Karate & Selforsvar for mand og kvinder i Århus Denmark

In addition to karate styles like Shotokan, Kyukushin-kai, Goju-ryu and others a new style is emerging – Sho Shin Karate Do what means the genuine, the honest way. The basis of Sho Shin Karate Do are self discipline, responsibility and respect. The training concentrates 100% on kumite, 100% on kata and 100 % on mental training, all equal to form the full Karate not one before the other. In the Sho Shin Karate Do style we do not compromise, the style is growing day by day and is taught and trained by a large number of Karatekas in Denmark, Israel, Norway, Germany and Russia.

The bases of the style were put in the 80th by Shihan Raffi Liven, today Kaicho, 10 dan. In more than 40 years during he trained Karate, he never found a really perfect style. However he is grateful to the different masters from different styles he could train under because they gave him the possibility to develop his own style. In his childhood he learned to have respect to older people because you can profit from the experiences they collected in a whole life. By listening to them you can learn from their knowledge and mistakes. One day we will be the old people and want others to respect us. Shihan Livens opinion is that you are not able to love somebody when you dont love yourself. Love and respect your friends how you love yourself, help others and become stronger through that. Each day is a gift for Shihan Raffi Liven and he is happy for every day and the experiences it gives no matter whether the sky is blue or gray. Be happy for what you have and dont run after material goods as the focal point of your life. It is not money what makes the

world go round but happiness, love and understanding. Therefore he tries to live a healthy life and advises others not to get dependent on something but always to stay in full control on what you are doing. Karate is not just a fighting art but a lifestyle that demands deeper understanding. That means that the concentration on the training of the Karate techniques is not enough. Keep your body strong and healthy, hard, elastic and fast. In that way you get stronger also mentally. This is the base of Karate: mental strength. When you are strong mentally you can reach everything.

Technique

Technically the style is in a constant development in the Karate Do whereby holding to traditions will never be made for their sake only. It is important to keep the mind open because you can always learn from a great master or the youngest student. On the way of Karate the one never stops learning and new things are included into the style to improve and enrich it. In contrast to other styles Sho Shin Do is always defensive oriented. From the starting position one always goes a step back blocks the attack of the opponent and give him a chance to change his mind. Already through a strong defence against the first attack one takes a part of the strength to the opponent away. The Karateka shall always understand the logic of his movement, related to a special combat situation. That applies to the Katas in the Sho Shin Do, as well as to the basic techniques and combinations taught in the Kihon training and also for the training with a partner. From the first training hour the student is asked to think about the newly gained knowledge. When he learns how to make a correct fist an do a punch he gets the explanation of How? and Why like that?

Competition

The knock-down Karatekas are tough, strong and hard people with a great spirit. But they dont try to protect their faces against attacks by punches and can easily be beaten if the have to fight after other rules or if there are no rules. The traditional styles e.g. Shotokan are showing the beauty of the art of fighting with the power of timing, control and focus but they are not prepared for contact and they can be easily beaten with a strong punch to the body or a low kick. But Karate includes both toughness as well as control. The body and mind of a Karateka must be hard like iron and soft like water. The knock-down styles are missing the control and the traditional styles are missing the contact. All the time we can hear from one side that knock-down like kyokushinkai is not Karate and the other side laughs and says that the „traditional“ are not tough enough for real fighting. Karate becomes complete first when you combine strength and hardness with control, timing and focus. Thats why the best of the Sho Shin Karate Do competitors start in any type of Karate competition full contact or non contact.