About Shotokan Karate

Shotokan Karate -- What is it?

Shotokan is a style of Okinawan/Japanese karate-do founded by Gichin Funakoshi. It consists of a system of punches, strikes, kicks, and blocks designed for both self-defense and self-development. Among the more basic styles of karate, Shotokan places little emphasis on elaborate kicks or punches; students spend most of their time training in basics and forms, and types of sparring. Training is rigorous, requiring a lot of both mental determination and physical exertion.

If you're thinking of beginning training, and you'd like a breakdown of what JKA Shotokan looks like next to the other styles of martial arts practiced on and near UNC's campus, here's a short list. If you happen to practice any of these styles and find my comparisons either inaccurate or pejorative, please let us know.

So, how does JKA Shotokan karate compare stylistically to the other styles of martial arts practiced at UNC? Kata, or forms, will always be different from one style to the next; given that, here are a few other general differences:

Tae Kwon Do

Shotokan emphasizes longer, lower stances, places more emphasis on punching than TKD, and not as much emphasis on kicking. TKD kicks tend to be more complex, and TKD emphasizes steady training of a wider variety of kicks than Shotokan. Shotokan typically trains regularly in a wider variety of hand techniques than TKD.

Free contact sparring (i.e. put on protective pads and go at it) is generally more prevalent in TKD clubs; sparring in Shotokan is "no contact"-each technique is arrested a few millimeters from contact. Further, Shotokan students are introduced to sparring systematically over a period of 2-3 years, and free sparring is not emphasized until black belt level.

Almost no emphasis is placed on tournaments and competition in Shotokan, whereas TKD students are often encouraged to compete. So, depending on the club, TKD is more sport karate-oriented, while Shotokan is more traditional karate training-based.

Kyokushin Karate

Kyokushin karate resembles Shotokan karate in many of its fundamental stances and techniques. The elementary kata, the Heians (or Pinans), are almost identical. Regular Kyokushin karate training includes a wider range of techniques than Shotokan. Shotokan works a few techniques many, many times.

Kyokushin dojos differ from Shotokan schools in that they typically focus more on sparring techniques. One of the most conspicuous (although by no means the most emphasized) aspects of Kyokushin karate is its "knock-down" full contact fighting at the advanced belt level. Shotokan sparring, in contrast, never ventures into full-contact fighting. Kyokushin karate also includes tameshiwara, or breaking techniques (wood boards, concrete slabs, etc.) as a training focus; breaking is not emphasized in Shotokan.

Finally, Kyokushin schools often spend a lot of time in strength and conditioning exercises. Kyokushin students often characterize their style as "strength karate." While strength and conditioning certainly form a part of Shotokan training, the Shotokan karate student derives the majority of his or her strength from continual repetition of basic techniques and correct and spirited performance of kata.

Judo

Judo means "the way of gentleness," or "the yielding way." It's primarily a grappling art, like wrestling, and these days most judo schools are competition-oriented. Like Tae Kwon Do, it's now an Olympic sport. Practically speaking, judo is about close-quarter grappling, while karate is about punching, kicking, and striking, usually from further away. Often martial artists will study both, as the principles of each tend to complement one another.

Aikido

Aikido is similar to judo in that it is primarily a grappling art, and in that both it and judo developed from jujutsu, an older Japanese fighting system. It's different from Shotokan in most of the ways that judo is. Aikido, however, is not a sport-oriented style, but a traditional martial art. There are a few strikes and kicks aikidoka (aikido students) use, but nowhere near as many as Shotokan karateka. Aikido also emphasizes joint locks and merging with an opponent's attack more often that does Shotokan. Again, like judo, aikido complements karate, and vice versa.

Tai Chi Chuan (or Taijiquan)

Literally "Grand Ultimate Boxing" (referring to the Taoist conception of the "grand ultimate," not to "this is the best boxing style ever!") taiji is closer to aikido than karate in that much emphasis is placed on the flow of chi/ki, or internal energy. Tai chi uses many slow, soft, circular motions, whereas Shotokan techniques are characteristically harder and more linear in motion.

It's been said that while a tai chi punch is like an iron ball wrapped in cotton and swung by a chain, a karate punch is like an iron ball thrust with an iron bar. On the whole, though, these two styles are about as different as can be, except for their focus on traditional training.

SKA Shotokan Karate

Yes, there are multiple forms of Shotokan karate. It's like this: Mr. Gichin Funakoshi, who founded the Shotokan style, had a lot of students. Each one of them had a different take on the master's style of karate. Of course they all couldn't agree with one another, hence multiple organizations that each teach a version of Shotokan karate.

JKA Shotokan is similar in many ways to SKA Shotokan, with a few differences. JKA stresses squaring the hips in stance, while SKA lunge punches and kicks are often executed from hanmi or half-facing position. Horse stance, or kiba-dachi stance, is much wider in JKA dojos than in SKA dojos. And there are a few other differences, such as the substitution of a side snap-kick (SKA doesn't use a side-snap kick-it's just front snap-kick to the side for them) in certain kata, and so on.

Generally SKA karate resembles the karate of its Okinawan origins more closely than does JKA karate, which although traditional, has taken a semi-progressive attitude toward karate forms and techniques. Both versions of Shotokan will give you a serious workout.

(Note: the above information is thanks to Randall Smith, former senior member of UNC Shotokan)