- Thread Starter
- #21
Let's call the stance 'natural stance'. The Shorin Ryu stance is similar to the Goju stance. It is not exaggerated like Shotokan. Goju Kai is similar in that its stances are deeper and lower than the Okinawan Goju.
Similar is not the same as, but when it's the same, it's the same. I consider there to be 3 types of 'front-stances' in martial arts, a very deep one, a medium, but still considered deep one, and the higher found in karate. I might argue that there is a more relaxed type than that, like a front stance found in some chinese martial arts, but at that point it's a walking stance.
All martial arts strike through the target. Not knowing the ins and outs of Issin Ryu, I just watched some of their kata. It is not at all long in stance and the guy I watched was perfectly balanced. I fail to understand why you would think you need bulk. That doesn't make any sense to me. As to the high kicks, Okinawan karate doesn't go much for high kicks. That's more Shotokan, Kyokushin and other Japanese varieties. You said youself that Bruce Lee didn't have a high kick in his style until he learned it from TKD. However, he also said something along the lines of; 'flashy is for the screen. The things you use in real life just wouldn't be exciting enough on the street.'
From my understanding the motion is less of a push through, and more of a strike which from the momentum of your full body moving forward, drives the strike in without needing to twist or torque. It's short, and powerful movements, are not very effectual when you are small. The issue is not that there is no balance; for the strikes in Isshin their stances are more than capable of providing the base needed, but when you try to operate a swinging round-kick, or the more complicated kicks from Taekyon, the stances begin to lack as they weren't designed for kicks like that. For one thing, it's trying to force circular techniques down the throat of a linear system.
Certainly Shorin Ryu was based on Chinese Kung Fu, but Shotokan? The base for Shorin Ryu is Shuri-Te.
I am not sure if I said shotokan is based on chinese martial arts, but I do not believe it is. I believe I stated it is Tang Soo Do which is based off Chinese Kempo, but this is readily aparent when you translate tang soo do and it is supposedly 'chinese way of the hand'. Go-figure. That name was apparently made up by Won Kuk Lee as well.
I have to wonder how much of MA, especially TKD, is just shill. There is really not enough difference despite what I wrote about between the kwans for there to be 9, and much of the division is political, which is stupid for a martial art. At least to me it is.