GOOD KARATE SCHOOLS

Let us start by examining arguably the most popular reason people learn Karate: for self defense fighting. Now noticed I said self defense fighting. I did not said just self defense, or street fighting. Because to me self defense is so vast it encompasses many layers of components other than fighting skills; such as awareness skills, communication or de-escalation skills, negotiation skills, reading body language etc. Since most Karate schools mainly teach Karate techniques and not other components of self defense, we shall say it teach mostly fighting techniques. And almost all Karate schools will say their instructor/dojo/style will teach you how to defend yourself. My advice is, trust yourself; trust your common sense and instinct. Karate schools that really teach Karate for self defense fighting are significantly different from Karate schools that teach Karate for sport fighting. This is not to say both are mutually exclusively. But the approach to teach Karate for self defense fighting compare to teaching for competition or sport fighting are and should be different.

The main features of great Karate schools are:

1. The Karate instructors are more concern with your ability to learn than the pursuit of ranks, rituals and traditions. To those who are obsess with chasing a black belt, please remember your original intention of learning Karate. Legendary UFC Champion Royce Gracie said, "A belt only covers two inches of your ass, and the rest you need to back it up on your own." Good Karate schools give you individual attention to learn Karate at your own pace; which is real learning because only then you will be truly competent in those fighting techniques taught to you, not merely because you wanted to (or are expected to) keep up with the rest of the class. Instructor/dojo/style worship and ego are dispense along with unnecessary rituals and traditions. Of course, this does not mean that rituals and traditions are bad. They are only "unnecessary" when they take precedence over a Karate student's interest to learn and progress. Training with "classical" costumes are hardly relevant if you want to learn Karate for self defense fighting in today's modern world. Once pride, ego, useless rituals and traditions are gone, there will be nothing left to expect from you other than competency and performance. Whether you are learning Karate for self defense fighting or sport fighting, you'll be solely judge by your performance. Ironically, Karate students in Karate schools that does not award ranks or belts are fast learners, good fighters and have humble attitude, speaking from my personal experience. Karate in the old days were taught without any ranks or belts. Just look at the awesome fighters they have produced: Azato, Ankoh Itosu and Choki Motobu are few that comes to mind.

KNOWLEDGE, TEACHING ABILITIES AND PERSONALIZED APPROACH

2. They are more concern with your individual attributes and personality than your ability to do some standard Karate techniques just to pass certain tests within a universal syllabus. For example:
a. A small person would be taught more speedy fighting techniques such as sweeps, body shifting and counter-striking.
b. A well-build person would be encouraged to learn more fighting techniques based on power such as punching and kicking.
c. A large person would be taught more fighting techniques based on weight such as throws, takedowns and submission holds.
It is such meticulous teaching approach that distinguishes a great Karate school from a typical Karate school. It is also the foundation of which great fighters are shaped and developed, because everyone is different and blind compliance to rigid forms will blunt the objective of "take what is best, discard what is useless" for each unique individual.

3. They are more concern with practicality than form. This means having Karate lessons that do not insist on strict adherence to details like exactly how you should stand, move, punch or kick and perform a certain kata like a stiff ballet lesson. Instead, they will incorporate more free flowing drills and realistic sparring sessions. The emphasis will be more on why you should do this instead of blindly following a rigid framework up to the minute details. A thinking fighter is a dangerous fighter who have the ability to choose the most suitable strategy to defeat a particular opponent.

EQUIPMENTS AND TRAINING METHODOLODY - FUNCTIONS OVER FORMS

4. The best Karate schools are well-equipped with complete training and safety equipments. Besides the basic punching bags, kicking shields and focus mitts, they should also encourage Karate students to procure their own head gears, chest pads, thigh pads, leg pads, gloves and mouth guards for sparring and hygiene purposes. The ground should be fully matted to provide protection from falls due to sweeps or throws. Advance training equipments would be padded protection suits which are highly mobile such as Bulletman, RedMan and High Gear to allow full power and full contact fighting with minimum restrictions. This is to ensure the safety of the Karate students while allowing them to try out self defense fighting or sport fighting techniques with full power. A Karate student will naturally develop effective fighting techniques when training under such environment and methodology.

5. There will come a time when you will be required to spar in a controlled environment. Don't worry, it's not as frightening (or potentially painful) as it seems. Good Karate schools will have Karate instructors who place your safety above everything else and will only allow you to spar if they think you are able to, and not just to pass a grading test. Bear in mind that sport fighting (known as kumite in Karate term) is quite different from self defense fighting. Sport fighting is still sport, with safety rules and regulations. So, it's relatively safe to participate and might even be fun and exciting for some people. Sport fighting builds strong attributes for you like improving your speed, reflex, stamina, endurance, pain-tolerance and etc. All these attributes will make you a healthy person and are definitely useful for self defense fighting. Good Karate schools know how to separate and tell the difference between sport fighting and self defense fighting. And why do you need to know the difference? Because sport fighting techniques can get you killed on the street (speaking from my own understanding of Karate kumite competition techniques and not other martial arts). It is not the purpose of this page to discuss the differences between the two but suffice to know, good Karate schools should always find out your intention of learning Karate and focus on your individual need from thereon. Sometimes there are Karate schools which emphasis mainly on sport fighting (they produce great Karate champions) and Karate schools which only teach self defense fighting. A complete Karate school would be able to teach both thoroughly and it's up to the Karate students to decide on which areas (kihon, kata, kumite) to spend their training time on. And some Karate schools, like our Kissaki Defensive Tactics Academy, have discarded the traditional training method of kihon, kata, kumite in favor of a more hybrid training approach.

I choose not the write about what and where are lousy or worse, fake Karate schools because I believed that if you follow your common sense and instinct with enough reading and research, you can distinguish that for yourself. While reflecting on your purpose of seeking the best Karate schools to learn Karate, do a bit of readings about Karate's background and the different Karate styles (known as Ryu) being taught today. You may wish to read more about Kissaki Kai Karate from this website. I wish you every success in finding the best Karate school for yourself.

Need some advice regarding Karate schools? Please contact me here.



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