Shotokan Effectiveness (Shotokan)

Member Name: Martial

Product:	Shotokan
Date:	19/08/01 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Get fit and strong, teaches you discipline, Effective style

Disadvantages: Hard work, Dull lessons, people think your strange

I have been practicing Shotokan for about a year now, and although that might not sound too long (it isn't for a martial art) it has given me time to realize how realistic and effective Karate is.

I believe it is one of the best martial arts to learn if you want to get tough.
The aim of Shotokan Karate is to make your punches as near to perfection as possible so you can hopefully knock your opponents down in 1 punch. Obviously this is an extremely difficult thing to do, that is why the shotokan student (and most karate students) will be forced to line up and go over their punches, blocks and kicks for hours.

Lots of people get mixed up when they talk about Martial arts and tend to say things like 'you don't need any strength for Karate'. Those people have never done a martial art in their life, let alone Karate, and to them Kung Fu, Karate, Aikido, Tae Kwon Do etc. are all the same thing.
Strength is a vitally important part of Karate and without it most punches and kicks simply wont work (but obviously kicking a man in the balls will hurt him no matter how strong you are, so there are exceptions). But the way most Westerners see strength is by having a chest the size of a Gorilla, this is more the typical boxer. The Karate student is made to develop muscles all over their body but primarily in his/her legs and backside, since these are naturally your biggest muscles so you are taught to use them.
For example, someone could have extremely strong upper body strength and could hit pretty hard, but someone with less upper body strength but strong leg and arse muscles could still hit much harder if they step into the punch.
This is not to say weak people should not take up Karate, as everyone is capable of getting stronger, but it most definitely is not for the lazy, as you have to be willing more than anything to learn karate effectively.

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