Best Style of Karate

[Godhand93]

Hey everyone. I heard recently that Kyokushin, the style that I train in, is the best style of Karate currently available. Is this true? Post your thoughts even if you don't do Karate.

[Nastradamus]

That is a loaded question,

Are we talking Karate as the generally accpeted international term for martial arts or are we talking karate in the sense of true japanese karate?

Next, this is a foolish thought to consider what is the best art.I could be an aggressive person and therefore karate might be my best option, i could also be a passive person therefore a soft style of kung fu or judo may be my best option.

Then we need to consider your desires.
are you sport fighting
are you looking for self defense
are you looking for conditioning
are you looking for disipline
are you patient enough to wait for the tma styles to develope.

Is kyukushin the best art?
it can be,if it fits all the criteria.

once you wade through all that,then you need to consider the person teaching it.lets say its the best art availble but, the instructor is not any good.

or lets say there is a great teacher teaching an inferior art.

is something better if its good and taught bad or is it better to be bad and taught good?

This question is doomed for the tangent highway.

[shisoshin]

kyokushin is a well established karate based partly on okinawagojuryu, using goju kata etc..
depends on your criteria of "best"..
unless you consider watered down 'sport' karate
played for points in competitions as your 'best',
which it must be for many people, then forget about
'sport' derivatives of real karate..

real karate and its well established reputation
is based on okinawa karate, from which all karate
comes.. generally, the process has involved losing,
elements of original karate training..
having some experience in karate, it seems to me
lamentable that well evolved and developed training
systems and methods are abandonned..
for virtually everything in a real traditional karate
system there is validity and relevance in developing
the genuine 'karate body'..

the karate mind does not develop as a sort of theory
overlayed onto an average fit person..
the two go together and depend on each other..

so in considering the question, consider what has been omitted from, whatever karate you are comparing
with your own ryu..
there are about 30 hand forms in karate,,
if your ryu practices and conditions only a few of them, what does that mean [to you]..
there are many kicking forms using heels, rear and lower, side of foot, inside of foot, sole of foot,
balls of foot and toes.. there are many waza in real karate including headbutt, various joint locks and manipulations, various grabs and rips to various
sensitive body parts and areas, various takedowns
and sweeps and throws, grappling, groundwork folowups,
and many variations of training methods common to many
arts, such as pushups, squats, situps etc..
there are many variations of all of these, including
one armed and one legged varieties..

what does it mean if your ryu does not train the
variations.. finger pushups, standing and walking
on toes curled under, and so on, intended to train and condition all body parts, making them all
potential tools and weapons of self defense..

does your ryu practice kakie, 'pushing hands' training
which is fundamental to karate and chinese systems
going way back, for good reasons..

much of real karate has been lost due to sports
methods thus training priorities, and rules
which disallow grabbing, throwing, choking, butting,
attacks to throat knees groin and so on..

as if the world is a sporting arena and everyone
plays by their rules...

some karat today [i dont have personal experience of it] apparently train in shoes..
this seems, such a small thing, yet is just an example of how things, important things, have been
lost from, real karate..

if you sit and think about it for about a minute
in the context of total body development you will
realise how training in shoes removes important
conditioning and strengthening of your feet..
those things you walk on and use to move with..

granted, not everyone really wants to train seriously for years and years in real karate.. or to develop their bodies to high levels of skill and ability..
thats fair enough.. to each his own..

but in asking about 'the best karate', one place to start in your question is what dont, they do...

- if you enjoy your kyokushin training, and your
sensei is conficdent and able to demonstrate the waza
and the class seems to be well run and tight, then
mate, forget about tenuous questions of 'best'
and give it everything, youve got to give -

train every day seriously, develop a passion for
training, a love for all of it.. and you simply
cant lose... the karateka must be trained rationally
and carefully, nurtured, as part of it is character
development, but ultimately, all the great warriors
have found their karate or whatever they called it,
deep within themselves...

so train like a demon, respect others and yourself,
do your reps like a gum chewer chews his gum,
ie, beyond counting, like heartbeat..

you will exceed your expectations for strength
flexibility, balance, coordination and many
other things.. 'what is the best karate'
will become some external question for those
who dont know and probably never will..

it will take years of really hard and serious
training.. dont look back..

[adilenekate]

Hi,thanks for your post as I could get information on this too...It's good to have a new style with you and to my knowledge seems the best.If you wanna more details on karate styles and be the tougher one just get not late to be the part of

[adilenekate]

Hi,if there anyone to learn a martial art,there is a lot to know in regards to the many different styles and it's quite difficult to pick one and name it as the ultimate best.There are several factors that come into play,which makes a statement about a style being the best impossible because the style which you follow may not lead to success sometimes and all winning styles can't be chosen as the best style...So all that we need to do is play a style that best suites and of course the style that you have asked is the best one..gud day

[shisoshin]

it isnt the style which 'leads to success' but the person practicing whichever style it is..

neither is it 'all winning styles', as winning
is not the object of real karate..

nor is 'all you have to do is play a style'
as playing is not the level of involvement
necessary for real success in real karate..

'kara-te' is a japanese word, as is 'ryu'
often translated as style.. but that style is not
merely a single idea, which could mean 'type'
such as for eg, sport karate, which is a type
or derivative of, real karate..
it is sport karate that you 'play'..

a japanese idea/concept may need a combination of
multiple english words to correctly convey its
meaning, in english.. 'ryu' is such a word..
'ryu' means basically, flow.. which could be the flow
of water in a river, or menstrual flow, or a flow of
ideas and knowledge and experience, depending on
the context, which is all important..

ryu includes 'style' in its meaning, which doesnt
mean style as in fashion, or other temporary styles
of things, rather 'the way of doing' [the karate]..
a karate ryu is a flow of knowledge, experience,
and effective method, from master to student
and from that student when master to his
or her students, over generations..

so when the question is 'what is the best karate
style' the context is karate, thus the meaning
must be all that is karate within the ryu..

if you take a small part of karate training, such
as specific kids classes, which cannot be, real
karate, but some form of intro to karate for
children, you cant call this 'best karate'
as in 'the best style'..

further, if you wish to promote your kids classes
- which both your posts have done in directing
members to the same webpage, under 'karate classes
for kids' and 'self defense moves' - perhaps best
to start a new topic, say, 'kids karate classes'
and promote your dojo and its classes there..

training children is of course an important element
of karate, but under a certain level of maturity
and bodily development including bone growth
and fixing of end plates of joints etc, it cannot
be real karate, and is thus at best an intro to,
real karate.. otherwise, it must, be or include
the element of play and a game..

this must then transition carefully into real
karate training as the children become capable
of starting real training and enjoying, that..

kids classes are important, of course, as is
real karate training.. but we must not confuse
the two different types of training, or playing..
unless your intent is to continue from childs play
into adult playing of karate games, which is
where you lose my interest..

good luck with the kids tho

[youngarts]

Kyokushin, Kempo are quite rated and the two most popular Karate styles in Australia, followed by Shotokan, Bushido, Goju-Ryu etc. Freestyle Karate is growing rapidly nowadys with an amalgamation of all these I study Zen Do Kai which draws from all these styles.

[Sensei Alex]

Hi all,

I'm new to this board so thanks for having me on it. I'll give quite a basic answer. I studied Shotokan to 2nd Kyu and got annihalated by a Wado Ryu practitioner. I then quit Shotokan and am now a 2nd Dan in Wado. So, Wado trumps Shotokan but I haven't fought enough Kyokushin people to know where that fits in the chain! All the best with your training.

[shisoshin]

welcome to karate forum alex.. my own [goju] karate sensei, not easily impressed, respected wado ryu karate..

as to your 'black belt in six hours' dvd course..
must question; "you will not be tested in bunkai in a grading"..
in genuine karate you will be, must be, tested in bunkai in gradings..

also; "if you are a Black Belt in Karate you will automatically be a Black Belt in the use of Sai"..
regardless of any historical factors or similarities in principles of karate and kobudo,
there are karate ryu and dojo and dan grades who dont train, kobudo weapons..
i suggest that a karateka with dan grade but no weapons training wouldnt stand a chance
if given a sai, bo or tonfa and asked to take on a genuine dan graded kobudoka..
when our group began training with okinawa kobudo masters in sai, bo and tonfa
our black belts, despite some training with bo, sai and tonfa, were not,
and could not be said to be; "Black Belts in Sai"..

back to the meat of your post tho, to test your fighting skills with kyokushin
just front up at a kyokushin dojo, with karate courtesy etc, and politely request kumite..
seriously, they like that sort of attitude and will no doubt try to help