My karate is stronger than yours!
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Really? You think so?
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It’s essential to define what people mean by “strongest”. I’m assuming that when people are looking for the strongest karate styles, they mean strongest in terms of effectiveness and practicality. But strongest, WHERE? In the dojo? In a ring? In a competition? In self-defense?
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It’s important to find a basis in your martial arts, to begin your fundamentals. But to ardently focus too much on your style and believe it is the strongest, or the best above all others, is very limiting and very closed-minded.
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The art is irrelevant – it’s the person, how they’ve trained, their abilities, skills, their thought process’s in a difficult or dangerous situation, all those qualities are what count. There is no magic art that makes you superior to someone else.
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There’s a saying in the martial arts, “It’s not the style, it’s the stylist.” The essence of the saying is there’s no one system that’s inherently any better than any other. They all focus on different aspects of fighting, self-defense, tournaments, emphasizing different theories and principles.
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The masters that developed these various systems had certain things they were good at – things that worked well for them. In the final analysis, though, it really comes down to the artist more than the art.
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I have seen black-belt teachers who are so overweight and unfit that they can hardly move, some that have crossed over from another style or system with fake documents, others that have paid their way for another belt grade (quite frankly a disgrace). One (ex) acquaintance had a “black belt” in TKD (so he said) and was forever bragging about how tough he was. He is now teaching the “strongest karate”.
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My observation over the years is that each discipline has its merits, but the main point of each one is to use your body, learn the theories and principles of each to a high level, with a deeper knowledge, and understanding, by a combination of physical and mental disciplines.
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As a life-time martial artist, you have to ignore most people who constantly brag about their martial art being the strongest, as they don’t really know what they are talking about. Find out by DOING, focus on what art you like and practice and learn diligently. When you don’t worry about these kinds of questions any more, you will realize you have learned what is important.
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“Boards don’t hit back.” ― Bruce Lee
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