shotokan wrong idea

[Brandon Fisher]

Twend,
You are correct Hanshi Koeppel is Matsumura Shorin Ryu has far as I knew thats always been his system. But if not I know he is now.

 

[exile]

Hello, let me see if i can shed some helpful light here. I've been in the same dilema.

Here in my city in INDIANA we are a primary what is called "AMERICAN KARATE or American Tae Kwon Do" as its been referred to as. However, just recently the name amongst us all was Korean Karate.. Here's how all this got confused... To many Karate and TKD are the same elemental system.... The only thing that really seperated them was the "terminology and the kata"

Hello, Kailat, the fact is, there are approaches to TKD which do treat it essentially as the Korean variant of karate (note that Sihak Henro Cho's great manual on TKD from the late 1960s is titled Secrets of Korean Karate). What's really important is how the techniques are trained and applied. Karate was the first Asian MA generally known in the US---it was featured in The Manchurian Candidate and started getting a lot of media attention in the 1960s---so if you were teaching any kind of MA the odds were good you'd wind up billing your school as a karate school even if what you were teaching was a Korean or Chinese MA.

The old Kwan masters were almost all trained in Japan in Shotokan or Shudokan styles, and the Pinan kata were incorporated pretty much whole (as the Pyung-Ahns, which have long since been dropped from the WTA syllabus but which my instructor, and other independent-minded teachers with a lot of respect for the Kwan traditions, still teach and practice). Given the closeness between the Japanese and Korean styles of karate at one point, the kind of hybrid systems you're describing are pretty much what you'd expect to find here and there...

 

[kailat]

Hello, wow goodness didn't expect to read all this let's see here.. as far as Master Phillip Koepell goes.. you know now that you have mentioned it, i have heard he teaches the Matsumra Shorin Ryu (sp) and you are correct in stateing that is probably his main system. However this is somewhat where I got alot of this info from.. As i've only Met Mr. Koeppel once.. and hes coming back again here in a week or two.. so i'll be more in tuned then.
off of his website: Mr. Trias appointed Mr. Koeppel 3rd Regional Director for the USKA where he developed the strongest region in the Association. The USKA Third Region dominated the tournament scene with early competitors such as Glenn Keeny, Bill Wallace, Parker Shelton, Jim McLain, Bob Yarnall, Victor Moore, Bob Bowles, Melvin Wise, Randy Holman, Jim Harrison and many more. Mr. Koeppel also continued to progress and learn his art and was eventually promoted to 7th Dan and Chief Instructor for Mr. Trias' Shuri-ryu system" http://www.uskk.org/hombu/history.html

I have not read it all.. so if there is anything else on there.. then im sure i missed it or skimmed over it.. but along side the fact that in the 1960's that if you opened any martial art school in that time period it was referred to as KARATE your probably really close to being correct then. Seings how in this area i think or do beleive the first schools were in the late 60's or early 70's at that time.. Glenn Keeney being the first in this area...

but i have to run right now.. at work.. i'll check up here later on.

thank you

cory

 

[Brandon Fisher]

Cory,
I believe you are correct that Mr. Keeney's dojo the Komakai Academy in Anderson, IN was one of the first if not the first.

 

[Goldendawn8]

I think Shotokan is too rigid.

 

[exile]

I think Shotokan is too rigid.

In what respect, Goldendawn---can you elaborate?