I practiced SKA for several years. I became a Shodan and was a year or 2 away from testing for Neidan.
SKA was one of the first styles of Karate brought to the US and turned into an official organization. It’s not expensive to practice as it is a non profit organization. The Founder, Tsutomu Ohshima was one of Funakoshi’s students and received a 5th degree blackbelt under Funakoshi, the highest degree given at the time, so that is the highest degree a person can get in SKA. It is a traditional form of Shotokan, emphasizing real life technique of self defense, (eye gouging, low kicks to the groin and knees, foot stomping, aiming for the throat, ect. Techniques are kept simple. Distance and timing are a main point of focus. It’s not very sporty and can gravitate to more mental and physical conditioning depending on the dojo.
Different aspects are emphasized depending on dojo and instructor. But basically the premise of the technique is less is more, and speed produces power, and speed is achieved through relaxation. Maximum power is ultimately produced by speed, alignment, and proper distribution of body weight. Stances are wide. Punches usually end at the pinnacle of a movement, basically when your front foot hits the floor. This is one difference when I look at katas and basics from JKA- that there tends to be a kind of wind-up resulting in a delayed punch. For instance, if you are stepping with a reverse punch, in JKA the foot lands and then the punch and rotation of the hips follows. In SKA the rotation of the hips tends to happen as you take the step, so a maximum combination of speed, hip rotation, and alignment with body weight happens at the point of impact, and at the point of impact the fist is tightened, lightly tensed “extended”- the only point where “muscle” is used. There is always an emphasis of no power in the shoulders.
Katas tend to be not very flashy, and can sometimes appear lazy, especially by higher belts. I don’t believe this is necessarily intentional. I think it comes down to the philosophy that “less is more”. A lot of times younger (50 yr old) Godans perform katas that look like the movements of 75 year old men. I’ve never really completely understood why, especially when compared to Ohshima. There’s a video from early 2000s of Ohshima doing hangetsu when he was close to 70. He moves like a cat and the movements are a beautiful combination of hard and soft, fast and slow.
One of my main instructors was a total rough neck. He had been a bouncer when he was younger, and had been in 100s of fights. He had been stabbed numerous times, and maybe even shot. He always said Shotoka, when practiced in its complete form, was one of the most well rounded fighting styles, but he also emphasized that you needed to learn to fight on the ground because that is where most fights end up. So when I was in a position to start training again, and couldn’t find an SKA dojo, and didn’t want to learn another form of Karate, I just started practicing Brazilian Jiujitsu and Judo.
