How/what is GKR karate?

[kylefoulds]

hi guys, i am an instructor with GKR and ex - SDC i trained with the club for 2 years before coming an full time consultant (the door knockers) and was teaching after 6months of training.

 

i can see all of you had valid points and would appreciate it greatly if you heeded my words and didnt just regurgitate the points you have already made as i have read all 150 previous posts and so if you repeat the same stuff you obviously wont be regarding what i am saying.

 

GKR is a money making organisation, this is true but how else can a large club sustain such rapid growth, you say it is not a real martial art, just because it isnt full contact my wotsit is bigger than yours doesnt mean it isnt a proper martial art, i was 16 when i joined, was looking for a club and an SDC knocked on my door, the chap was pleasant and professional as well as showing me how much everything costs, explained a lot more than other clubs, now from my point of view going door to door is a hard slog, I SHOULD KNOW I'VE DONE IT FOR GKR, and some people do think it is a scam, but its not, we dont pretend to be a big hard mans club, we are a club for families and adults who want to learn a martial art in an environment with discipline and respect with the knowledge they wont get belted, now this 1 year black belt stuff i have been hearing is definitley not true, there are a few points i will be clarifying for you guys.

 

1. yes GKR has low grade instructors they are called sempais, and are just people stood at front of the class doing some punching and blocking for people in there first few classes to copy.

 

2. yes some of the sensei's are lower grade, i was one of them, i taught my first class as a sensei aas a blue belt (5th kyu) however i am confident in knowing at the time my karate was much better than the average person. i trained 4 times a week after doing only 1 week with the club and train at home and with the top instructors in my region. (i live in derby BTW)

 

3. those people who slag gkr off as a Mc Dojo, well look at it like this, 99.9% of the population dont want to do full contact karate, some people want something to keep fit and learn some punches and stuff at the same time, i have a class for kids and for adults and its great fun, i will be the first to admit my students love me becuase a) my karate is good and they can respect me because of it and b) they like the way i am with them, i am relaxed and have good fun,

now i will be the first to admit before karate i had a bad attitude and temper and will hold my hands up and say i was a complete ar$e but now i have got self control discipline and i can defend myself, i am currently wearing a black and white belt and have been doing so for 2 years now, and am coming up for my black belt within the next 12 - 16 months, and this is training 4 times a week, i do contact training at home, punching walls wood bricks and always get my m8s to hit me all over my torso and legs so i know i can take a punch, and people who say GKR has no technique and power, answer me this, have you been on the end of a punch from a high grade practitioner of GKR, if the answer is yes then fair - dos if no then how can you comment,

 

martial arts should teach you respect and courtesy, now i for 1 am a strong believer that everyone should have there own opinion and so if you guys want to think what you tihnk fair play, but dont go shouting off stories you hear that are clearly not true or that you dont know about.

 

i will happily answer any questions you have about the club and seeing as i have been an SDC i can answer most of your questions in more depth.

 

for example yes we are registered with NAKMAS (national academy of karate and martial arts schools) and Kancho Sullivan trains with the 2 top goju sensei's in japan and has their blessing to teach a style with goju as the main contributor.

btw for the person who commented earlier Go = Hard Kan = Complete Ryu = School

 

yes Gokan does mean rape in japanese but Go-Kan WITH A HYPHEN is hard complete, now then back to the point. kancho has been doing martial arts for 43 years now, 23 of which has been with GKR so thats 20 years of karate experience training in australia with goju and shotokan. and the goju masters in okinawa graded kancho upto his 6th dan, the gap between 6th and 7th dan was 6 years i belive and in that time the okinawan sensei kancho trained with passed away so it was left to sensei gavin and shihan to grade kancho.

 

thanks for taking the time to read my post and i hope you consider it as i have consdiered yours.

 

for those wondering i do intend to train in another style of karate and it will be a full contact one but i enjoy training with GKR and would say this to you, every club has bad eggs, just because you have eaten a bad egg doesnt been the rest of them are. so please do not judge our club on one area of the UK as with all big organizations there are going to be some bad points, but instead look at how many peoples lives GKR has improved by helping them get fitter and more confident.

 

thanks again

 

kyle

[amc_kaz]

Kyle,

Thanks for a measured post.

A point to BEWARE ...

If you are thinking of training with another style, maybe you should check your GKR contract - when I was with GKR, some instructors were told by the Regional Instructor that if they did train outside GKR, they would have their Black & White belt confiscated and would no longer be allowed to teach GKR classes. They have now left and train in Goju Ryu. Maybe this policy has now been rescinded given the attrition of higher grades.

Regards

amc_kaz

[kylefoulds]

i know about that, i was talking about in the future after i finish at university, but thanks for your concern nice to see some people on here that will listen to what people have to say.

[Protekt]

How in the hell can you claim to teach people self defence when its non-contact for Gods sake, Self Defence Consultants, the big rip off !!

A title that is designed to mislead people with no martial arts knowledge into thinking GKR might help them on the street.

The real self defense experts in this country, people like Dave Turton, Geoff Thompson and Peter Consterdine (people proven to be able to talk the talk, and walk the walk) all hold high dan grades in traditional martial arts and clearly state they have little or no use on the street.

Do you Mr or Miss GKR Self Defence Consultant with your two and a half years experience, claim to know more about self defence than Self Defence Federation Head, Dave Turton 8th Dan who cut his teeth working on the doors of Moss Side.

Stick to boxercise, please don`t dare to call yourself Self Defence Consultants.

[kylefoulds]

well for a start people dont know we are called self defence consultants thats our titles to them we are just karate guys, and seeing as i have had to use karate to defend myself on more than one occasion i would say it works, i dont train non contact in my personal training just in my class, and non contact doesnt make it ineffective, in fact i would like to know. what makes you think that non contact is ineffective,

 

and at no point have i claimed to know more than anyone else, or be better than anyone else i have cooly stated my opinion and you have flown off the handle, so i asume you do something like kickboxing or some other aggresive art, but thats beside the point.

 

if you can find anything in my post that claims "Do you Mr or Miss GKR Self Defence Consultant with your two and a half years experience, claim to know more about self defence than Self Defence Federation Head, Dave Turton 8th Dan who cut his teeth working on the doors of Moss Side." no i dont i know that i trained damn hard to get where i am and have been coated in blood at many of my gradings. at no point have i claimed to be better than anyone else and no REAL karateka will, and what is wrong with the title, i USED to talk to people (consulting them) on the subject of karate which is a form of self defence, you people need to learn to cool down cos you are just to irritable if someone talks to you reasonably

[Beebop]

,

 

Dave Turton 8th Dan who cut his teeth working on the doors of Moss Side.

.

 

 

 

Cut his teeth? seems a strange injury

 

Don't you mean cut his lip?

[kylefoulds]

in that message i highlighted what is in my post if you read that you would know it, and karate is a form of self defence, and i am no longer an SDC i did a few months as one and no am going to uni.

[Moocher]

Cannot help myself sorry.

TO ALL YOU GKR BLACK AND WHITE BELTS OUT THERE.

 

YOU CAN INSTRUCT MARTIAL ARTS/SELF DEFENCE AT YELLOW BELT- BUT YOU SHOULD NOT.

 

ITS WROOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I go incognito to GKR classes about once a month for fun. Once you pay the initial fee you are a lifetime member. Just turn up at any dojo, there's plenty of them. Do it, go on do it because the interpretation of some shotokan and goju ryu kata is amusing.

 

In fact their interpretation of everything is getting more amusing, and it constantly changes. One club I have been sneaking to has had 6 different instructors in one year.

 

I could be wrong here, but I'd still put money on this one, does GKR alter kata's to make them look more cosmetically appealing?

 

I could go on forever about these guys.

 

My main beaf is the black and white thing, the rest of it I can accept. If they stopped that sempai rubbish I would leave them alone.

 

Its not going to happen is it.

[Johnny_B]

karate which is a form of self defence

 

My personal background is Shotokan, and I do have to agree here that Karate is a form of self defence, and can be used to good effect on the street if required, but only if taught properly. People like Dave Turton may disagree, but then agin poel like Terry O'Niell would disagree with him..

 

HOWEVER...

 

at no point have i claimed to be better than anyone else and no REAL karateka will,

 

Please do not in any way, shape, or form call yourself a karateka, you are not, and to say so is an insult to all PROPER KARATEKA!

GKR is not karate, its a keep fit club that scams people into joining by using martial arts and karate as an advertising front. GKR is about as usefull in the real world as tap dancing.

[Protekt]

Having looked at the GKR website there are 26 ! yes 26 GKR clubs in Sheffield alone:o.

I would love to know what grades the so called instructors are.

People are paying top prices for 3rd rate instruction.