[darkside05]

Elitexboxer

Just thought I would also add that sometimes what you may have to do is really just investigate the dojos themselves. A good example is even in my own Karate style (World Yoshukai) the difference between each individual instructors will differ like night and day. Back home my instructors were very kata oriented but did work in really good full contact fighting but no ground work. In my college town though, the instructor there does very little kata, full contact fighting only, and also works BJJ, boxing, and judo into his curriculum. So bottom line lesson is to really check out the teachers themselves and find out what their classes are oriented around. Best of luck to you.

[Elitexboxer]

Well I guess you're right, if you have a good teacher you could become a good fighter.but if you train in "traditional" karate" you're stuck with all those damn snap kicks.

[glennf]

Well I guess you're right, if you have a good teacher you could become a good fighter.but if you train in "traditional" karate" you're stuck with all those damn snap kicks.

Woah! Go have a look at one of Oz's fights in the media section and see if any of those are snap kicks!

Seriously though, the snap really is all about controlling your limbs while you do basics, NOT for when you do bag work or kumite. The only time you would use a snap in kumite is for a head kick, but then again it's all about control.

Then again, there's a school of thought that a head kick is also not very traditional either as it leaves the groin open to all kinds of nastiness...

[samurai6string]

why's everyone always downing snap kicks?

[Elitexboxer]

Originally Posted by samurai6string

why's everyone always downing snap kicks?

Because they're only slightly more powerful than a punch and have 10 times the risk factor. no offense I just really hate whole idea.
Whipsaw kicks on the other hand...

[samurai6string]

they have their place and purpose though, I mean you wouldn't criticize a finger tip jab to right below the trachea because it isn't as powerful as a closed fist punch.

[Bloodybirds]

Muy thai is just Northern Shaolin fighting without the animals....only the hard training and basic/simplistic techniques added. Sorry to interfere as a Chineses arts stylist, lol, but like to see how the other half lives!! While we are on the subject of ryu systems, etc., I have a question on the Japanese side from my viewpoint to Bamboo, BP, Samurai, etc: guys, is it just the Okinawan original arts of karate that maintain the white crane and animal influence from the original Shorin (Shaolin) ryu introduced by a monk 500 years ago from China or do mainland karate systems today still have any animal fighting influence in them? Second question: as BP and some others might know, kung fu approaches generically from a circular pattern and then attacks linear....in current karate theorm, other than aikido are any karate patterns circular in approach or attack methodology? If not, how does a karate practitioner evade a straight on attack, with his/her own power or step to the side, etc.? Sorry, always been curious about this. One last question, is there a generic chin na type label or practice for karate adepts (I do not mean jujitsu, judo, etc.) and if so what is the name for locking/controlling techniques of karate?

As always, thanks guys!!!

[Elitexboxer]

Originally Posted by samurai6string

they have their place and purpose though, I mean you wouldn't criticize a finger tip jab to right below the trachea because it isn't as powerful as a closed fist punch.

A finger jap is one of the deadliest and non telegraphed techniques I've ever heard of. Please give me an example of an effective snap kick

[Bloodybirds]

Front snap kick inside to the femoral artery on the inside thigh as the opponent looks to close the gap....a front snap kick of course to the groin......a front snap kick to the back leg as the opponent moves to the side, you move to his other side and kick the back of his knee on the opposite side or the Achilles tendon below. These are just some. However, a front snap kick's effectiveness may decline the higher into the opponents' body it is thrown, especially if coming like a freight train at you. A front snap kick should always be thrown at an angle towards a cavity, a joint, or other soft tissue that does not require breaking power as in other kicks like the side kick, heel kick, round house, etc.

Just my two cents worth to answer the question.....

[glennf]

Front snap kick inside to the femoral artery on the inside thigh as the opponent looks to close the gap....a front snap kick of course to the groin......a front snap kick to the back leg as the opponent moves to the side, you move to his other side and kick the back of his knee on the opposite side or the Achilles tendon below.

Well put bloodybirds! In my humble opinion there is no better attack or defensive kick than the front snap to the groin!

To try and answer your questions, I practice Goju-kai karate. It is the Japanese 'version' of the Okinawan system of Goju-ryu. Go-ju meaning hard/soft. We obviously have very linear attacks as with all karate styles, however our blocks and defensive movements are fairly circular. We use alot of evasive movements ie stepping to the side, 45 degrees etc. Our blocks are circular in the sense that we employ small circles on the horizontal and vertical planes. For eg. a head block (with the right hand) will go clockwise, with a wrist grab at the top followed by either a throw on the follow through or an arm break at the elbow joint (similar to Aikido, I guess). Hope that makes sense!!

From what I believe Goju is the karate style that has the most Chinese influence. Which leads to the next point. In Goju-kai we have 2 kata that is only performed by our president, Gennkaku and Shikkaku. In it you can clearly see the use of crane type strikes, blocks and stances. I have only seen these two katas two or three times so I can't give much more info. However the rest of us use the cat stance (if you class that as an animal influence) almost exclusively for sparring, bunkai etc.

I hope this has been slightly helpful, it is just my insignificant veiws!!

Regards.