The 5 Rules of Showa Karate Keiko

 Intro

                My Sensei in Karate had some very specific rules that he would lay out for training. He said that if you train in Karate you should be focusing on building up yourself, mentally and physically and pushing to be a better person. I strived to understand and repeat his lessons and it brought me to a realization about the type of Karate I was doing, not just JKA Style Shotokan but my approach to the study of Karate.

                I have always felt that the study of Karate should be a deep one and it should be focused on both mental and physical aspects of the art, but I flailed about trying to codify it and create a path for myself. I finally sat down a few years back and attempted to figure out what my legacy in Karate or my path was going to be, and I came upon a term that really hit home for me…..Showa!  Showa is the era in Japanese culture between the Taisho and Heisei Era or 1926-1989 during the time that period that Hirohito ruled Japan, and the old school Karate existed.

                I honed in on this term and started to work on the ideals of old school Karate and tried to merge it with the teachings of my Sensei to create a set of rules that would outline what good, traditional Karate is. Now its important to state that this is not MY Karate nor am I the arbitrator of what makes Karate good. I don’t particularly like Sport Karate and I think using Karate as a sport is a bit like trying to use a grizzly bear as a beast of burden, it does not match and you probably could do it…but its stupid. By Sport Karate I mean those that do not use the Shobu Ippon ideals for rules. I find that Shobu Ippon rules create a “if you really did this” kind of mentality as opposed to the Sport Karate ideal of “Tag you are it”.

                Here are the five rules that I use to define Showa Karate Keiko or traditional Karate training and traditional Karate in general.

 

Rule one: All Showa Karate must follow the ideals of Ikken Hissatsu

                The most important aspect of Showa Karate is that it follows the ideals of Ikken Hissatsu. Ikken Hissatsu, roughly translated is “to annihilate with one punch or a single blow”.  This concept is meant to focus your training on a powerful single blow ending a fight, but it does not mean we believe that we can hit a person once and end the fight, its an aspiration! Every single strike should be executed with the intent of ending a confrontation instantly, but we know it could take more than one of these to actually complete this task.

                The term comes from a samurai Maxim of “Ichi geki Hissatsu” or “one strike, certain death”. As an ideal the focus should be more on resolving a self defense situation as quickly as possible and training so that you can accommodate this. Completely incapacitating a opponent with a single blow or as few as possible and as quickly as you can.

                Yahara Sensei uses the term “ichigeki Hissatsu” or the single devastating strike  used to end any confrontation with a single, ultimate killing blow. He believes that if the Waza is not strong enough to actually kill, if no control was put in place, that it is not true Budo.

                That all good but what does it actually mean?  It means that you have to train your hardest to develop that single death dealing blow! It requires training and body mechanics and it is not about throwing wild, recless punches but it does mean acting like a sniper, picking your targets and then having the trained weapons to strike that target and end the fight. Frivolous and fancy techniques with low pay off but high difficulty are not part of the deal. Train hard to be effective, efficient and to have the best form you can with great power.

 

Rule Two: one must seek to grow as a person (Shoshin)

                One of the strangest phenomena that I have noted over the years is the “I don’t need to learn anymore” issue that some seniors in Karate get. Its important to note that Sensei Dingman would often got to seminars simply to learn and enjoy, he once told me that the most fun he has had is going and training under masters like Tanaka or Imura and just showing up and learning. He hated being called out or acknowledged in big groups so it was nice to just show up, throw on your Dogi and go and train. He knew what Shoshin actually meant.

                Shoshin is the concept of a “beginners Mind” from Zen Buddhism and it means coming into a learning situation with an attitude of openness and eagerness to learn. Advance practitioners need to apply this the same as juniors to really learn and benefit from study. One of the biggest issues over time is people forget that there is so much to learn, so much to hone and polish that you will never get to a point in which you don’t need to study or train, there is always more to do and more to learn.

                The practice of Shoshin is a counter to hubris and close mindedness, it attacks ego and it creates a mental state in which you are open to change and open to learning. It ensures you will never think yourself an expert who does not need to learn or grow any further. The “Expert Trap” is a real mental issue in which a practitioner feels that they are an expert and there is nothing they do not know about a subject. This close minded state of mind creates a horrible situation in which people are incapable of continued learning and with the Showa Karate focus you must be willing to think and learn continuously to grow and develop.

 

Rule Three: Kata must be as real as possible, Bunkai must be repeatable and realistic.

                In sport Karate the “art” of Kata has become an athletic performance with no spirit or soul.  Kata should have several key components for it to meet the Showa Karate Keiko requirements. First, it must be as real as possible, the applications should be repeatable and realistic not fantastical and fancy and totally unreliable in a real situation. The applications should be simple, useable by many different people and practical.

                I remember seeing Youtube videos of Empi/Enpi with Dingman Sensei and asking him if he felt the application of the Kata presented were……well he cut me off and said “Well that’s crap isn’t it”. The point was that the person doing the Kata was presenting the fanciest applications and trying to “Sell himself” as an expert, but the real expert was not fooled. While some would be stary eyed and looking at the fancy wrist work that he was doing the true expert said “it’s a punch…not a wrist lock” and that was it.

                The Kata should not be overly dramatic or used to impress based on the athletic ability of a student. Kata is not a demonstration or performance per see, it’s a learning tool for movement, functional application and dynamics. The Kata teaches strategy, Tactics and different aspects of self defense. They are also laid out in a very specific order.

                 You start off your Kata journey learning kata from the Shitei series of Kata or Takyoku to Tekki Shodan and then you learn the Senti Katas or Empi/Enpi, Jion, Kanku dai and Bassaid Dai. Each Kata builds on the lessons that they are teaching to help build and develop students/practitioners.  At the higher end the Jiyu Kata or free selection Kata will help drive your style and lessons based on your skills. What drives me nuts is when you see a Purple belt doing Unsu…but I digress.

                Kata should be as real as possible and the mentality of training in Kata is one of learning basics, understanding and working fundamentals and pushing to develop repeatable and realistic Bunkai to work with partners to help drill in self defense. This is the key to Showa Karate Keiko Kata training.

 

Rule Four: Training must be serious and intense.

                Its fine if during a class you have fun, its encouraged and it helps bridge training for some people, however the majority of your  training should be earnest and serious, intense and focused.  You can not run a Dojo nor can you train successfully if you are not doing so with proper intent and proper focus.  During a class you can and should joke around a bit and even socialize, but the bulk of your training should be done in a very strict intent and serious way.

                Sensei Dingman used to say that you can joke around during your class only as the instructor about 5% of the time, the rest of the time should be used to guide and direct students and to be as serious as possible. Preparation for classes should be set so that you know the focus of the class and can flow as you teach, making it personal with stories and fun anecdotes will keep the students attention but they should also be taught that they need to push themselves to be more serious and keep the intensity during class.

                One thing I see in more modern students is the difference in attitude that they have during drills or basics. The search for snap and power is missing. They don’t understand the 0-10-0 or relax-contract-relax response to training that they should see. The simple act of taking up a front stance and throwing reverse punches over and over looks loose and sloppy when it should be tight, mechanically perfect and filled with spirit. One thing to strive for as an instructor is the seriousness and spirit that you need in each class, from the most exciting Kumite training to the very basic Waza work that focuses on details. Self improvement comes from holding oneself to a higher personal standard each class.

 

Rule Five: Showa Karate Keiko is Shogai Keiko-Training for life.

                The most important rule that I formulated based on Dingman Sensei’s teaching is the idea that Karate is Shogai or for life. Shogai means a Lifetime Career and refers to ones duration of life. Dingman Sensei made Karate his life and he lived a simple life teaching Karate and trying to grow it in Manitoba. Im not saying that Karate should be your whole life, what I am saying however is you can practice it for your whole life.

                There is a bad trend in society right now in that Karate is being used as a baby sitting tool and or seen as a sport for youth and then once they are done with their “Competition years” they leave practice and don’t look back. The JKA is doing something amazing however, and not just them. Many of the big groups are trying to reverse this trend by creating the “Masters division” and pushing it hard in tournaments. Its essentially a way for older people to still compete. This is an okay outlet but also leaves people missing the point in a lot of ways.

                Competition should represent 10% or less of your training. Your training in Karate should be focused on health, wellness and longevity through smart, continued training. Shogai means that you will be able to start training young and train until you shake off your mortal coil.  Funakoshi trained for life; Nakayama trained for life and so on and so forth. Its only in the west that we tend to see Karate as a short-term sport and often for the young only. The reality is that Karate can help you through your life time from childhood help with physical and mental development to an older adult needing to maintain strength and Vigor.  Karate truly must be Shogai or it is not Budo Karate.

 

Simply put this is Showa Karate. Showa Karate is a Budo Karate concept that should meet and be formed based on these five principles or rules and while they are not exhaustive, they do illustrate my ideals for Showa Karate Keiko.

Shoshin no Keiko

 The other day I was sitting down after a workout and…I wont lie and say meditating, I was more sitting and drinking some water and contemplating training.  My training as of late has been kind of lack luster. I am in the middle of a very complex and confusing situation, trying to plan out my training and getting my ass back into shape.  Before COVID I was just bobbing up and own wondering when motivation would hit me. We just joined a fantastic organization and I was pushed a bit to get in shape and restart a lot of things I had been doing in the past to condition the body, but I was mostly just doing Karate four times a week. 

COVID hit and I started doing a lot…I mean a LOT of cardio, dropped a few pounds but as the year went on I kept doing the cardio but the diet became a see food diet….no you read that right. I also started drinking a tiny bit with the wife. We had our “Night caps” and the pounds rushed on. Then the lock down ended and we got back to regular training at the club…and I was in trouble.  I started to work on a training program and then got hit with my Sensei passing away and was yet again side tracked.

I don’t want to make excuses, I suffered from what a lot of people suffered from, emotional burn out! I mean the effects of paying to much attention to others opinions really weighed down on me. I took in what the right was saying and lapped up the lefts rhetoric, I watched CNN and Fox and was burned out totally after a year of being stuck in my basement trying to do the job I had been doing for 18 years in an office.  Office work was hard enough on my body but now my brain was fried.  I read and wrote so much that I was even burning out on Karate and other topics I love.

I mean it, I finished two books and hundreds of articles on Karate and read so many books, watched countless hours of TV and youtube and was hooked on junky foods and my only real outlet was zoom classes once a week with my students, having dropped from twice to once a week.  My conditioning and mental condition were terrible and to add to that you were being torn apart by different groups all trying to convince you the other was wrong. My training became shorter and shorter and my attention span for running and Karate was limited. I used the winter to justify the end to my cardio as well. Even though most of it was done on a treadmill to begin with. I was lost, board and worse…..discouraged from even trying to rekindle my fire.  ‘

Some events would put me into a bit of a training mood mind you. Tournaments came up and I rushed to try and get ready to officiate, so I worked MY STUDENTS really hard, but myself…well not so much. I had seminars with a great instructor from out of town, again I would push myself a bit but say “its for the students” and not really focus on my own training. Hip injuries, back problems all were used as crutches and excuses. Then I found a book by David Goggins that was supposed to motivate me, and while its given me a tone of little things I can use to push myself, it basically made me feel worse with each failed attempt to plan a training program, never mind actually training. My work outs were fairly limited to the odd gym “accidental work out” and Karate. I ended up in a quagmire of lost hope and boredom with the normal training, looking for new things and something to spark my interest.

I had lost track of something my instructor had told me years before….”Shoshin no Keiko” Train…like a beginner. I was sitting their after a lack luster work out lead by a good junior instructor after an online class and I just sat their wanting to know why I could not rekindle the spark I had years before…I had forgotten the true nature of Shoshin no Keiko…

Lots of instructors use this term online, man do they like to use fancy Japanese terms, but they miss the true feeling you need. They talk about stepping back to basics, to training in Junior Kata but it’s the feeling you have that you need to cultivate. Shoshin no Keiko is not about doing super basic techniques in high repetitions or they start doing three step sparring and try to “virtue signal” that they are doing Shoshin training.

Shoshin no Keiko is the insertion of the wonder factor, the ability to train in something and see new things, or experience new feelings while doing something. Its being open to the fact that you DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING EVER, and being okay with the knowledge that you can still experience something new or understand something new and others may have insights you don’t. it’s a missing feeling with higher ranking egos that really makes their training impossible to move into the Shoshin no Keiko arena.  No one knows everything in Karate…period.  Not saying “Do everything” Im saying “Know everything”. 

As instructors we can know a lot, we may not be physically able to do everything. Sensei Dingman once told me that he could feel himself losing a step as he was training and getting older. Now granted to me, I could not see this nor would I have but he said he could coach an athlete to be amazing, but he was never sure how much they KNEW.  It was far more fulfilling for him to see acknowledgement in a Karate students eyes than to see them perform at a tournament.

For me the focus of my training now is trying to get that feeling of awe and “Fresh eyes” on everything so that my feeling of wonder comes back and I begin to love and need to train. 

Basic Training A lead into Alpha training

So, its been years playing with the ideas of what to train, how to train and bouncing from one diet to another. I have had good success with IF and watching what I eat and during COVID I actually got in decent shape walking and doing a endurance challenge for funny little trinkets, however years of sitting and doing nothing and getting older have given me back issues and a hip that is apparently destroyed by arthritis…I’m not 100% sold on that one mind you.

                So I have set up 10,000 programs and started maybe a handful, but for 2026 I’m starting the Basic Training Program or the Transformation training program done in 8 week intervals two times to put together four months of work to transform. This blog is only to give you a bird’s eye view of what I am going to be doing. The program and blogs serve to organize and direct me on the daily as well as weekly and monthly to help me move towards success.

                Cardio Training is going to be limited to twice workouts a week of a brisk walk on the treadmill on an angle.  Recent studies have suggested that lower intensity work outs are better for weight loss when it comes to cardio as your body burns more calories the longer you work. This is going to be a 30-60 minute inclined walk at a good pace. This also plays into the whole “Don’t break the hip” kind of thinking. This program will hopefully transition into a solid cardio program once you hit the next level of training but for now this is going to be the focus.  Using music and a Ipad to distract me on the long walk will help me focus or rather not focus on the work out and get it done. Four times a week you will work the Heavy Hands or HH training, this is similar to the SSC or walking protocol, but you will use hand weights that are light and pump your arms, these workouts are done after the four weight training workouts each week.

                Conditioning is focused on daily calisthenics to build muscle endurance as well as two weight workouts per week that split the body into Torso and Limb training. Using a moderate weight and higher reps to burn out the glycogen in the muscles when weightlifting will help push your metabolic rate. The weight training is going to be done four times a week to push weight loss and a higher metabolic rate, and the calisthenics will be done nightly in conjunction with stretching out to help build up your endurance and keep your center training daily.

                Stretching is done before work outs of any kind, during work outs and after work outs, before bed and when ever you can through the day. Each month tackle new stretches in the daily stretching and deep stretching (used specifically after Karate workouts). The Key focus of Stretching is to help create a mobility in the whole body and limber up as well as avoid further injury.  Try and get back general mobility and make yourself a lot more mobile. This may also help with the weight loss to create stronger, more resilient hips.

                Karate is going to play a fairly big part in the whole process because its going to be used to measure my conditioning or rather “reconditioning” and help me to figure out how much more I have to train to get back to a decent base line. I mean right now kicking is VERY limited and if I can kick stomach level or higher I would be super happy. The fluidity of movement will tell me how well the training is going and also help me gage the training ahead of me. Because moving up in Rank is my goal for the near future I will be pushing the basics I need for testing as well as working with my brown and black belts to knock the rust off of my Kumite. My Kata selection for Yondan is open right now, not having made up my mind I will use the first 8 weeks to play with some ideas and also use the Kata to progress physically.

                The main goals for this training program are very straight forwards and specific. First I have to get back into good shape. Im not talking “Karate athlete” right off the hop, and I have to be careful not to push to hard and burn out to fast, I have to get to the regular program to have the four times a year rehabilitation component, so the Basic Training program is going to focus on fitness and of course weight loss. I have bout 40 pounds to drop on this four to six month training program and while some of you will think that’s nuts, I have always been able to drop big weight fast, the key is keeping my focus and keeping my training pointed in the right direction with control and care of my diet, which I will roll out shortly. The third goal is to bring back my Karate skills so I can not only grade but move forwards with more advanced training. This all starts on the 1^st of January 2026. Mobility, weight loss and general fitness are the three physical focuses and then Karate…that’s it.

My training, Diet and everything associated with it will push me in the right direction, I have to keep focused and let the stress that has sidelined me and pushed me off my focus go and just keep pushing forwards and grinding till I hit my goal of 190-210 pounds and a focus on better mobility and fitness. I have so much to do this year and this training program should have started years ago, but I m going to focus on the now and what I can and should be doing NOW.

New Year new goals" 2026

 

    Well its 2026 shortly, like in a day or so, and I have so many new goals. When I started Blogging decades ago it was my way of keeping myself on track, to say I have gotten off track is a misstatement of extraordinary proportions. I started out 20 plus years ago as what I would call a slightly out of shape Karate athlete and progressed to my current 52-year-old VERY out of Shape Karate instructor situation.

I wont place blame on any one thing, I mean I let it all happen and now its time to quell the downward spiral. Lots of things threw me off course and not having any one or anything to keep me focused really set me up for a self-inflicted fall from grace. I now sit in a situation where I have to kick start my training and really rework what I was doing.

It was easy to stay in shape a bit 20 plus years ago when I was working out 2 times a day, eating clean and even if the work outs were not 100% engaged, I was doing something physical twice a day. Fast forwards to 2025 and I sit for a living working on my phone, be it at home or in the office. We eat See food…you see food you stick it in the eat hole. Now lots of things also contributed to my downward spiral, like loosing my Sensei, loosing my mom, my work and just getting old. But now I have arthritis in my hip, im heavy and not in great physical shape, so its time to put the old challenge back into effect and roll out what I am going to be doing to get my ass back in shape and keep a few promises I have made to my Sensei before he died.

Now lots of things have come up that are positive for me too.  My wife and I share the same bad hip and she seems ready to be in better shape and get rid of some weight as well, but she has said “I don’t want to know what you are doing….just do it”, which I interpret as “Don’t bother me with your plans, just do it”.  I over plan everything, but I also do some smart things like this blog back to being a Karate athlete…at 52…or at least a beter rendition of an old warrior. And I also found a new mentor a few years back. I moved our little rag tag team of Karate clubs under the SKD and was lucky enough to find myself under the tutelage of Sensei Don Sharp, the Sensei Sharp, whom I have the utmost respect for and honestly….Sensei D would be happy that I found him.

Some bad habits I want to get rid of….first off is my sitting all day, I want to get up and walk around a lot more. Second I need to get back to the painful but positive morning workouts, and I will get into that with a different blog, which you can expect more of.  Third…when I teach, I want to do more than just walk around correcting and pointing out things to people! I will be doing a pre class warm up and work out along with doing parts of the class with the students.

My health is to damn important, I have  kid that needs my help with life and a family to support so this is my notice to the world, the either and gods that are listening, as of the 1^st of January the new training program and goals are in play and its time to embrace the grind. I will be posting updates monthly along with random blogs about training as well.

Here is to a much more successful 2026!

True History of Tae Kwon Do and the Karate Connection.

 

                So, this is how to start a fight with me……start off making a assertion you CAN NOT BACK UP and then push it till I research it and throw it in your face…if you read this……you know who you are!  Okay, background time.  I have this amazing friend who put her son in Tae Kwon Do…...I know right! Well regardless he loves it and one of the reasons he is in that and not Karate is I live like thousands of KM away (Bite it Americans) from her and a friend of his was already taking TKD so he joined in. To be honest I’m very proud of him and happy he is enjoying his martial arts experience. However, it led to this awkward exchange with a different friend about the Tae Kwon Do.

                So the conversation went something like this…and I will be brief.  Friend: Well he went with a totally different system of marital arts (I’m of course paraphrasing).  Me: Nope he went with a more sporty version of what I do. Friend: well it comes from ancient Korean systems of fighting not Japanese ones. Me: Nope, TKD is the child of Shotokan Karate actually.  Friend: BS its from an ancient system. Me: well….let me write a Blog on it. (Again, maybe not exactly as I said it…or at all, but you get the point). 

                Its important to note that my “Friend” in this case studied TKD as a kid and got his Red belt before he left training. But the owner of the club indoctrinated them into believing that the style came from some ancient systems of fighting that only were around Korea….which is total BS. To show that Tae Kwon do is not some ancient martial art I will just go back to the history and the words of the founder.

                Tae Kwon do was actually “Officially” formed in the 1940/50s when Choi Hong-hi and several of his students/contemporaries opened up the original 9 Kwons (Schools). The first Kwon was actually opened by Song Moo Kwan, who studied….I am not kidding….under Gichin Funakoshi in Japan….um, that’s Shotokan people.  The second was Chung Do Kwans Kwon (say that five times fast) in 1944…and Chung…studied Shotokan in Japan as well.

The Third Kwon was opened by Hwang Kee whom people say studied his system in China and it had nothing to do with Karate….till you study him and find out his system of Hwang do actually came to being after he settled in Japan and studied…wait for it….Shotokan! Ji Do Kwan then opened his Kwoon after traveling to Japan to study judo at the Kodokan…and bugger it…he took Shotokan from Funakoshi too. Wait we have one more chance to go totally Korean with the ancient stuff…..Chang Moo Kwan opened his Kwoon in the YMCA in Kwon Bop in 1946. He studied martial arts…in Japan…at the Nihon university.  He is said to be a student of Kanken Toyama…but Nihon University was a big Shotokan club as well…ergo….both.

                The 9 Kwoon’s represent the 9 first schools of Tae Kwon Do….None of which came from some ancient system of Korean fighting. The first organization set up was the KTA or Korean Tae Kwon Do association in 1959, so no ancient TKD associations. Now the “Ancient school of Korean Fighting” that everyone likes to quote is called Taekyeon, and as far as I can see the is much like Japans Ninjitsu in that its an ancient martial art…that was lost or not practiced for the better part of a century or more. The facts do not lend themselves to the idea that TKD came from an ancient system of Korean fighting and PROVE that the history of TKD starts as an offshoot of Shotokan Karate.

In 1952, the South Korean president watched a demonstration by Choi Hong-hi and Nam Tae-hi of the 29^th infantry division. The Demonstration was of Japanese Karate, but the president was told it was called Tang Soo Do, the Korean name for Karate essentially. And the president himself said it looked like the painted pictures he had seen of Taekkyeon, which is as it is believed to be how the “Korean Karate” system was misidentified as an ancient martial art…but it gets even more interesting from here.

Choi Hong Hi was not only the first person to officially demonstrate the art, but he was the first to have his ideas rejected. See he came out with a very very Shotokan style of training and was told NO! The Koreans did not want a photocopy of the original…they wanted something original…So, back to the drawing board before it was shown to the president. Choi worked on the system and infused more jumps, lots of kicking but the original system was still somewhat practical and grounded….this changed later. What Choi showed the president was not modern Tae Kwon do, but it was also not Taekkyeon or Shotokan.

So, where did all this confusion come from. Well when General Choi introduced his style to the Koreans government and it finally got the stamp of approval it was very important for the country (in their minds) to attach this new Tweaked version of the art form to an ancient source. Keeping in mind that the original intent was for the art to be rolled out in two different forms, the first being a military art taught to soldiers and the second to civilians as a form of exercises and self defense….what we got in the end was the civilian form only. Well, the nation came out with propaganda that assigned the root of Chois training to Han II Dong, a famous calligrapher and they then stated that he was also “A master of Taekkyeon”…..which in the end it turns out he was not AND Choi finally stated that he di dnot study any fighting arts under Dong, and Choi said that the ancient style “had nothing to contribute to Taekwondo”.  In fact Choi stated he had traveled to Kyoto to study English, Math and….Karate. He met up with a Korean named Kim and was introduced to Funakoshi Gichin with whom he studied.

Choi studied Shotokan and received his Second dan in the art before going home and going into the military where he moved up the ranks quickly. Choi had taught several of his contemporaries the new art form calling it Oh Do Kwan for a while till he changed the name Tae Kwon Do. Strangely the idea of TKD being one art was not his intent. The idea instead was to form a association of Korean arts and promote the arts under one umbrella, that did not last however as the government felt it easier to have everyone train the same and train the same in each Kwoon. As a way of enforcing this the government only recognized the style they preferred and Choi’s dream of having many different styles fell to the wayside.

In 1966 Choi broke with his KTA and created the ITF and emigrated to Canada. The ITF was a separate body devoted to creating a standard system of TKD with the goal of completing its transformation into a viable martial sport and possibly a Olympic event. Choi standardised the forms and rules for competition and then moved to promote it as a sport. Choi died in 2002 of cancer in Pyongyang North Korea and received a state funeral. He is listed in the TKD hall of fame and is listed as the Father of TKD”. Choi passed away having seen his art become a demonstration sport in the Olympics in 1988 and an official medal event at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Okay, so after all that “Deworming the marketing machine” and throwing some truth down what does a Karate guy think of Tae Kwon Do…well the same thing I think about all styles of martial arts…they can be good…and they can be bad. The Tae Kwon Do that I have seen first hand has run the gambit from sloppy and horrible to sharp and impressive, From a glorified kids daycare program to a very serious sport training club.  Now, let me be clear here!  I do believe that ALL TKD is a sport or martial sport, but I also feel some Karate clubs are martial sport focused as well and its up to the individual if that’s what they want. In the end TKD is a hereditary descendent of the style of Karate I love, live and teach….so it cant be that far from good right!

Systems and styles of Karate- a not so brief run down.

 

                The world of Karate sees so many casms and splits in systems and clubs that sometimes its hard to keep up with the changing club status….is a club ISKF?  JKA? ITKF?  Sometimes it all depends on the chief instructor of the club and who they are not fighting with currently.  Well, that’s just on a Shotokan level!  By definition (mine) a system or style of Karate exists on its own when it makes major changes to the syllabus and adds or removes training protocols, Kata or other major aspects, not just when it shifts from one organization to another in a style of Karate…as I suggested above.

                In a brief look at the Karate systems online you can find at first, quick and dirty glance at least five styles of Karate….but that does NOT tell the whole story of the number of systems that exist in Karate. I counted 80 plus school/systems/styles in less than an hour…and that does not include the off shoot schools like the ISKF and ITKF that exist and just keep training in the root system while naming a new leadership group.

                To be frank the founding roots, as you can see in my book “a honest history of Shotokan Karate” are those of some Kung fu systems like White Crane Kung fu from Fujian and other Quanfa systems, some better known than others.  However, the Okinawan Roots, if you will, come from three kinds of village systems that were developed by different groups of “elder” practitioner. Shuri Te was a “Castle” or noble system created by masters like Kanga Sakugawa and Sokon Matsumura, both of which were Castle guards or military diplomats. The focus of the system was quick defensive movements followed by rapid counter attacks. They trained in weapons (Kobudo) and it was known for its rapid attacks to vital points as the system was meant to defend nobility and be deadly to attackers. It by no means was the only system or even, at the time, the most popular.

                Naha Te or Naafa Dii in Okinawan, was a system that grew out of the fishing village area of Naha in Okinawa. A much Harder and more focused system it used stable stances and solid body conditioning to improve the ability of its students to take strikes and also provide circular blocks and very powerful counters. The system came out of the Chinese Chunfa systems of Southern China and holds its corner stone of training in the Kata Sanchin, a kata used to develop a strong body and focused breathing. Much more circular than the shuri system its was more about tempering the body than quick defense and counters. Naha te however was very popular with the commercial rich in Okinawa and was very influential in development of many more modern systems of Karate.

                The Third system, Tumai-dii or Tomari Te was much less visible and yet still influenced many of the modern systems as well. Tomari was very much like Shuri Te, with the exception of some of the Kata being different and it being distilled down by different masters, obviously leading to both important differences and lots of similarities. The massive difference however is that the Tomari system seemes to have incorporated into the systems that came from its roots or influenced a system then evaporated in name, while both Shuri and Naha tend to stay front and center after new sub systems were formed.

 

                More modern systems were formed out of these three, and some Quanfa (kung fu) systems to form what I will call second generation systems that eventually split, were changed and became new third and even fourth generation systems.  I will try and break these down as much as I can and give brief reasons for splits but mostly I will just describe the root system and then point out the next generations as well. Im not going to be digging deep on the vast number of instructors in each system, im just going to focus on the systems themselves, but will mention founders when appropriate.

 

                Most of us are familiar with the Shotokan/Shotokai split so I wont go over it again in-depth. But even with in our own system we have major shifts in style.  The JKA system is the traditional stylised system created and codified by Nakayama Sensei, but after he passed you saw Asai Ryu systems pop up as well as the Fudokan system, both of which created Kata to work on different aspects of training and at least the Asai Ryu system created Kata to show a more Chinese influence in some cases. Granted that’s very underexplained but essentially, we have several off shoot schools and systems from Shotokan, but our two main “next Gen” Schools pale in comparison to the vast expanse of splits other systems have had.  We tend to split and just create new organizations that all teach what Nakayama taught….mostly to a tee and no new Kata ext. One exception would be Chidokan Karate.  Chidokan was formed by two of Funakoshi Sensei’s original students, both of whom are named Sasaki.

                Shotokan itself influenced many different systems of Karate, like Wado ryu, Chito Ryu, Shindo Jinen ryu, Kyokushin, Yoseikan and even other systems of martial arts like Soo Bahk Do and Tae Kwon do. The influence of Shotokan and its instructors can be found far and wide really. But with this also comes many splits and internal issues that cause Chasms that show in the organizations formed out of them. Other styles also came out of Shotokan like Tenshinkan, which was formed by Mamoru Miwa with a focus on Shotokan and mixing in Aikido techniques or Budokan was formed by Chew Choo Soot a Malaysian martial artist who merged Shotokan with Goju ryu, quanfa, judo, jujitsu and wrestling. Of all the systems that Shotokan has influenced, Kyokushin has grown the most however and while Shotokan has been used by more systems to create sub systems, its again, perhaps not the one you think of when you think of school splitting into new sub groups….at least not as much as Shito or Goju has. Other than Shotokan off shoots there are a myriad of different root systems that have grown into new styles.

 

                I am going to start with Goju Ryu Karate. Goju ryu was formed when Chojun Miyagi systematically created a syllabus from his teacher, Kanryo Higaonna’s teachings. Higoanna himself taught a style that was based on Baeihe quan kung fu and some Shuri te that was later called Shorei ryu and often referred to simply as Naha te . Higoanna introduced Miyagi to several Kata, but Miyagi codified them and then created the remaining Kata that make up the 12 Goju Ryu root Kata. Goju ryu has gone on to influence and or split from many schools of Karate, all of whom added training Kata, removed or dropped Kata and codified their own systems.  Some of the systems proport to be the Traditional Goju ryu and stay as close to the original as possible, but others mearly say the core is Goju ryu, but their school has just tweaked or added to it.  Systems like Seiwakai Goju ryu, IOGF Goju, The Japanese Goju Kai, Jundokan, Meibukan, Shurei Goju Ryu and several other smaller systems of Goju based systems, including a few hybrids that I will get to eventually.

                While Goju flourished, split and continued to develop, most of its schools remained very small and some were only found in one or two countries outside of Japan and only a few main clubs inside Japan or Okinawa. At around the same time as Goju Ryu developing and codifying a small system called To’on Ryu was created by a student of  Higaonnas named Juhatsu Kyoda. Kyoda studied Naha te from his instructor and also trained under Shito ryu founder Kenwa Mabuni and Miyagi but opted to stay pure and keep the original system intact.  To’on Ryu is often mistaken for Goju and is a very small system unto itself, but its practitioners focus on keeping the training and teaching as traditional as possible, which means keeping the over all class size very intimate and small.

                Along with the Goju based systems come the Shorin Ryu systems. These systems come from the teachings of Choshin Chibana, an Okinawan who studied under Anko Itosu. Chibana was known as a tough teacher who codified his system, based on Shuri ryu purely and build a somewhat pure form of the Shuri system. From Chibanas Shorin ryu however came many schools of Shorin ryu; these include Jyoshinmon, Kyudokan, Matsubayashi ryu, Reihokan, Ryukyukan, Shiidokan, Shobayashi, Shorinkan, Yoshudokai and Kenkokan.  The sub system of Kenkokan itself split into Shorinjiryu Kenyukai Watanabi-Ha, Genbukan, Kenryukan, Kentokukan and Koshinkai. Most of the Shorin systems maintain the core Kata and some add Kihon kata and different training items into their syllabus, and honestly some are just split due to schools splitting over politics. If you focus on the root system of Shorin ryu however you will see a large influence from Shuri Te, but Itosu was also a student of a Tomari te teacher. Its also suggested that Chibana learned some of his martial arts skills from training with Chinese Quanfa masters as well.

                One of the more prolific systems of Karate is the Shito ryu system.  This style was created by Kenwa Mabuni, a student of Itosu, Higoana and Seisho Arakaki, Tawada Shimoku,and Wu Xiangui (Go-kenki) a Chinese quanfa specialist.  Mabuni formed the system in 1934 upon moving to Japan when he retired from being a police officer in Okinawa.  He taught his system with upwards of 45 Kata and each system that is attached to the Shito schools adds or removes Kata, similar to The Goju ryu system schools. The Shito system split into many different groups before and after the founders death, some for very very political and heated reasons and others for technical differences. The system ahs created Hyashi ha, bushido shito ryu, Itosu ryu, Jikishinkai Karate, Kenshukai Karate, Kuniba Ha, Korobayashi Ha, Kurokawa Ha, Myazato Ha, Mokoken, Nihon Shito ryu, Renshikan, Seito shito ryu, Seizen Budokai Renmei, Shitokai, Shukokai/Tani Ha, Yushikan and Zuxuki Ha shito ryu.

                Some systems were formed by charismatic leaders who studied under different base systems and went on to beget their own systemic prodginy.  Kyokushin or Kyokushinkai comes to mind.  Mas Oyama was a big, burly Korean student who was in Japan studying at the Imperial Japanese army’s Yamanashi Aviation school.  Changing his name from Choi Young-Eui to Masatoshi Oyama he found and trained in Shogokan Karate and Goju ryu Karate. He earned the rank of 1^st dan in Shotokan as well as a questionable 6^th Dan in Goju. He also studied with Kanken Toyama (Founder of the Kanbukan) as well as others. With 33 Kata the Kyokushin system takes a bit from the Shotokan root system and a bit from Goju ryu system.

                Kyokushins’ splits are very interesting. Most of the splits come from the core values that Kyokushin has put into play that don’t actually jive with the ideals that they expound to. The Kyokushin way is one of tough training, pounding the body and doing things like the 100 man Kumite challenge. The splits came when different groups did things like dropping doing Kata and focusing on Kumite and conditioning. Systems like Ashihara and Enshin came out of this system. So did Kanbukan (Bogutsuki Karate) Kudo, Seidokaikan, Shindenkai, Seido Juku and Shindokan.  Groups like Shidokan also claim the influence of styles like Judo and Thai boxing, but honestly Kyokushin is the main source of their system.

 

                Hybridized groups who take influence from other root systems seem to be the rule in Karate.  No pure systems really exist beyond a handful of notable exceptions. And some of the hybrids take from a very shallow training experience in root systems and then create their systems to meet their own goals.  By this, in plane English, I meant that the founders did not study very long in a system and then went on to fund their own system and pumped up their own ranks to look like founders.  Go Kan Ryu comes to mind when talking about “Hybrids” with lofty claims and little to nothing to back them up. Go Kan Ryu was formed when a low level Shotokan Karate instructor partnered up with a low level Goju instructor and created a marketing based martial arts system. Its weird, its different and honestly…its kinda scary how many people fall for this systems garbage.  But they are not alone. Shuri ryu was created by Robert Trais, a sailor prior to WWII and he supposedly picked up Quanfa systems and Karate systems…but lots of facts are missing from his story and holes that are very wide exist. The system is very different and houses Kata not seen in any of the traditional root systems. Most people who study traditional Karate history consider this one to be fodder for the McDojo pile.

                Now just because Go Kan Ryu and Shuri Ryu are fraudulent and really just made up systems or marketing based systems does NOT mean that Hybrids are bad or not legit.  In fact, as you can see…all of the Karate styles are hybrids really. But more notable ones include Chito Ryu amongst others. Chito was created by Dr. Tsuyoshi Chitose, a Japanese doctor who studied Shorei ryu (Goju ryu) and Shorin Ryu (or Shotokan) systems and created his own system, including Kata. The system itself kind of looks a lot like Shotokan and its roots are very Shotokan heavy.  From Chito ryu came Yoshukai Karate. This system was created when a senior student of Chitose broke away and created his own style.  A very famous Chito instructor in Canada used to teach both Shotokan and Chito kata and was once quoted as saying Chito Ryu is the little brother to Shotokan and should remember this.

                Another group of very traditional and established systems that come from a Hybrid root system would be Gosoku Ryu, Wado Ryu, Isshin Ryu and Shukokai.  Gosoku ryu is the least known of these groups and was formed when Takayuki Kubota merged his study of Shotokan and Goju ryu to build his own system. Kubota was very enigmatic and drew in a lot of famous students, but the system is still rather small compared to Wado ryu, which was formed when founder Hironori Otsuka merged his Shotokan training with his old Jujitsu training system. Like Chitose of Chito Ryu Otsuka was also a doctor.  Isshin Ryu was formed by merging Goju ryu and shorin ryu together and implemented a great deal of Kobudo (weapons) Training into its syllabus as well. The system was created by Tatsuo Shimabuku, older brother to Shobayashi Shorin ryu founder Eizo Shimabukuro.  Lots has been written about the mental state of senior Tatsuo and his seeing the deity over the ocean…lets just say that he was kind of eccentric and leave it at that.  And the last of the group is Shukokai, a merger of Shito ryu and Goju ryu created by Chojiro Tani in the 1940’s.  The system was actually not really created by Tani as he wanted to stay in the Shito ryu umbrella but several of his students ran with his system and made it a literal hybrid of the two systems.

                Shudokan was formed by Kanken Toyama after he merged Shuri-t and Taijiquan together to form his system. From his system came famous systems like Kong Soo Do, Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do. Shudokan means the hall of studying Karate, but its also developed its own flair for Kata and training that has been used to form new subsystems like KoeiKan, Doshinkan and Seishukan. One of the reasons for this is that Toyama never appointed a successor and his view was that his Shudokan was mearly a place to come and train.  The three roots that grew out of his system became distink only because of this. In 1954 Eizo Onishi took what his instructor taught him and formed the Koei-Kan with its own focus on different Kata and training systems. Isao Ichikawa formed the Doshinkan in Austria after his instructor passed away and made him a founder of his own system. Seishukan is also a product of a Toyama Sensei student and created for the same reasons, however Nishida sensei (founder) also studied with Toon ryu founder Kyoda Juhatsu and Kenwa Mabuni of Shito ryu lineage. 

                Some systems were formed by instructors who studied in single or duel root systems (shuri te/naha te/ Tomari ti), such as the rare and small system of Kishimoto Di.  Soke Kishimoto learned his style from Bushi Matsumura and taught his style to Higa Seitoku, the founder of the Bugeikan essentially changing the root of Kishimoto Di to bugeikan style. A family style, Motobu ryu was a merging of Tomari te and Shuri te and fomulated by Motobu Choki. This school influenced many of the modern systems such as Wado, Shindo Jinen, Matsubayashi and to’on ryu. The Motubu system is popular because of its founders influence.  Motobu ryu almost died out however as the founder kept his actual lineage small when it came to the number of students he taught.

                Some styles try and state that they have their roots ONLY in the original three root systems but they fail to mention that they were formed later and influenced or created by more modern systems. This is done because they want to appear to be older or more ancient traditional karate-ish than they are.  Shindo Jinen-ryu comes to mind. They often say they were created by merging Shurite/Naha te and Tomari te systems together, so all three original root systems. The truth is that it was created when founder Yashuhiro Konishi took what he learned from Shotokan, shito ryu and Motobu ryu and mixed it with his study of the sword and jujitsu and created his system that is run by the Japan Karate-do Ryobukai currently.

                Some systems are from single sources not from the original root system however.  Ryuei ryu was formed by wealthy Okinawan Norisato Nakaima who went to Fuchou China and brought back his heavily Chinese influenced system.  He did only teach this system to family members and for several generations this was the normal form of transmition. However it has, in the last few decades, come out of the shadows to be a more influential system and has even created descendant schools such as Ryuhoukai. And of course the last of the “Mainland Japanese/Okinawan” systems would be Uechi Ryu.  This style was created when Kanbun Uechi traveled to China and studied under famous Chinese masters in Pangai Noon and Huzunquan quanfa systems. He then moved to Japan and taught his system openly.

 

                So far we have dealt with systems and styles of Karate linked to Japan/Okinawa and linked directly to a root system. However, there are a series of systems created that don’t really have a direct link to the systems of Karate formed by root systems or their “children” systems. Im talking about the systems known as Kempo/Kenpo. Im not talking about systems that use the name Okinawan Kempo/Kenpo as those are more like replacement terms for Karate. Choki Motobu is known to have referred to his style as Okinawan Kempo/Kenpo as have others, but this was more a reference to the Chinese ancestry as, at the time, most instructors were trying to distance themselves from the Chinese lineage by changing the meaning of Karate from “Chinese hand” to “empty hand”, Motobu and several other rebels used the term Kempo to connect more to the Chinese lineage, however.

                Shorinji Kepo was formed by Doshin So sensei in 1947 and was  mix of Shaolin Kungfu and his study of Japanese Jujitsu. James (Masayoshi) Mitose was born in Hawaii to Japanese immigrants and at the age of four was sent back to Japan. It was in Japan that he was said to have studied a style of Karate he said was Shorinji Kenpo, he then  created his own style of Kosho Shori Ryu Kenpo. This translates as Old Pine tree school of the fist law”. Having said this, there are a lot of holes in his story, regardless his system grew into other styles as well. Mitose passed on his system to William Chow, who called his system Kara-ho Kempo. Chow taught many instructors who went on to create American Kenpo Karate and Kajukenbo. Kajukenbo then had off shoots as different instructors created twists or tweaks to the system. Styles like Tum Pai that was much more Chinese in its presentation or Chu’an Fa and Wun Hop Kuen Do which are also more Chinese in presentation from the original Kempo based system of Kajukenbo.

 

                The last two “Kenpo/Kempo”systems I want to go over are Shaolin and Nippon Kenpo systems. Nippon Kenpo was created by Muneomi Sawayama, a Judoka who had studied under Shito ryu instructor Kenwa Mabuni and brought in systems like Goju ryu and Jujitsu systems to round out his style. Now most of the Nippon system is sound and the hybrid form is focused on Bogu Renshu or armor fighting so you know the system is sound in the fighting but the fact that modern systems like Jietaikakutojutsu (which is just a mouthful) and….wait for it….Modern Taiho Jutsu, which is often peddled as “Ninja” fighting….makes it a system of question. And of course there is Shaolin Kempo……

                Shaolin Kempo is the system created by Fred Villari. Villari was one of the first to jump on the “Distance learning” bandwagon and much like other pyramid schemes he pushed the envelop of taking advantage of peoples lack of education about martial arts. From what I can see he had a 2^nd level black belt from Nick Cerio, a student of American kenpo founder Ed Parker. After this Good old Frank gave himself a bit of a boost in rank.  He first came out and said he was a 10dan in Kenpo and then…after a bit and just before his distance learning programs really rolled out…he crowned himself a 15^th Dan. Anyways I just added him to round out the numbers.

 

                Regardless of what style or organization you train in you will get some benefit out of training if you work hard, avoid bad instructors and push hard in your studies. The myriad of options are out their for you and while I would suggest avoiding some systems and instructors, most are good intended people who just want to pass on their traditional systems.