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About our Philosophy of Teaching and Practice of Karate
We teach karate techniques just as they were hundreds of years ago. At that time, the advanced medical care of today was not available. Hip replacement, knee replacement, and other surgical techniques were not available. Injuries that can be treated today, could not be treated then and sometimes were life threatening and could lead to permanent injury. Shidokan Shorin-ryu recognizes this, avoids techniques and practices that lead to problems requiring the advanced medical care available today. Karate is taught with safety and long term health utmost in mind. Because of this, Shidokan karate is practiced by many in their 60's and older, both here in the United States and in Okinawa. In the old days, karate masters lived into their 70's and 80's when the average life expectancy of the general population was 20-30 years less. Our goal is to keep this tradition alive with our practice today.
Cooperation and Friendship are Emphasized
Competition exists only as self competition. One is always trying to improve oneself, but one should never be concerned with being better than another. There is an old saying in karate, "When fighting, do not think about winning, but don't lose either." This is a mindset that is often initially difficult for a westerner to understand and achieve.
While karate produces many people with great fighter skills, and shidokan produces its' fair share, karate is not simply about fighting. On one hand, Karate that does not teach fighting skills is deficient. Likewise, a karate school that judges itself only on fighting or tournaments is equally deficient. While physically and mentally demanding, karate is meant to be fun. A student that is overly antagonistic to their fellow students will be asked to leave if they can not change their ways. Cooperation is key to learning.
As it was long ago, our practice is based upon karate kata (forms). Applications and partner work are key to understanding the kata. We start students off with learning kata immediately, and partner work very soon after that (usually the first day). Free sparing too early in ones training often hinders a student's learning, so free sparing is reserved for advanced students (if at all).
Our practices consist of kata practice followed with relentless practice of bunkai (applications of kata) with partner(s) to achieve proficiency in application of techniques against opponents. This is in stark contrast to some karate schools where their kata practice bears little resemblance to actual self-defense. We do not believe in karate practice without the goal of obtaining proficiency is self-defense against one or more opponents.