# why are there so many different style of karate?



## senseiblackbelt (Nov 19, 2016)

why can't we just all just pratcise the same types of martial arts instead of having a gazillion different types?


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## Kickboxer101 (Nov 19, 2016)

Because that would be very limiting as some styles aren't for everyone. Why should everyone practice the same style


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## Gerry Seymour (Nov 19, 2016)

senseiblackbelt said:


> why can't we just all just pratcise the same types of martial arts instead of having a gazillion different types?


In simplest form (this doesn't actually represent all the different branches, but it's a good conceptual answer), people experience their training differently, find different things in it, want to emphasize different things, and end up teaching it differently. If those differences are significant enough, either that teacher or other people eventually start referring to that different stuff by a name, and a style is born.


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## JR 137 (Nov 19, 2016)

Ask a Kyokushin student why he doesn't switch to Shotokan.  Ask a Uechi Ryu student why he doesn't switch to Wado Ryu.

Those styles are all quite different from one another.  There may be some crossover, but there's fundamental differences in what's being emphasized.

I study Seido Juku, where our founder (Tadashi Nakamura) was a prominent Kyokushin fighter/teacher.  He left Kyokushin for several reasons, and has changed his emphasis in what he's teaching.  I used to study a Kyokushin offshoot in my 20s.  Currently being 40, I don't recover from bare knuckle kumite and that type of conditioning day in and day out like I used to.  We still spar pretty hard, but we wear protective gear; the emphasis is less on being able to take a punch and more on being technical.  Among other things.  Some will agree with Nakamura's current stance, others won't.  Others don't agree with his nor Kyokushin's ideology.

There's something out there for everyone - from the people who think the only way to be effective is to be able to take a beating and keep on going to the people who don't want any contact at all, and everything in between.

There's a local karate dojo that does nothing but point fighting and kata for tournament/aesthetic purposes.  If a rule came out that all karate had to follow that curriculum/style, I'd be at the local judo club immediately.  There's also a local karate school who pretty much spends half the class punching and kicking each other like punching bags and the other half fighting bare knuckle.  If that was the only choice, I'd be at said judo club.

Thankfully there's many karate schools in between those two where I found an optimal balance for me.


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## Bill Mattocks (Nov 19, 2016)

Everyone should convert to Isshin Ryu. Problem solved.


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## CDR_Glock (Nov 19, 2016)

Use no form as form.  Use no style as style.  Change your way as each opponent changes.   Fight without fighting.  Win by not losing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## hoshin1600 (Nov 19, 2016)

Didn't we have this conversation before?


senseiblackbelt said:


> why can't we just all just pratcise the same types of martial arts instead of having a gazillion different types?


Define a type...


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## PhotonGuy (Nov 19, 2016)

senseiblackbelt said:


> why can't we just all just pratcise the same types of martial arts instead of having a gazillion different types?


Because everybody is different. You could say there is a style of martial arts for every martial artist.


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## Bill Mattocks (Nov 19, 2016)

Why so many different kinds of bicycles? You'd think one style would be enough.


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## Headhunter (Nov 19, 2016)

Why do you want us to? You do what you do who cares if everyone else trains in something different. This board would be very boring if we did


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## Steve (Nov 19, 2016)

Some of Its about marketing and making a living.  Some is about origin of the styles.  Some is about purpose and intent.   Some is philosophical.

Kind of a silly question.  It is kind of like wondering why there are different breeds of dog.   Why doesn't everyone just get a schnauzer?


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## Buka (Nov 19, 2016)

People don't all get schnauzers because it's too hard of a word to spell.

All bicycles are the same- the seats were designed to make you feel like you're getting attacked in prison.

All Karate is the same, (we just use different words, think of them like regional accents) - each school is the best school, the founder was the coolest guy, we belt test this way because, bow to each other, whack that m'fer up side of the head and do it without getting hit, go wash your gi.


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## Bill Mattocks (Nov 19, 2016)

Buka said:


> ... go wash your gi.



But never wash your obi.  That's where the magick lives.


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## MI_martialist (Nov 19, 2016)

Style = preferences.


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## drop bear (Nov 19, 2016)




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## hoshin1600 (Nov 19, 2016)

The word is homogeneous.   There was a guy once that thought all people should be the same. Blond hair blue eyes......seems it didn't turn out so well for him.  Homogeneous comformity is never a good thing.


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## drop bear (Nov 20, 2016)

hoshin1600 said:


> The word is homogeneous.   There was a guy once that thought all people should be the same. Blond hair blue eyes......seems it didn't turn out so well for him.  Homogeneous comformity is never a good thing.



Wait he became president didn't he?


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## Deleted member 34973 (Nov 21, 2016)

Individual interpretations


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## Nobody Important (Nov 21, 2016)

JR 137 said:


> Ask a Kyokushin student why he doesn't switch to Shotokan.  Ask a Uechi Ryu student why he doesn't switch to Wado Ryu.
> 
> Those styles are all quite different from one another.  There may be some crossover, but there's fundamental differences in what's being emphasized.
> 
> ...


Good post!


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## PhotonGuy (Nov 24, 2016)

drop bear said:


> Wait he became president didn't he?



Certainly not a president of the USA.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Nov 24, 2016)

The question is, if you have trained many different Karate systems, when you fight, which Karate system technique will you use? Will you just use the "tools" in your toolbox and your tools may come from different Karate systems?


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## Buka (Nov 25, 2016)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> The question is, if you have trained many different Karate systems, when you fight, which Karate system technique will you use? Will you just use the "tools" in your toolbox and your tools may come from different Karate systems?



Humorous, sure. But I think it actually applies.


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## senseiblackbelt (Nov 26, 2016)

drop bear said:


> Wait he became president didn't he?



president elect for the moment.


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 4, 2016)

Even if we started out with just one style of Karate it is inevitable that it would evolve into many different styles. As I said before, there is a martial art for every martial artist. Just as Mr Miyagi said in Karate Kid III that Karate comes from within the student. The roots come from the instructor but eventually a student will do it his own way. Mr Miyagi might be a fictional character in a fictional movie but what he said in this case is very true.


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## BigMotor (Dec 5, 2016)

senseiblackbelt said:


> why can't we just all just practice the same types of martial arts instead of having a gazillion different types?


One man's nectar is another mans poison. 
And there is too much variation, in the way people think and move. Some styles are better suited to some people, than any of the others.
It is confusing, but, that is how freedom of action is. In the end it picks winners and losers, just like in politics.


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## Gerry Seymour (Dec 7, 2016)

Interestingly, Gichin Funakoshi said in his autobiography that he thought there should only be "Karate" and not styles. He apparently wasn't fond of what he taught being given the moniker "Shotokan Karate".


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## senseiblackbelt (Dec 10, 2016)

gpseymour said:


> moniker


whats moniker if u dont find me asking.


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## JR 137 (Dec 11, 2016)

senseiblackbelt said:


> whats moniker if u dont find me asking.



Name, label, etc.


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## Gerry Seymour (Dec 11, 2016)

senseiblackbelt said:


> whats moniker if u dont find me asking.


mon·i·ker  (ˈmänəkər/)
_noun_
informal

a name.


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