Luca Valdesi - Gankaku

Valdesi Mexico 2004

[@Bodecea21]

I love watching this guy - his interpretation is wonderful. I can always image an opponent when I see him work. Fantastic.

[@bidou03111973]

karate t is just a learning process who follows you at every age...i love this kata

[@hilpp]

A true karataka doesn' talk badly about another person's style...

[@thomastoshkoff]

From personal experience, those belts are used to differentiate between the two contestants. Both have black belts, but the red and blue are used only in tournaments to make it easier to judge. Hope it helps.

[@funakoshikarate8706]

Please dont blame the person doing the kata. It is the JUDGES THAT give him scores that leads others that compete to change to the "JUDGES" tastes. If the judges marked down for "hissing sounds", double head movements, over acting, wrong tempo,etc..... The contestant would NOT BE DOING IT LIKE THIS. IT IS THE JUDGES that are the problem.

[@TheNinjaJeremy]

I love the way Luca Valdesi's Gankaku looks! He has very good form and balance. His moves snap as fast as the eye can see and his stances are sharp. Why is this form not good? I don't understand why uptight/ traditional practioners look down upon this. In my humble opinion, all forms should look as sharp as this.

[@0verc0m]

perfect

[@greyesgarcia]

WOWWW!!... A lot of karate masters here!

[@ShotokanTigress]

I enjoy watching Valdesi's performance, I like his rythms and I have learnt many of my kata by watching his videos, but I'm not sure how effective his karate would be in a real life situation

[@comi1992]

perfect!!!! LUCA VALDESI-the best kata performer forever!

[@Bassai]

@EatMyBible I'm a JKA kid, but I earned my 1st kyu in a non-JKA dojo, prior to joining. I disagree with you on the JKA comment. There are a few JKA reps on the JKF (Japan Team which competes in WKF), both on the kumite and kata teams. As I remember, while practicing in the Philippines in the early nineties (non-JKA), Yuki Mimura (JKA), the WKF champ at the time, did a seminar for the PKF (WKF org in Phil.) and her trademark Unsu was very good! BTW, Lyoto Machida was from JKA, Brazil.

[@zachkarate1]

i second that!

[@zachkarate1]

he's gotten better with time. this was great, but the gankaku he did this year in japan was sharper.

[@vilephantom]

@TheNinjaJeremy look up clay morton skif. He is using traditonal timing and is even sharper that valdesi. there is no reason not to uphold traditional values. its like taking a short cut

[@taffypaul]

in Nijushiho there is no yoko geri keagi, but you try telling that to Kanazawa!! Or how about there being no kicks in it like the original Niseishi? Or to put another spin on it... the original version of gankaku was done with a front kick but with time keage became accepted. Or to put ANOTHER spin on it, Yoko= Side, Ke= Kick, Age= Rising, either jodan side kick is technically "rising", therefore whether snap or thrust Valdesi's kicks are technically "KeAge". BUT I do it with a snap kick.

[@macrobioticman]

A much younger Valdesi

[@DonLeone]

in gangaku there is no yoko geri kekomi! It's simply yoko geri keage.

[@DonLeone]

@shotojojo1986 I didn't say his karate is bad, because he's not japanese. but in my opinion his karate style tends heavily into competition karate which means: - unneccessary breathing noises - in order to create a "cool" and fiting sound, that depicts the kata - theatric running-in, bowing und very slow moving before starting kata - fast but incomplete techniques .... in my opinion his kata is more show than fighting...

[@oOViNhOo]

@DonLeone i agree.. i think the way masters do it is the best way, and not this tournament way, either taekwondo or karate, same thing

[@DonLeone]

look at kanazawa sensei's kata or yahara-sensei. they all do yoko geri keage. the practise the traditional way of karate-do. what you see here is certainly karate too. but not the traditional way - it's rather "tournament karate".

[@hiranom20]

To "EatMyBible" easy to tlk like that when ur a thousand miles away and anonymous....so be it. It's not about being a "JKA kid." it's about what is right. Karate wasn't meant to be a show; it wasn't invented for that purpose, but if you're entertained by Luca, have fun hope u learn something from him that helps u in a real fight.

[@hondacrazy123]

wots that red belt mean i thought he was a dan grade?

[@DonLeone]

@shotojojo1986 it's naturally not a joke. I don't know where u train karate, but in germany under Hideo Ochi-Sensei, we practise traditional jka karate-do. Just try to compare valdesis katas with katas of japanese masters. U will realize that there's a big difference. Sure he's very fast, but there's no fighting spirit in his eyes and movements! In my opinion he moves like a robot with... valdesis karate is simply "tournament karate" - it looks great, but it's ineffective in reality.

[@eleanor25]

yoko geri wrong?? in your dreams!! excelent kata!!

[@1001sehrazat]

omg u cant compare this gankaku with gankaku from 2008,perhaps...

[@ndileonardo]

this is not karate.......it is dance. interesting dance, but still it is dance. I'm sure he is a fantastic karateka and a fantastic athlete; however, this is not gankaku. This is like gankaku remix.

[@ToraoDojo]

This is only imitation of kata! WKF is a pure sport karate! I don't lie it!

[@hiranom20]

@shotojojo1986 If u say so dude...

[@ndileonardo]

Let's talk Euro gi's while we're at it......obscenely long belts, ridiculously long gi jackets? Come on.......what is this?!

[@mike5789]

isn't yoko gere he is doing kekomi . please see that he doesn't have hikite. osu!!

[@folmosan]

y?¿

[@carlosalvesassejur]

I don"t think that someone black belt is trash as him

[@rinuchi]

i agree man, this type of kata just ruins the concept of kata, and is only done to look flashy, but serves no purpose...hate how this way of kata has become accepted as the winning way. whoever does the kata in the most traditional way with the best technique and understanding should win, no who can make it look the "best"

[@hondacrazy123]

but also the belt means nothing

[@shotokankjs]

Maybe because he kicks Yoko geri kekomi jodan which is totally incorrect specially since its with a uraken. Not only impractical but waste of time and gives people who watch this a wrong impression of karate. The only reason i would find to hate this is because of its sport aspect. He might have good spirit but karate is more than just spirit.

[@DonLeone]

I don't like his style of competition-karate. the Yoko-Geri is wrong - it must be keage, not kekomi. And he punshes the Oi-Zuki in Jodan-height, which is also wrong. Sorry Luca, you didn't understand the kata

[@Bassai]

Dramatic theater Karate. I wonder if his Kumite sucks. Remember, a real Karate-ka pursues excellence in both Kata AND Kumite, as well as understanding how to apply both in a real situation. Focusing on the excellence of only one facet is an example of poor Karate.

[@hiranom20]

I HATE Valdesi and the WKF for propagating this showmanship shit! Kata is not a show, whether or not it's done for tournament purposes

[@_Karate_World]

Not good.....no use hips...

[@dynamic21]

jeez why is shotokan so fucking sloppy looking... shito-ryu is where it's at

[@marcinantol4915]

Tomashiro was better

[@oleshotokan]

Horrible kata performance...nuff said...its not worth looking at, or commentating !

[@karatefella]

awful. Absolutely appalling.

[@azul2016]

haaaaaaaa que lindo que buen kata...