art.

I've seen Blackbelts who look GREAT in Kata but, fail miserbly in Kumite and fail even worse in a street self-defense situation and vice versa. I guess when it comes down to it...

 A sword in the hands of a coward is useless. 

(I always loved that saying and had a chance to use it, although I can't remember who said it)

Yours in Budo
Michael


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## suicide (Feb 19, 2009)

it all depends on you i took my brother fresh off the streets to one of my classes and he dropped 2 kenpo black belts with the quickness ' after that my fellow classmates were like when you bringing your brother again ' his unthordox style puts ours to the test !


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## searcher (Feb 19, 2009)

A car CAN be dangerous on the streets, but it is all in its use.   I am backing up Terry on this one.    It kinda depends on who you are fighting and how good they are.   I know a guy who has no formal training and he is a brute on the street.   He is just so strong that you can't seem to do anything to him and hurt him.


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## Grenadier (Feb 19, 2009)

Greb0603 said:


> Does it work?


 
[Mr. Miyagi mode]Don't know...  Never been attacked by street before![/Mr. Miyagi mode]

In all seriousness, though, it can work just as well as any other system out there.  The practitioner is the limiting factor here, not the art.  

As for kata vs. kumite, if someone is serious about the training, then excelling in both shouldn't be out of the question.  If anything, at most of the USA-NKF tournaments that I've seen (mostly regionals), the ones who win the kata divisions usually medal in the kumite divisions, and vice versa.


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## shesulsa (Feb 19, 2009)

I wish I had $100 for every time I ever heard someone ask, "Does X work on teh str33t?"

The answer:  It could.

Next?


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## fightingpower (May 7, 2009)

Love that quote, may i have your permission to borrow it for a discussion at work later today?



Aikicomp said:


> In my opinion, I do not know anything about Shotokan Karate (I'm a American style self-defense Ju-Jitsu teacher myself) but, all martial arts have the potential to be quite effective and they also have their weak points (yes, including mine) and as was said before it is the matching of a competent teacher and a good student and proper execution/application of techniques as well as mental frame of mind to actually use the art.
> 
> I've seen Blackbelts who look GREAT in Kata but, fail miserbly in Kumite and fail even worse in a street self-defense situation and vice versa. I guess when it comes down to it...
> 
> ...


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## fightingpower (May 7, 2009)

An interesting guy to look at in relation to this is Lyoto Machida.  he is an MMA fighter with a record of 12 wins and 0 losses.  You can see stuff of his on U tube if interested.  I think this shows that if you adapt your style to work for you, and by adapt I mean learn it with some common sense, ie how can i best make this work.  Apply some patience and in self-defence senarios apply the ideology 'I ain't goin down without a fight' you will have a good idea of what your style can do for you, as opposed to what you can do for your style!


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## Daniel Sullivan (May 26, 2009)

Greb0603 said:


> Does it work?


Yes it does.

Daniel


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## Rolls_Royce_Phantom (Jun 30, 2009)

Provided the story of Mikio Yahara's encounter with multiple gang members is _true_, he proved Shotokan to be effective for real application, with proper training in mind of course.

Afa kata goes, Karate from what I gather was designed for use against violent untrained attackers. I take note of kata application as the record of a fighting system that included jujitsu applications stripped from the syllabus over time for whatever reason, depending on the training and emphasis etc.


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## Shotokan_ (Sep 1, 2009)

I am sotokan black belt and I've been with the art for more than 17 years. I will have to say that the shotokan practiced for competitions is mostly useless, since some of the practicioners do not even know how to hit with full contact. Sometimes, when they hit, they end up hurting themselves more then their opponent. Acyually hitting the human body feels so much different tha hitting a heavy bag or a makiwara. Face can be much harder than it looks. 
Shotokan for competitions is fun, and helps prevent injuries, but there is only one true shotokan, and iti is called SHOTOKAI, the original style made by sensei Gichin Funakoshi...


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## blindsage (Sep 1, 2009)

Shotokan_ said:


> Shotokan for competitions is fun, and helps prevent injuries, but there is only one true shotokan, and iti is called SHOTOKAI, the original style made by sensei Gichin Funakoshi...


So you participate fully in the internal politics of the style is what your saying.


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