is shotokan karate effective in the streets?

Question

just wanna know if shotokan is an effective style...

Answer 1

Any style can be a very effective form of self-defense.

Answer 2

Is Shotokan Karate Effective

Answer 3

In the streets.....I've heard it's a good style, but I really don't have any knowledge about it.

In the streets, the average fight lasts maybe a minute at best. Basically, it's the first person to get a lucky strike to "win". The first person to leave themselves open is probably going to "lose". Though, my sensei said a lot of fights go to the ground within 15-30 seconds of actual fighting.....

If you are worried about fighting "in the streets", perhaps you need to stay away from those streets in which you'll be forced to fight.....unless you live there, then forget I said anything about that. lol

Shotokan is what is called a "hard" style....meaning it doesn't flow like you see Aikido do. Shotokan block hards, forcing your will upon the other person's....if we get philosophical about it. lol

But in the end, make sure you have no qualms about using any weapons that may come to hand, if you get into a street fight. If a person has a knife, run or use a longer weapon if you can....and make sure you have no qualms about breaking somebody's bones to protect yourself.....if the situation warrants such force that is.

If you are just starting out in martial arts, remember this well, you are no match for a person holding a gun and is willing to use it. I think a lot of the younger people or people just starting out in general, might think "oh, I'll know how to fight now" and they start to think they are invincible.

I don't know your age or anything. Just a warning to stay grounded.....because I think I went through that thinking phase for a bit. I think we all do to some extent.

Answer 4

Whoa. Some long and good answers here.

In short, yes, shotokan karate *can* be effective in the streets, for reasons that the other people mentioned.

However, given the modern context of fighting (i.e., guns, knives, etc...) and self-defense, and the legal and psychological repurcussions that can occur from a confrontation, it really is better to just avoid having to fight in the first place.

And, violence doesn't "just" happen. Usually you can see a bad situation developing waaaaaaaaay before it has a chance to turn ugly- meaning, you have plenty of time to get out before it does. So it really is a better strategy to just avoid a fight in the first place.
Of course, if you live or work in a bad neighborhood, that's a bit tougher to do....

Answer 5

It *can* be effective, but it depends more on how well you train in it. You actually have to train to fight with it against another person to *know* how your methods (not the style, but how your body *does* the style, big difference) work. Almost anything *can* work in a fight *if* you train it in an alive manner, and if you run into an attacker who isn't trained in anything.

That second part, the untrained attacker, is much more common than the first, or getting alive training in traditional karate. That is at once the good and bad news.

My older sister earned her brown belt in Shotokan, courtesy of being one of our minister's private students. Long story short, he had earned his belt ranks, and then found God, so he felt it wasn't right to open a school and *charge people* to teach what he knew....so he just taught individual students, a handful at a time, at his discretion, for free. He picked my sister, not me....but yeah, point is, she was a gifted enough athlete to learn *quickly*, she trained hard 5-6 days a week for a bit over a year.

And she already knew how to box, and had been in fights in school most of her young life. So in a way she was the perfect student, she already knew how to hit and *be hit* and still function. *That* is what is missing from a lot of traditional karate training these days--the contact, teaching how to *be hit* and carry on and *get through it anyway*.

And that is what you want to look for, really, in any school regardless of style. Do intermediate and advanced students actually hit each other? Do they spar with hard contact? In a karate school you *want to* look for a place with both heavy bags and *makiwara* (posts wrapped in ropes, they are there to toughen the fists and feet), if any school just teaches air punching or *small target* kicking, it likely won't teach you anything you don't already know. Which is ok if you already *can* fight, not so good if you cannot.

And you definitely want to ask about the curriculum. Shotokan itself seems *really* simple because it is at heart a streamlined style of karate, superficially it really only *has* two punches, three blocks and four kicks, and the focus for a while will be on *perfecting* your body mechanics and training for the "one punch kill", or having a really *hard* body shot. But...

In all actuality, you do want to train at a school that knows the subtle stuff as well as the superficial. You want to have a teacher, or sensei, who knows the subtle, sneaky stuff that is there, that the moves *always* multitask, that the blocks are themselves hand and forearm strikes, that many of the punches and kicks *can* be applied as takedowns if you *train them* that way. My older sister had got to the point of realizing that the blocks were more strikes than defense, but our family had to move house to another state, and she couldn't carry on her training in the sneaky stuff.

So yeah, you do want to see if your would-be Shotokan sensei *does in fact* teach the whole thing.

Or...you could just do some searches on "full contact karate" and look into styles of karate that are *harder contact* still and really do focus on going hard and simple. Aliveness just is not an issue with Kyokushinkai Karate, even the jiujitsu-heads online know this. ^_^

Here, let me scare up a link or three for you, be right back:

Answer 6

In the street the most effective style is Jujitsu. As that is what it's designed to tackle. However Shotokan can be quite good as well.

Answer 7

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Too many people ask this question. What people really want to know is if they are going to get their time and money's worth, especially if they have to put in a couple of years of blood and sweat. They want to know if they might be able to handle a random situation (as Wesley Snipes or Steven Segal would, just as an example) when most of this is pure Hollywood fiction. Even so, some of these artists have had years of training and expertise that only comes with a daily devotion to the art, most times under instruction that only a select few of us would be privileged to have. You will be much better prepared by initiating any martial arts instruction, for a situation that hopefully will not arise. Your awareness increases, as well as your ki and with stronger ki the likelihood of any kind of attack decreases. In time, with regular practice your reflexes will become quicker and kata training will help you develop mentally, in addition to helping you improve your technique. Most of all you will help develop your instincts and awareness so as not to allow yourself to get caught in such a vulnerable position; having better instincts sometimes takes practice. I have been practicing since the age of 5 and have always felt that whatever I put in, I benefit two-fold. After a year of experience, you might want to put more time and effort to make it a way of life. The ones that stay are usually the ones that truly experience the benefits of the art. This is definitely a more philosophical approach to your question but the ends do justify the means.

Answer 8

yes , its effective and practical , the main focus of Shotakan is a hard single strike to the soler plexus to knock out your opponent. its a great art, but if your primary focus is self defence, it depends on your body type, you need to be pretty strong as well as have good techniuqe to make it work , also its not the most effective against a grappler. For streetfighting arts look for arts that focus on the practical. kicks to the knee, pressure points, choke holds and arm bars and lots of medium to hard contact sparring, the best way to get good at fightintg is to fight. . Some good choices for streetfighting arts are Kenpo Karate,jeet kun do ,krav magra,Judo, Ju jitsu ,Kajikenbo. wing chun, Sambo ,Muay Thai. some of these arts such as muay Thai can have very brutal training and might be more than what your looking for. Also youre a girl right ? if youre fighting another girl it will be effective but against a man thats stronger than you , not so much. also if a guy attacks you it will probably be a grab. assuming a couple of years of training a 100 pound girl has a better chance of being able to choke out a 200 lb man than to knock him out.

Answer 9

shotokan karate effective streets

Answer 10

Bradley P gives sound advice. You can find a Shotokan Sensei to teach you other things besides punches, blocks and kicks: takedowns, holds, throws, etc. I consider myself fortunate to have found one.

Good luck and keep in mind that avoiding a conflict is the best defense.

Answer 11

any martial art is effective..
it would just depend on the person who uses the art or style...
and in the situation you are in...^_^
shotokan karate is one of the best style of karate...
it can be used in street fights, thou it is much focused in developing one's charater, youll learn the basic punch, kick, and block once you take this art...
but if your focused is for street fight,
i suggest that you shuld take muaythai (kick boxing) and jujitsu!!
coz those style is much more focused on street fight...
unlike karate whose focus is developing one's character...

hope that helps...
btw, im a shotokan karate practioner...
and i attend taekwondo classes at our school...^_^