Karate Talk with Iain Abernethy. The Strengths & Weakness of Karate

[@crossroadsaccountingtax6326]

Good conversation. Thank you for sharing! A lot to be said about the dogmatic approach of our predecessors, but also the need to innovate and adapt that “founders” felt in common with us today.

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@crossroadsaccountingtax6326 Yes! Karate doesn’t have to be stagnant. Let it evolve.

[@KarateUnity]

Great chat. Thanks guys

[@claircond1491]

Love both of your approaches to karate. Respect for tradition but not slaves to it. Making karate a more rounded system is exactly what it needs in the modern era. Great stuff. Would love to train this way someday.

[@rynoerasmus7869]

Hope you gentlemen can do more collaborations! 👍👊🙏

[@dermotrooney9584]

Agreed!

[@IronMantisMartialArts]

Excellent, thanks for sharing.

[@BelloBudo007]

That was so good to listen-in on. Most of it I agreed with, and some I'd never even considered. It's always good to question what you're doing. 'Just be open' is the approach I try to have.

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@BelloBudo007 “Question what you’re doing”. Absolutely. I think it’s the instructor’s responsibility to ensure their students understand the purpose of what they’re being taught.

[@AkademiaFudoshin]

Great conversation! Maybe some monthly podcast with both of you?

[@Budoray85]

Enjoyable conversation guys. Lots of great points and glad you are discovering more concepts and ideas to include into your training. You guys are the “Jeet Kune Do” of Karate 🙏🏻😀😀😀

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@Budoray85 I’m glad you enjoyed the conversation. Thanks for commenting.

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@Budoray85 Haha, I just realized it was you, Ray!

[@dermotrooney9584]

Bad joke apology: "That bloke from your dojo just ran over my cat." "Who - Ray?" "It's nothing to cheer about."

[@PhilipAJones]

Only 12 minutes? I coulda' gone for a whole 3 hour podcast on this topic.

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@PhilipAJones Me too but we recorded this between training sessions. Many people don’t have the attention span for an hour-long video anyway.

[@PhilipAJones]

@@AppliedShotokan Ah. It would have to be a multi multi multi parter. Hope to hear more insights soon.

[@KuyVonBraun]

Great conversation. Martial arts should be living, breathing traditions. The old masters took from different traditions in their day, why should we set that curriculum in stone simply because it’s old? It is possible to respect tradition while embracing new things 😉💜

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@KuyVonBraun I agree 100%. The martial arts should be a continuous process of refinement.

[@scarred10]

Exactly the founding masters didnt just try to preserve the kung fu from china

[@brianw.520]

The reasons you mentioned are exactly why I'm learning BJJ now. Gracie Combatives is more self defense oriented vs. Sports Jiu-jitsu. Also we have practiced takedowns way more than in my karate training (at 7 years of training in karate, I know I'm still a fledgling) Can you further explain how 1 step and 3 step are completely useless??? I acknowledge that they are not good for full speed fighting in most instances but at the same time to me they reinforce a technique you are trying to teach from Bunkai. Do you include Semi-free Kumite in this opinion? I do a lot of both 3 step and Semi-free and teach this as well, so I don't want to be setting up my students for failure. Again, I respect your opinion.

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@brianw.520 I filmed this number of years ago. My thoughts are step sparring. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ-zgKOom8-DrbMsi=ITmHXM1Kz_KhLruY

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@brianw.520 There is nothing wrong with choreographed drills so long as they reflect real fighting. The step sparring in Shotokan has nothing to do with fighting. Check this out. Real attacks and real defences that work. instagram.com/reel/DA7OY8RPgPp/?igsh=MWMxZ2E1emI3ZzFreQ==

[@martialartnerd1396]

Total agree with you both. Dogma is a great problem. We train throwing with some friends, and we have problems, because some prefer to listen to what said the 5 dan big boss karateka for throwing, than to listen and apply what I bring from my 4 Dan Judo teacher....And no surprise : they can't throw very well, and I throw better.... Karate is a general system. Nothing like boxing very specialized for punching, judo for throwing, bjj for fight grounding etc... In history of karate, there is a moment were some people tended to make a specialized system of fighting with karate, but it was wrong way. We have to find again this generalized system and accept that there is more performant and specialized systems in other martial arts and fighting sports.

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@martialartnerd1396 agree 100%.

[@dermotrooney9584]

Lovely. Thanks. I wont give my opinion here, but any views on instructor-improvised strings of kihon - like a mini kata of stance A + strike B, stance C + strike D, stance E + strike F?

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@dermotrooney9584 I personally prefer to spend my time coming up with 2 person drills.

[@alexanderren1097]

First! Hopefully

[@MrRourk]

Enshin fills a lot of gaps.

[@Turbulent2000]

The biggest problem with karate is that it was originally intended to counter simple, single attacks from opponents with little skill in hand-to-hand combat. Moreover, Asian traditions rarely included attacks in combinations. Expectations among current karate practitioners are that they believe they are learning a universal method. This expectation is reinforced by cinema. In reality, karate is poorly applicable against multiple attacks, hook punches, and when a karateka faces a kickboxer or Muay Thai fighter in a match, he often loses. The second problem is the complete confusion surrounding kata. Many people don’t understand why they need it, as few explain it correctly. Thirdly, karate has long been a business. Japanese instructors would explain only a little at seminars, stretching out the training over time, as this was their source of income. Consequently, karate experienced a boom in the 90s when cinema portrayed karate practitioners as superheroes, but it declined afterward when people realized they didn’t want to waste time and money. I'm practicing karate since 1984.

[@AppliedShotokan]

@@Turbulent2000I get the just of what you’re saying but what makes you think karate was for single attacks? I’m confident the early developers of karate understood civilian violence. Also, I think “untrained” would be a more suitable descriptor than “unskilled”. Someone who has never trained in martial arts but who has a long history of violence is definitely skilled.