# shotokan Karate



## MMAfighter (Mar 20, 2006)

I'm just wondering. Does anyone know if they do a lot of sparring in shotokan? I don't mean point sparring i mean more like kyokushin where you kind of go at it(not full force of course) but you go against an opponent to practice for street use. The reason I'm asking this is that i want to add to my striking game and I can't find any kyokushin dojo's near me, and the only other thing is shotokan.


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## Andrew Green (Mar 20, 2006)

Shotokan essentially "Created" point fighting


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## Jonathan Randall (Mar 21, 2006)

MMAfighter said:
			
		

> I'm just wondering. Does anyone know if they do a lot of sparring in shotokan? I don't mean point sparring i mean more like kyokushin where you kind of go at it(not full force of course) but you go against an opponent to practice for street use. The reason I'm asking this is that i want to add to my striking game and I can't find any kyokushin dojo's near me, and the only other thing is shotokan.


 
In my experience, it depends largely upon the particular dojo. You certainly will NOT get the same type of contact experience that you would get in kyokushin - but you _will _learn proper mechanics for kicks and punches and, perhaps, the richer part of the Martial _Arts_ that strictly sport and competition oriented training often misses, IMO. Is the dojo JKA or SKA affiliated, or independent? Independents vary WIDELY in quality - from great to very poor. Buyer beware. I'm biased towards JKA Shotokan, but any good school will teach great basics.


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## Andrew Green (Mar 21, 2006)

Oh, one more thing, Shotokan sparring is usually point fighting, but not what you see in open tournaments (hopefully) where technique means tag the guy, even if you fall on your face doing it, power and technique not required.

However, if your goal is MMA or merging it with grappling I don't think you'll find what you are looking for, IMO it's not going to "meld" nicely with wrestling.


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## Jonathan Randall (Mar 21, 2006)

Andrew Green said:
			
		

> Oh, one more thing, Shotokan sparring is usually point fighting, but not what you see in open tournaments (hopefully) where technique means tag the guy, even if you fall on your face doing it, power and technique not required.
> 
> However, if your goal is MMA or merging it with grappling I don't think you'll find what you are looking for, IMO it's not going to "meld" nicely with wrestling.


 
True, and true. The Shotokan sparring I did (limited) was vastly more practical, IMO, than the commercial sport TKD I did - but not more so than the more old-style TKD I did. No games of tag there.

True - it would be hard to develop a unified personal fighting style by melding the two. I would think of it more in terms of having some proficiency in the stand-up game for self-defence. However, he will learn how to do a proper front kick and sidekick there. Probably better than he would at many kickboxing schools, IMO.


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## MMAfighter (Mar 21, 2006)

hmmm i guess that counts out shotokan for me. :?


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## oldnewbie (Mar 21, 2006)

Under the right circumstances, Shotokan can be close to full contact. It can also be point contact. I've done both in my Shotokan training. My instructor would allow some of us to go harder than others. It really depends on the Dojo/Instructor.
As I've said many times here, Shotokan is about "driving through" your opponent with alot of power. Make a trip to the Shotokan school, and ask to watch.....make up your own mind... all you really can do.

Good Luck.


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## MMAfighter (Mar 21, 2006)

yeah, I'm gonna try that...i dunno if i work on just boxing and muay thai it feels too limited. But I also have my roots in kyokushin so i got some of that down but i wanna add some more stuff to my game.....stuff that'll surprise people.


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## Grenadier (Mar 23, 2006)

How much contact is allowed in Shotokan varies from one school to another.  

Back when I was training in Shotokan, for our regular free sparring, we would deliver some pretty firm shots to the body, but pull the punches and kicks a bit when delivering the shots to the head.  This was done with no footpads, and only light handpads.

Was it the same as the bare-knuckle knockdowns of Kyokushin?  Of course not, nor were we ever aiming to do so, but to say that we were playing a game of "tag" would have been completely incorrect.


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## tshadowchaser (Mar 23, 2006)

The shotokan schools I have seen and been inside of did a good deal of hard sparring and not for points


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## oldnewbie (Mar 24, 2006)

I'd be intersted to hear what you thought of the class/style when you go visit.

Let us know.!


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## HKphooey (Mar 24, 2006)

Many schools go full out!  I always have a great time sparring Shotokan martial artist.  


Cup required!  Ouch!


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## MMAfighter (Mar 28, 2006)

how much do you guys know about the midwest karate association? It's the place I was thinking about.....i might not even bother though, because my schedule is gonna be so full. I can drive so i can go full time to judo, and start some muay thai and submission wrestling...i was gonna do BJJ too but my friend said i'd overwork.....i might even have to cut it to just muay thai and judo or judo and submission wrestling then switch form submission wrstlign to muay thai in a month too. Reason why i can;t switch in judo is because i'm learning i from a different place.


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