I had a very interesting photocopy of an article about grappling from Craig. It came from a very renowned karateka, Iain Abernethy. It would be interesting if we had a discussion about this on the ‘Forum’ I will write about this sometime after I get back from holiday. Our ‘Steve’ would probably be interested in this if he had a copy. What Iain says I think is partly correct, as we do practice throws and locks, but most traditional Shotokan (Other styles also) don’t practice this? But, Iain seems to promote MMA, as this is something to do with him, so this article could be slightly biased, as MMA is mentioned quite a few times. Where I think Iain is wrong; if you go for serious grappling training, your Karate will suffer. We all know the old saying “A jack of all trades, master of none” some thing will have to suffer. So what I say is, always about what you have read or seen, and do a cross reference and think about it, before you make up your mind, after all, its only one persons opinion! And I have got mine. It would be very very interesting to what every thinks about this?

I think that your Karate will suffer only if you train too much at something else. If i train for six hours a week at karate, then start MMA for three hours, i still train for six hours a week at Karate. In theory my Karate should not suffer unless my MMA training eats into my Karate training time. By the same token, does training for Kata make one less adept at Kumite?, or Kihon? Not if additional training is done, in additional time. I think that it is the allocation of time to each discipline that is the key. Also a greater repetoire of techniques is surely a good thing, and a knowledge of techniques that may be employed against you by a possible adversary might also come in handy. In my opinion, Karate should be the beginning of your fighting skill, not the end.

I still say "Jack of all trades" does not work. [b]

If i learn French, will my English get worse? It shouldn't do, in theory. I should however keep the two separate, and not speak English with a French accent. (Or vice-versa)

I have several of Iain Abernethy's Dvd's and they are excellent. In particular, the Kata Bunkai ones. Some of the applications he uses seem incredidibly simple when viewed as takedowns and/or joint locks, and seem to be the obvious Bunkai solution to some of the seemingly ambiguous Kata techniques. especially since some 'traditional' Bunkai seems to be incredibly contrived and fake looking.