The role of proper breathing is so little talked about when so many are comparing traditional karate or Shotokan against the sport-fighting approaches. Same is typically overlooked or even left without sufficient emphasis in the modern karate training halls. I'm less well versed on the subject myself than I would like. Breathing is an essential part of kihon practice. Breathing is a large reason why traditional karate kihon is practiced, drilled solo in group classes & without contact.
This is like saying we eat food to develop cutlery skills.
Question: How often do you see really special people regarding MA in your area amongst all of the mob that is focusing/executing the same aproach on hard physical conditioning training?
Ill play Shoto here assuming that my position its already clear. So you guess that what is missing its something more and is what lays in mental as i pointed.
1. I don't make superficial judgements of other martial artists.
2. I don't make leaps of logic until all other options are ruled out.
You can't make judgements by look at someone you don't know, whose background and training and whose teachers methodology are unknown and start prescribing training fixes.
You can't rely only on faith in what works for you when dealing with someone different. Doing so misses all the other elements that make a person reach their current place in their MA journey. Doing so moves us from martial art to religion.
My biggest trouble with Shoto's posts are that they are all faith and judgement, and like every good religious extremist they are based on taking a small part of the "faith" out of context and blowing it's importance way out of proportion. This then becomes the one true path and even others of the same group (in this case traditional karate) are just misguided fools for not following the one true way....
Thanks to have looked. I think a lot of people other than me can agree that when we get conscious when breathing and start to be in control of it, that thing its not only physical any more. Not mechanical invonluntary anymore, its being intentional and alterating a lot of your phisyologics and mental states itself. Plim! Now its mental either and have its big share of importance in add power to the physicalty of the said technique ''Good luck with that''...
The articles you posted do not support you. They are descriptions of physical exercises for physical results. Your description sounds like meditation, at best. As I've said, the mind and the body are tied, you can't work on one without the other.
1. That doesn't make a physical practice mental.
2. This is in no way unique to Shotokan or karate in general.
And IMO strategies are not that in the standards in MAs. At least not those that could be the best ones for a pesky and deceptive SD situation.
Traditional Shotokan as it is commonly taught is quite limited on strategy, largely because of the faith issue above. If you have absolute belief in your one hit knockout and your indomitable spirit, you have no room for curiosity about how to escape from multiple assailants or how to get off the ground when being kicked. Every SD situation gets reduced to, "make some distance then Gyaku Zuki to the face".
But this is an issue of culture, not style and is easily fixed by adopting appropriate training methods, including those that highlight the need for other approaches like scenario training.
Will always... Can even change the tide of said challenge if applied correctly... Hope you can agree even more.
Another article of faith. Mindset is important but it is one part of a bigger picture. .
The (mental) skills required for anti-grappling including the right strategies/moves to use and when to use those packed with good physical conditioning also..
I agree, but Shotokan as it is traditionally taught, does not include much if any grappling let alone realistic counter measures. How can you pick the best strategy for self defense if your learning hasn't even touched on the techniques and tactics of real violence?
Though the culture may be lacking, the fighting style of Shotokan is not, in that the strategies, mechanics and tactics are all sound. What is needed to make traditional Shotokan viable for self defense is:
1. An understanding of self defense I.e. Realities of violence, law, risk assessment and likely considerations, desirable outcomes etc.
2. Understanding of appropriate training aims to match the areas above.
3. Working out how to adapt existing combat knowledge to the SD environment.
4. Work out how to convert commonly trained movements into techniques to cover tactical weaknesses eg looking to kata for hold escapes etc.
Mental training is present in all 4 stages. It plays a big role, but it is nothing if not grounded in physical reality.
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