My karate is stronger, tougher, more athletic…. it’s superior to yours!
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Really? It’s superior in all things?…..
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You have to define what you mean by “superior”. I’m assuming that when people say a “superior karate style”, they mean the best in terms of effectiveness and practicality…… But superior, WHERE? In the dojo? In a ring? In a competition? In self-defense?
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When it comes to being the best at anything, particularly the martial arts, the art itself is almost irrelevant – it’s the person. How they’ve trained, their abilities, their skills, their thought process in a difficult or dangerous situation, all those qualities are what count. There is no magic art or style that makes you superior to someone else.
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There is no one system that is inherently any better than any other. Different arts focus on different aspects, 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.
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In almost 50 years of training and teaching, I have cross-trained in many arts, and for what its worth, my observation is that each discipline has its own merits. There really is NOT one that is “superior” to another.
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Bruce Lee wrote in the ‘Tao of Jeet Kune Do’; “I hope that martial artists are more interested in the root of martial arts and not the different decorative branches, flowers or leaves. It is futile to argue as to which single leaf, which design or branches or which attractive flower you like; when you understand the root, you understand all its blossoming.”
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The goal in any martial art is to become a master of the root principles behind the techniques. When you increase your understanding of these principles, then you cease to define your techniques as separate from each other. All techniques interrelate, there is a connection, they are seen as variations of the root principles.
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If all you seek is to win a tournament, then some martial arts are obviously geared toward this. But it depends on the individual and what the individual is seeking. It is always conditional on the teacher and the dojo or school, not the style.
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If you run into a life and death situation, the amount of different variables goes through the roof, and most of them are psychological. What martial art you have or haven’t practiced, is in my opinion, only one variable, but not the most meaningful nor definitive.
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That is to say, you will achieve great results whatever you learn, if you put the effort in, and learn from a great, knowledgeable, qualified teacher. There are a lot of “McDojos” out there. Places that will help you get to black belt quicker if you keep paying.
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Find a teacher, a good teacher. If the Karate instructor is just after your money, making you run endless laps, kick tires, do push-ups, etc, etc, every lesson (conditioning has its place), while he counts his cash, are you really learning anything? Does he really understand what he’s teaching?
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Superior karate style? …… NO. It depends on the individual practicing the art, rather than the art itself.
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“There are no styles of karate-do, just varying interpretations of its principles.” – Kenwa Mabuni
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