SHOTOKAN
KARATE-DO

Shotokan is the most extensively researched, written-about, and practiced style of Japanese karate in the world, with an estimated 6,000,000 practitioners worldwide and with active clubs in more than 130 countries throughout Asia, Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Oceania.

Fundamentally, Shotokan training unites your mind, body, and technique to create a powerful and decisive responses to an attack. Your training teaches you to observe your opponents carefully, to detect attacking movements at their inception, and to move instantly to protect yiourself.  But the physical practice of Shotokan karate is much more than just punching and kicking – it’s a complete framework for your personal development that transcends fighting skills.

THE Four “CLOUDS”: SURPRISE, FEAR, DOUBT, CONFUSION.

In classical Japanese martial arts (budo) these four conditions of the mind and heart are called shikai – psychological obstacles that keep you from performing at your best in a conflict, regardless of whether such conflict occurs on the street, in a classroom, at work, or in your personal life.

The practice of Shotokan karate, as an authentic form of Japanese budo, provides a form of moving meditation and active study that allows you to examine, understand, and gain control of shikai – the mental fog that often undermines our progress in the world.

Learning Shotokan Karate

There are three inter-related areas of training in Shotokan:

Kihon: isolating and studying the fundamental techniques of karate, the building blocks for more complex training. When practicing kihon, you'll be challenged to improve individual elements of karate such as balance, breathing, correct form, focus, speed, and power.

Kata: combinations of kihon in structured patterns. In kata, you'll test your ability to perform kihon in sequences that further develop mastery of balance, rhythm, and coordination. Changing tempo, changing direction, examining elements of strategy and tactics, and using different levels of speed, power, and focus are all part of kata practice. At a more advanced level, kata provide a template for many less obvious applications of controlling opponents with grappling, immobilization, and throwing techniques.

Kumite: testing mastery of your techniques in practice with a live partner. In kumite, weaknesses that are not observable in solo practice can be detected, isolated, and corrected. Learning to properly control distance, control timing, control targeting, and control the application of power are all important objectives of kumite practice.

Our club follows the technical model for Shotokan developed in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s by the Japan Karate Association (JKA), published in the writings of JKA Chief Instructor Masatoshi Nakayama. 

 

General Comparisons to Other Martial Arts

Shotokan emphasizes powerful “straight line” techniques that are intended to stop an attacker with a single strike. In comparison to most Chinese martial arts like Kung Fu and Tai Chi, Shotokan has fewer large circular movements and uses a somewhat more simplified approach to unarmed combat. Most blocks in Shotokan are intended to be full attacks or counter-attacks on the opponent’s arms and legs.

Shotokan is a striking art that uses the hands, fingers, arms, elbows, knees, and feet as weapons. In comparison to Japanese arts like Aikido, Shotokan has fewer grappling, throwing, and passive response/control techniques.

Shotokan karate does not include ground fighting techniques as commonly found in arts like Judo or Brazillian Jiujitsu.

Although some groups and individuals may participate in tournament competitions as an adjunct to their core training, Shotokan is not sport-focused like Olympic Tae Kwon Do, boxing or MMA.  Our practice is suitable for children and adults of all ages and has a much lower rate of injury when properly taught and practiced than common sports like football and basketball.

The study of Japanese/Okinawan weapons is not part of our Shotokan curriculum.