 Last week we started to talk about the history of Shodokan Karate. We explored the origin and how founder Geisha Funakoshi combined his training in the Okinawan arts and a reconfigured system that not only fit the cultural paradigm of Japan, but it also thrived as one of the most influential and definitive styles of karate in the world. So if you haven't watched that one yet, I encourage you to please do so. Today we're going to talk about the structure of the art itself and how a set of trend of differences between different styles of karate and we'll also look at how the art has grown and spread and even answer the question of, well why don't we see Shodokan in the MMA? Spoiler alert, you do. And we'll talk about how as we continue with the history of Shodokan. I would like to thank some of our viewers for their help with this video. A special thanks to William Armenteros, Keith Westberland and Sensei Santino-Ramos for helping connect us with footage and a special thanks to Ryan Mooney from Combat Karate for filming original footage for this series. Alright alright, I'm sure now we have some several MMA practitioners watching right now that just say that Shodokan is ineffective and it wouldn't work in a real fight or in the cage. Well we're going to come back to this after we cover some aspects because I'm willing to bet it's a little bit more relevant in the cage than it gets credit for. So why is Shodokan such a pillar in the history of karate? Well mainly because from this point forward Shodokan became an established foundation for several arts to come and it set many of the standards associated with karate today. Now I highly recommend watching part 1 for the origin of Shodokan and how it developed by founder Kichi Funakoshi. Today we're going to take a closer look at the art of Shodokan itself and what it teaches. Now upon stepping into the dojo there is an immediate sense of culture that often comes with Shodokan. Now Shodokan may have been derived from Okinawan arts but make no mistake that there is a very important difference between the two cultures. Now we're going to dive into this a little bit deeper in the next episode but Okinawan karate traditionally is a little bit looser on formality, focuses more on teaching individuals in smaller classes, has higher senses and focuses more on upper body, does not typically take part in sport, utilizes more weapons and treats karate as a family heritage. Shodokan and Japanese karate in general you will find is a traditional system and many rules of etiquette are in place. There is a strong focus on technical detail and uniformity, respecting discipline are emphasized as well as pride and presentation. Most traditional karate schools will require that the gi is clean, tidy and intact and some schools will even require that the uniform be pressed and ironed. Shodokan will show up to a class looking proud and crisp. Most Shodokan schools will wear traditional white gi's although in modern days and especially in the United States you might see a variety of other colors and the colors honestly will depend on the individual school. And the same goes with the belt ranking system. There are many different associations for Shodokan, each with different requirements. Now while there are some arts such as American Kempo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Kyoko Shin that have a fairly consistent colored belt chart, Shodokan schools seem to be a little bit more varied in belt order depending on one school or another. Also, most schools will have some sort of a patch worn over the heart on the left side of the gi jacket. In many Shodokan schools you may see the Toro no Maki or Tiger emblem worn or some emblem derived from it. Now this emblem is rooted in the history of the creation of the art and it represents the philosophy and poetry of Master Funakoshi. Now we have given karate uniforms, belts and the Toro no Maki all their own dedicated episodes and those links are provided in the video description below. Like many martial arts there is a general code of conduct within the Shodokan dojo. Bowing is commonplace and demonstrates respect, trust and humility. You have the standing bow and the bow from the kneeling position or seiza. Upon entering the dojo you bow to show respect before entering the floor. Now whether you are arriving or leaving you face towards the front of the dojo as you bow. Now if you arrive late and the classes are already started do not just quickly bow in and run to join the floor. Proper etiquette is to quietly bow and then kneel near the entrance until you are acknowledged by the sensei that comes during class. Line up by rank and when instructed kneel down into seiza. The proper kneel in the traditional Shodokan dojo begins by placing your left knee on the floor followed by your right knee and then you sit back onto your feet with your toes overlapping one over the other. Hands are placed on your thigh left on left right on right and they are open with fingers pointed inward. Your back should be straight and your shoulders relaxed. The sensei may call for meditation and this is the moment to quiet your mind, leave your distractions outside and prepare yourself to focus on today's class. Some schools may have you placed your left hand into your right hand as you meditate. At the end of meditation the sensei will prompt you to stop and then call out shomen ni rei which signals for you to bow in a kneeling position towards the front of the dojo and issue respect and humility towards the institution and those in the lineage of the school. After that the sensei may call out sensei ni rei which is another bow to show respect to your teacher. Repeat the motion and with a signal from your sensei you quickly get up to your feet and you stand at attention. This is commonplace at many traditional Shodokan schools but of course this may vary from one individual dojo to another. Some schools may omit or alter the bow and end sequence and as with most martial arts styles respect, good behavior, cooperation and self-control are expected during class. Once class is over many schools will close with the same sequence as the class opening but at this point meditation is used to reflect on what you learned today and give your mind a moment to let the experience soak in. Upon closing out many dojos will recite what is called the dojo kun. The dojo kun in literal translation means rules of the dojo. Now the dojo kun is a set of principles and behavior expected from all participating karateka. Most of the time they are printed or written and hung in front of the dojo. Now this is yet another traditional practice that is often attributed to Kenshin Funakoshi and his philosophical contribution to the arts. You see Funakoshi desired ethics and mental fortitude to be balanced with physical strength. Shodokan Karate wasn't only about being strong in fighting but rather it was to serve as a way of life to have balance in body, mind and spirit and to use the art for cultivation of health and if in a dangerous situation the preservation of life. The dojo kun was written as a set of five guiding principles to be practiced in Shodokan Karate. One seek perfection of character. Two be faithful. Three endeavor to excel. Four respect others. And five refrain from violent behavior. Now of course you might see some variations of this due to translation but those generally are the five principles of conduct as defined by Funakoshi. Now being the philosopher and poet that he was Funakoshi also established the nijukun or 20 rules. Now we're going to revisit a couple of these at the end of this video but the 20 Shodokan principles are never forget karate begins and ends with rei or bowing and showing respect. There is no first strike in karate. Karate stands on the side of justice. First understand yourself then understand others. Mentality over technique. The heart must be set free. Calamity springs from carelessness. Karate goes beyond the dojo. Karate is a lifelong pursuit. Apply the way of karate to all things therein lies the beauty. Karate is like boiling water without heat it returns to its tepid state. Do not think of winning. Think rather of not losing. Make adjustments according to your opponent. The outcome of battle depends on how one handles emptiness and fullness. Think of hands and feet as swords. When you step beyond your own gait you face a million enemies. Formal stances are for beginners. Later one stands more naturally. Perform prescribed sets of techniques exactly. Actual combat is another matter. Do not forget the employment or withdrawal of power, the extension or contraction of the body, the swift or leisurely application of technique. Be constantly mindful, diligent and resourceful in your pursuit of the way. Like many traditional karate styles Shodokan is broken up into three main categories. Kihon, Kata and Kumite. Now Kihon is the Japanese word for basics. These are the fundamental concepts of the martial arts. So all punches, kicks, blocks, steps, throws, posture, movements are all part of basic training. Without strong basics the rest of the student's training becomes compromised. See Shodokan is very well known for its power and embodiment of strong basics. From the deeply rooted stances to snapping punches and dominant kicks Shodokan is as sharp and crisp as karate pretty much gets. Much of this comes from the Okinawan roots that Funakoshi adopted from Shurite and Nahate prior to coming to Japan. Its signature is commanding linear driving power. Shodokan also employs the Kii and the concept of Kimei to underline the basics. Kimei is a Japanese word that means to decide and in the context of the martial arts it means to focus all of one's energy, effort and strength into each technique. It is full commitment to the strike without any hesitation with the intent of ending the confrontation with a single blow. This can be applied to punches, kicks and even blocks which in many cases can be used as strikes in their own right. The Kii is the famous karate yell we all hear practitioners exclaim upon the execution of a powerful technique. The purpose of the Kii isn't just to sound badass although if done right it totally does but it serves a few different functions. First in the context of the dojo setting a powerful Kii can set the tone of a workout, excite students and get them more invested, highlight the punctuation of a technique and also to help learn proper breathing to deliver maximum intensity into a strike. You can inadvertently hold back a lot of power if you hold your breath so learning how the Kii properly helps you establish effective times to exhale and tighten in order to inflict a margin of extra energy. Now in a real-life confrontation the Kii still serves for power generation but it also might potentially intimidate your opponent or at least possibly attract attention to the situation. Kata is short for the word katachi which means shape, form or pattern. In shodokan and quite frankly in most traditional martial arts katas are longer sequences of techniques often simulating the combat scenario and demonstrating how movement strikes and defenses can be used together. Katas help with memory retention and repetition as well as address themes in particular areas of focus. Now many contemporary martial artists dislike and will brush off kata which is fine because honestly people have different areas of focus. Now with that being said there is often a lot of valuable information embedded in kata and the practice of studying deeper meaning of kata or bunkai can yield some interesting insights and philosophy to the art and relationships between techniques. The number of kata and shodokan training will vary from school to school as they construct their own curriculum however there are usually about 26 or 27 kata in the system created by both Funakoshi and his contributing students. Many of these kata were adopted from the Okinawan arts Funakoshi trained in heavily drawing from the influence of former teacher and karate master Anko Watosu and his contributions to the development of kata. See many of the kata have four Chinese names and as Okinawa you know shared strong roots entwined with the Chinese arts. There was a political tension between China and Japan at the time so just as he changed the characters of the Japanese Kanji for karate to mean empty hand instead of China or tang hand Funakoshi renamed all of the katas for his system into Japanese counterparts. Now some of them caught on while many of them still retain their original names. For example the pinan katas which pinan means peaceful way were five original empty hand katas from Okinawa. Funakoshi renamed them Tehyan which also means peaceful way. Now later as the Korean art of Tonksudo was founded on the base of Shodokan those katas or Pumsae in Korean were adopted and modified for the Tonksudo system and are known as Pyongan. So it's really interesting to see Shodokan in the middle of the chain of influence as it spread around the world. Another interesting example is the Kanku kata originally known as Kusanku named after a traveling Chinese martial artist whose teachings predate the early roots of karate in Okinawa. Now there are two versions of this kata which Funakoshi renamed to Kanku which means to look at the sky. So you've got Kanku Dai Big and Kanku Show Small. This kata spans across many arts including Okinawan Shounru, Shodokan, Kyokushin, Tonksudo and more. It is very interesting to find videos of these katas performed in these different arts and notice the similarities as they were adapted to new practices. Now as we mentioned on how important the key eye was when practicing basics it holds a place in Shodokan kata as well. In most kata in Shodokan there are two designated times which the practitioners unleashed their key eye. It is part of the form and part of the grading and judging. It is to punctuate certain moments in the kata as well as to demonstrate commitment and full force into the form. So go ahead and watch some Shodokan katas on the YouTube and watch the practitioners and you'll find that they're usually only two key eye during the entire sequence. Now as Funakoshi's influence continues it is also rolled into the concept of embusen or the route or line of movement a practitioner takes during the performance of a kata. Every kata has a unique flow and therefore their own signature diagram if you were to draw it out. It designates the starting point and outlines the path of action. Now Funakoshi's contribution to this practice was to adjust many katas so that the starting point and the ending point are roughly the same spot. Now this has one benefit of being able to be performed in smaller spaces in case there are many students in one room. As well it is also helpful for the students to confirm that they have performed it correctly if they have ended up in the same place that they started. Now many people believe that this aspect of the kata was traditional. However it is credited to Funakoshi as it was documented in his writings and not before. And it's often not present in a lot of the earlier Okinawan arts. The concept of starting and ending at the same points have found its way into other arts American Kempo included. So traditional karate systems have three components. Kihon kata and Kumite. Kumite means freestyle fighting and it is where you apply the tools of the basics along with the principles of the kata into a strategy of fighting that works for you. Now beginners will start off with what is called ipon kumite which means one step sparring and gohan kumite which is five step sparring. Now this is where a lot of criticism of shodokon and traditional martial arts in general may stem from. See one step sparring is very simple and each drill typically consists of one partner performing a single free planned attack and the defending partner performs a single step defense such as a block followed by a counter strike. With five step sparring some of the attacks and moves are repeated but overall these are very choreographed and basic drills. Now the misconception here is that many critics of traditional martial arts look at this and will dismiss the system saying well that isn't realistic and these drills won't work in a real fight. I think it is really important to remember or note that this is not the complete self-defense portion of karate. These one and five step drills are meant to teach the very basic application of a single technique demonstrating control, targeting and getting used to working with a partner. It doesn't end with this. As students progress to become more comfortable and understand how the basics work the drill evolves into more free attacks of one step sparring and eventually the more advanced freestyle fighting which may involve many varieties of speed and allowed strikes. Now as far as actual fighting skill goes we've said this on the channel before and but I want to stress it again that regardless of what drills you practice or how many times you repeat a choreograph motion unless you apply it on a regular basis with a resisting opponent you're not going to get an accurate idea of what actually works for you or what doesn't. This means regular continuous sparring with someone trying their hardest to hit you back. Now some schools practice point sparring as well and that is completely fine especially if the school is a competitive school and point sparring definitely has its benefits but I believe for proper self-defense you need to practice with the resistance and pressure as close to a real fight as can be safely done in the classroom and with that being said yes the one step drills can work in the heat of a good sparring session. There have been many occasions that I've been trading shots with someone and I've seen the punch coming in the upper block punch combination worked brilliant or the inner block punch and I've had it done to me as well so yes they absolutely can work if they are applied at the right time. If you understand what it is teaching and you're able to apply it effectively in a full pressure sparring situation then the basic drills taught in shuttle con can go a long way. So let's rewind a little bit here to our question in the beginning why don't we see shuttle con in the MMA? Well we do and we see it in a couple different ways. First there seems to be this divide between mixed martial arts and traditional martial arts. I don't like this debate primarily because mixed martial arts can be an independent mix of traditional martial arts. MMA is not a different system or way of fighting it's just a personalized combination of arts prime for a sport competition by individual competitors that choose mixes that work for them. I think MMA is fantastic and it has the world's best fighters but not because of what systems they use but rather how that they choose the arts they choose and the extreme training and condition they apply in order to fight like this. MMA and traditional martial arts are not two separate entities they are entwined and they simply address different things and I always tried to bridge that gap and with that being said many mixed martial artists have some sort of traditional karate as part of their arsenal and as we've explored in this series the threads of shuttle con run through many of them. I want to use Leota Machida as an example primarily because he is a high-profile MMA champion as well as one of his primary arts being shuttle con karate. Now watching him in the stand-up fighting you can clearly see many trademarks of shuttle con and traditional karate. First he often takes on a little bit of a wider stance. Many MMA fighters have a more natural boxing stance and while Machida does as well he will sometimes drop into a lower stance very stylistic of shuttle con and it's from there that he delivers the devastating kicks he is known for. His front kicks and his round kicks are perfect illustrations of the power shuttle con strikes can have and if you watch some of his fights you see many of opponents taking those kicks to the body and just really from the impact. And going back to those one-step drills if you watch closely and there are several videos on youtube that highlight this but Machida does employ some of those traditional drills in addition to some basic shuttle con striking combinations. For example an advancing triple punch combination is a very common karate kumite basic drill. Leota Machida employs this frequently and very effectively along with another combination of a rear leg kick advancing followed by a front hand punch. Basic steps in kumite drills but as you can see Machida mixes them into his fights with great success. Another example is the calf kick intended to take the opponent off balance and combine with a reverse punch either proceeding or following the kick. Just keep watching fights closely and you'll see takedowns and other combinations play out in very similar fashion as to what you learn in the basic one-step kumite drill. The key is in learning how to perfect a technique knowing when to apply it in freestyle and then conditioning yourself for the resisting opponent to fine tune it and make it work. But some of you might be thinking well that's all well and good but Leota Machida may just be one lone example. Well not really. Remember shodokan is the foundation to a lot of arts that came after it. Many high-profile MMA fighters have traditional arts as partners striking regimen. For example George St. Pierre is a third degree black belt in kyokushin. Kyokushin has shodokan and gojiru at its core. Anderson Silva has very diverse mix of martial arts including Wing Chung, BJJ, Muay Thai, Kapoorah and Taekwondo. Taekwondo is derived from Tongsido which is heavily derived from shodokan. Chuck the Dell is an eighth Don in Kajukinbo which has traditional karate and shodokan mixed in it and Boss Ruten holds a slack belt in Taekwondo and the kyokushin. And that's just the high-profile guys. If you take a look at some of the lower weight divisions and lower profile fights you'll see a ton of fighters employing traditional karate into their arsenal. So if you are asking the question why don't I see shodokan MMA the answer is simply you aren't looking for it. I also encourage you to go back and revisit the Nijikun list and see where you can find some relevance to those 20 principles into your training. Several of them definitely hold true in MMA. For example Calamity Springs for Carelessness. If you are reckless and unfocused in the cage you're going to have a bad time. Make adjustments according to your opponent. Formal stances are for beginners. Later one stands more naturally. Preform prescribed sets of techniques exactly. Actual combat is another matter. You see these all hold very true for competitive fighting and I think my favorite one is karate is like boiling water. Without heat it returns to its tepid state. Such a powerful and accurate statement and it applies to all martial arts. If you stop putting passion and effort into your training and you forget that you're always a student it's very easy to get comfortable and complacent and then your skillset may not have enough steam to be effective when you need it. That is just one of many important lessons that shodokan teaches us. So if you are interested in getting an introduction to shodokan before committing to any classes I do recommend this book. It's the shodokan bible by Ashley P. Martin. It's a really good book that breaks down the basic curriculum from white belt all the way up to black belt and while it's not going to replace a live class it gives you a great idea of what to expect and encounter in a shodokan class. So thank you so much for watching please join us on patreon so that we can continue to make videos like this and be sure to subscribe and click on the bell notification so you get an alert when the history of shodokan part 3 drops next week. And also one of the benefits to being a patreon member is once in a while we will release an episode early which our current members already know because they've already seen this one first.