Death of an art...

Hello everyone!

I am new to this forum and my first post happens to be a question. Is there any way for someone who does not know a certain style to tell if that style is being taught accuratly?

In the town I am living in there is Olympic Tae Kwon Do and Shotokan Karate, neither of which I am overly enthusiastic about. ZThese being my only choices I want to join one or the other.

I would much prefer a traditional style over anything modern, so I am leaning towards Shotokan Karate, but I want to make sure that they are teaching it inaccuratly or that they arent teaching something completely differant. So basically I would like to know how to tell if its the real deal or a load of cow... I dont need to finish the sentance. [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif[/IMG]

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

(The subject doesnt have much to do with the actual topic, but I thought it might get more attention then asking for help. [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG] )

Well, that's kinda tough. You KNOW the olympic style karate is not gonna teach you how to fight for real so if that's what your aim is, you can eliminate it right off.

As for whether the shotokan class is teaching the real deal - - -that's very hard for a newbie to tell. My best suggestion would be to go to a couple of classes as an observer and then post your experiences both here and at http://boards.ign.com/board.asp?brd=5148 - - - both places have shotokan practitioners who can tell you if what you're describing sounds authentic or not.


As a newbie tip - -don't worry about "authenticity" so much as far as teaching "traditional" martial arts -- - a lot of the "traditional" martial arts are not REAL traditional martial arts - - - TKD practitioners say that TKD is a traditional martial art - -personally I feel that most people think of traditional martial arts as those arts that evolved hundreds of years ago, not less than a century ago.

What I look for in a school is whether they teach you stuff that WORKS - -- you can learn "traditional" aikido all day long and it won't do jack for you on the street, whereas you can learn non-traditional stuff like SCARS, RAT fighting, kali, etc, that will do a LOT more for ya.

Just a thought.

Thanks for the suggestions. [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG] I am more into the traditional styles because I like the history and the feeling that you are part of something that wont just disappear. Self defense is appealing but I like the other aspects as well.

I guess I will go check out the class next week and then describe what all happened. By the way, I originally trained in Hap Ki Do and I really loved it so I was wondering if anyone could tell me if Shotokan is anything like Hapkido.

try:
www.24fightingchickens.com

This will be very useful to you.

Read other posts. I could recommend reading my posts as I trained in Shotokan, but then I might be biased.....


Budo.

Shadedfist,

Maybe there are more schools in your area if you post your location, perhaps members of this forum can give you some additional options.

Many times there are dojos that are not listed in the phone book or they are not located in a high retail area of town. When I was in college some of the best dojos in town were in a couple of guys backyards.

shadowfax...

traditional aikido wont do anything in fights on the street???????????????

maybe you havent looked deep enough into aikido

[This message has been edited by martinnitram (edited 12-16-2001).]

Martinnitram, I'd have to say that Shadowfax is correct if one applies a practicioner to success ratio. Aikido at the very highest levels is of course effective as such practicioners have the ability to make a technique work despite having little in the way of opposing motion to work with. However, the vast majority of people will be decimated trying to utilise Aikido principles in a street situation compared to someone of similar experience employing Western boxing, karate, Tai Boxing - or other predominantly striking arts. The high skill level required by an Aikidoka against an impact player of even average quality is very high indeed.

If you are interested in Shotokan Karate I suggest you do a little research on the background/history of the school. Most schools have affiliations to well known organizations which provide excellent instruction. These traditional and well-known organizations have very strict grading systems and are very structered in their training. There is so much that one can learn from any particular Art out there. Shotokan Karate may not appear to be a very effective form of self-defense, but if you study long enough and understand the philosophy of it, there exists a highly effective form of self-defense. Then on the other hand, every student has different motives for training. Every martial art has so much to offer and that's why it is very difficult to choose a certain style. There is so much one can learn from any Martial Art. I believe there are many benefits from studying Shotokan Karate. It is all up to the individual.