06/07/2023
Here is a comment made in response to an old school pugilism post. It encapsulates the ongoing misunderstanding that so many people have about what karate was and can be. We are proud to be part of the ‘Renaissance’. Having said that please train the way makes you happy 😄.
‘Most people are unaware of the origins of karate, and how the Japanese changed karate completely in the 1930s - 1950s, and the Renaissance that’s been happening in the karate world over the last 20 years. Not even most karateka are aware. They’re still just doing mid-20th century Japanese karate instead of training it the way it was meant to be used. Most people think karate is a mid to long range striking art, rather than a clinch range stand up grappling art with strikes added that it actually is, with Tegumi (Okinawan wrestling) as a base rather than Kung fu. Once you realise that and look again at the “weird“ movements in the kata, the techniques in the kata, including throws just like judo, begin to make sense.’
Christopher Crittendan.
