So what's particular unique about Shito-ryu karate? What does it dedicate itself to move wise? A lot of sweeps, etc?
Nothing really. The beginning training is a bit stiff and formal, but you're supposed to use that as a springboard for more fluid sparring technique. Closed and open hand punches, a bunch of different kicks, etc. How I view it is that all the fancy stuff you see isn't going to be used most of the time because a solid front kick or hammer fist is what you'll be able to put the most force into (without hurting your striking limb). All the other strikes are meant to make you able to do something when you're unable to attack in that most favorable direction, such as when you have someone to your side but you don't have time to turn toward them. Similarly, the heavy stances seem to be meant for falling back into, or learning to work effectively in an undesirable stance, such as when your kick was blocked and your leg dropped into an odd position. They have other uses but I think a lot of the stuff we learn is to promote comfort with all kinds of body positions and striking / blocking motions, so you're never in a stance you haven't trained with and always have a strike or block that you've already practiced available. I suspect it might be the same with other styles. But as I said, the guy whom I originally learned from was a kitchen-sink type.
MZ: If you've practiced each of those styles for at least a couple hundred hours I'm sure there's not much to learn from Karate.
Question for everyone: How common are debilitating injuries (broken bone, organ damage, anything that keeps you from training for more than a couple weeks) in your opinion? I was only ever injured once, on a kicking drill, but that was a kneecap dislocation and I got bad knees from my dad's genetics. I also have never had a student injured while I was teaching, although a student did break her wrist at my school, and I have seen some stupid human tricks at other schools.
(Such as backpedaling and crashing into the mirror, narrowly avoiding being stabbed by the huge shard that dropped straight behind him. Or this one guy who thought it was a great idea to practice an unapproved self-defense move where he flips his partner over and they both drop straight onto her crown. I was wondering if he would break out the folding chairs next.)
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Topic: Exercise thread: Muscles more chiseled than a Mountainhome (Read 4105 times)