What is Karatedo?

Karate-do

Karate-do is a martial art that became popular in Japan early in the 20th Century and has gone on to be a worldwide phenomenon with practitioners (Karateka) in every country. Who hasn’t heard of Karate?

Karate actually originated not in Japan but in Okinawa, of the Ryukyu Islands. The original fighting arts of the islanders were referred to as ‘Te’ (meaning ‘hand’).  Later, the name ‘Tudi’ (‘Chinese hand’) was used, due to the influence of southern Chinese martial arts (particularly White Crane Kung Fu and Shoalin Monk Boxing). 

Tudi was a complete fighting style, intended for self-defence. It included the strikes, kicks and blocks that you would expect, but also techniques such as joint locks, restraints, sweeps, throws, grappling, ground fighting, as well as breaks, rakes, gouges, nerve or vital point strikes and the use of weapons.

Tudi was adopted by the Japanese to teach in schools. They named it ‘Karatedo’ (Kara-te-do) “The way of the empty hand”. This was because any reference to China was unacceptable to the Japanese at the time. A coloured belt grade system was introduced based on the Judo system. Weapons use, as well as many of the above-listed techniques were discarded and modern Karate became largely a striking art, using punches, kicks and strikes. Stances became longer and deeper to strengthen the legs of the Japanese school children, although these stances are generally less practical for fighting. It could be said that Karate became less about self-protection and more about self-perfection due to the emphasis on discipline and respect.

This is mainly the form of Karate that was introduced to the west. Many clubs teach a syllabus that is much more suited to tournament (sometimes known as ‘sport karate’) than as an effective self-defence fighting style.  

Evidence of the true nature of Tudi still exists though its art form, ‘kata’. A kata is a routine of karate techniques and movements performed by Karateka in order to practice self-defence. Within most of the Kata are techniques that can be interpreted as throws, takedowns, breaks and all the other techniques that were removed to form modern Karatedo.

Senshi Ryu Karate

We call our style of Karate-Do ‘Senshi-Ryu’; this translates as Warrior ‘School’ or ‘Style’. It is a blend of traditional styles. Our focus is on effective self-defence against attackers that don’t follow tournament rules.

Our syllabus includes some of the techniques removed from Tudi as well as some techniques from modern fighting styles like Krav Maga and Kickboxing, just to bring it all up to date.

We don’t classify ourselves as a total ‘non-contact’ style like many modern schools.  Any credible self-defence instructor knows that some contact is necessary in order to prepare students for a real-life encounter with an attacker. Senshi-Ryu students do begin as non-contact but as they gain experience, and an appropriate skill level, then a sensible level of contact is slowly introduced, which is trained under the strict supervision of experienced instructors. Even minor injuries are very rare.

We also condition our students by making use of striking implements such as kick shields and focus pads in much of our training. This conditions students to hitting or kicking a real object, and is a modern interpretation of using ‘makiwara’ posts or things such as buckets of wet sand, to condition fists and feet to striking real live objects.

We do practice traditional Katas as we believe they are perfect for teaching students fluidity of movement, using the entire body in our techniques, as well as the enjoyment of discovering the self-defence techniques ‘hidden’ within each kata.

Just like in any self-respecting Dojo, our classes are disciplined yet we make them fun. Our students are taught to avoid violence whenever possible, and are encouraged to show respect and humility.

We have an in-class grading system for the newest (and most nervous!) students, moving on to formal gradings to achieve the higher ranks. Student gradings are designed to test the effectiveness of their martial ability, rather than the elegant appearance of their techniques, as well as their spirit and character.

We have classes suitable for new students as young as 3 upwards, and there is no maximum age. We enrol people of any age, size and fitness level.