Back in March of 1968, Hugh Hastings, who is the club's founder started to practice Shotokai Karate with a group of friends in Prestwick. This was a town in the district of Kyle, at that time, in the west coast of Scotland. After a great deal of deliberation they called the club "Kyle" after the district rather than the town, and it has remained Kyle Karate Club ever since.
We practice and teach traditional karate based on Shotokai as developed by the late Sensei Mitsusuke Harada who was awarded his 5th Dan Black Belt by the great karate master Gichin Funakoshi. Over the years since that first session, we have practised in many venues throughout the area but have always insisted that Kyle Karate Club would be a non-profit making organisation and that we would always practice Shotokai karate.
Until 1988 we were part of the "Karate Do Shotokai" organisation, and when it split up, we joined the "Shotokai Foundation". We left the "Foundation" after a while and have been an independant organisation ever since.
Wikipedia definition of Shotokai Karate is:
"Shotokai Karate differs much from Shotokan (the most widespread Karate) in that it rejects competition altogether , feeling that it compromises Karate itself. Kata are generally the same as other forms of karate, although Shotokai often emphasizes smooth flowing movements rather than the sharp snappy movements of other styles. Kumite (sparring) in some Shotokai clubs is practiced with full strength attacks, and is tightly controlled in terms of who is attacking and defending and the attacks that can be performed in order to reduce the chance of injury."
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Kata is a set of pre-defined movements or techniques that simulate an attack / defence situation without the need for a fellow practitioner. By performing in a group without the pressure of an attacker it allows you to focus on your timing and the correct form of the techniques. Timing for the whole group is synchronised to the person at the front of the kata group. When observing a good practitioner performing kata you can almost see their opponents. |
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| Kihon | ||
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Kihon is the practice of individual techniques. By repeating the techniques many times your body learns (muscle memory) how to perform the technique without thinking about it.. It is sometimes carried out with a partner where one is the attacker and the other the defender. It can also be practiced with training aids such as the one shown in the picture. Kihon is the mainstay of karate. You need to perform techniques thousands of times so that your body will react without you having to tell it to. |
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| Kumite | ||
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Ippon Kumite: Where one person performs a pre arranged attack and their partner defends against it. They then switch roles and repeat the process. In this way they can both practice being attacker and defender. Sanbon Kumite: This is similar in many ways to the above, but the attacker carries out 3 attacks (all the same) and the defender moves back and defends on the last one. Jiyu Kumite: This is a full scale continuous attack / defence situation, where either person can attack at any time with any technique. This is a practice that is often done at slow speed to improve techniques. Jiyu Kumite is not normally practiced until you have reached a level of competence to avoid any injuries to you or your partner. |
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From beginner up to 1st Dan, the grade of a practitioner is shown by the colour of the belt they wear. Practitioners below 1st Dan are known as KYU or "Student" grades. Those above Kyu grade are DAN grades and wear a black belt. The list of grades shown here are those used by our club. Other styles vary from this, some have additional grades and others have less. Unlike many other styles of Karate, assessment for a new grade is a continual process carried out by your club instructor, with a final confirmation by all Dan grades at a weekend course. Tabs are coloured stripes across the end of the belt to show that the junior wearing it is above the basic belt grade. |
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