07/06/2026
It goes without saying I’m a massive martial arts fan. 😃😬
I love all styles, the philosophy, the practice, the study, the history. I’m very boring and a bit geeky with it!
Obviously it’s clear from what I teach what my preferred styles of practice are however there are some amazing styles of martial arts out there that just don’t get the air time or attention because they don’t have the big money marketing budget behind them.
And also because most people have no idea that anything other than MMA or rather UFC rules MMA could possibly teach anything of worth! 🤦♂️ Me personally I love the Japanese MMA rulesets. Pride FC was my all time Favourite.
I want to just share a couple of really awesome styles (aside from Shootboxing and Kyokushin 😉) to anyone who cares to check them out 🙂
Shidokan Karate- Practices Everything! It was such a tough, technical style and had many matches on ESPN before MMA became the thing. It was called the triathlon of martial arts. 3 rounds of bare knuckle karate. If nobody won then it went another 3 rounds this time under Japanese/Shido kickboxing rules and again if nobody won it would finally go to 3 rounds of MMA rules! Practitioners had to have all the skills and their levels of stamina and endurance were unmatched.
Zendokai Karate- Again it took Japanese MMA further by use of the Gi and also with head butts. Unlike kudo they didn’t have closed face head guards to protect those strikes. Practitioners had legitimate skills in every area of unarmed combat and were incredibly tough and skilled. From a technical standpoint Zendokai was light years ahead of its time and still produces high level practitioners today who go on to fight in Shootboxing, Shooto and other Japanese striking or MMA promotions. It has produced many champions.
Enshin Karate- An incredible style which was a natural progression from the Ashihara style of karate which made Sabaki movements its core focus. Enshin focused on the sabaki control positions and created a very strong, pragmatic system of fighting techniques. The uses of pivots and circular movements helped practitioners redirect an opponents attack resulting in sweeping and throwing techniques. It followed the classical Kyokushin knockdown formula of no punches to the head but allowing kicks and knees to the head but advanced on this by allowing fighters to hold onto the uniform and strike, sweep, trip and throw. Incredible techniques!
TSG (Tsu Shin Gen) Karate Japanese Mix Fight- Developed by the late Soke David Cook. He fused his Kyokushin learned from Mas Oyama, Ashihara karate and Shootfighting techniques learned from Erik Paulson into one complete syllabus. This style again is very much an MMA style of karate that practices all ranges of unarmed combat. Its training methods are very modern and its kata are not like any other kata found in other styles of karate. Any one from a modern striking style such as kickboxing or Muay Thai would be able to learn and practice them right away making them highly effective and accessible. There is no secret to them. They are straight forward, effective sparring combinations utilising all strikes, throws, takedowns ground control positions, striking on the ground and submissions from both a standing and grounded position.
If you haven’t heard of or seen these styles all of them are well worth checking out!
They feature all the same techniques featured in everyone’s beloved MMA but so much more also.
There are so many more styles to list of course but if you feel inclined, have a look. There is far more out there to learn than you may realise 🙂 👀
