Rick Hotton, karate sensei - any of Sherdog's Karate experts familiar with him?

[Big Nasty Edison]

I don't train Karate but I like to keep an open mind in terms of technique and arts so I'm always checking out Karate and chatting with people I know who train it.

There's a guy named Rick Hotton in Sarasota FL (I think) and the guy just seems phenomenal with what I imagine is an unprecedented level of understanding of his art. Are any of the you karate sherbro's like @Azam and @shinkyoku familiar with him? If so what do you think?

 

[AndyMaBobs]

I have immense respect for anyone that's willing to get in their and spar with Jesus.

 

[Azam]

Yes I've heard of him before - in passing. He's legit. I think he's trained at the JKA Honbu in Japan - in fact I'm pretty sure he has. He's also passed the JKA instructor program which isn't easy if I remember.

Definitely legit. The JKA program is a very good program for quality Karate training & it's not many have that qualification under their belt.

That said - you might like Patrick McCarthy more. IMHO he's one of the best Karate knowledge banks out there.

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

Yes I've heard of him before - in passing. He's legit. I think he's trained at the JKA Honbu in Japan - in fact I'm pretty sure he has. He's also passed the JKA instructor program which isn't easy if I remember.

Definitely legit. The JKA program is a very good program for quality Karate training & it's not many have that qualification under their belt.

That said - you might like Patrick McCarthy more. IMHO he's one of the best Karate knowledge banks out there.

Thanks! I'll check him out. I'm starting to consider myself a karate cheerleader at this point lol I don't train it but I am always checking out karate stuff online. If only there were some knockdown schools near me. No kyokushin, enshin or ashihara at all and all the other styles like shotokan, uechi-ryu, goju-ryu etc are all strip mall mcdojos.

I wanted to visit Hotton Sensei while I was in Florida but he was on the road doing a seminar and we were flying out the only day he teaches (Sunday mornings).

 

[NVSemin]

I have immense respect for anyone that's willing to get in their and spar with Jesus.

So you respect Israel?

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

Bump.

Attending a Hotton Sensei seminar this weekend. Was pretty much what I expected. My legs and hips, core and lats were sore so I guess I was using the right muscles for striking all day lol

I'm not a karate-ka but his explanations of connecting your body through your center and being relaxed I feel will apply to any type of art I do. It's hard to even describe what we worked on, kind of how people talk about Rickson seminars. It's not that you learn any new techniques, but you learn to feel every technique you already know much differently.

Only thing I struggled with was some of the Japanese terms for technique or when he would say something was like some other part of a kata.

 

[BudoNoah]

Hotton is very big on body mechanics, and has even incorporated some Okinawan karate mechanics, from what I've seen, although doing them from Shotokan stances and techniques seems more of a strain than necessary, from my perspective. Still, since he largely teaches concepts in his seminars, I'm sure it was beneficial! Glad you're enjoying karate, even if you aren't a karate guy

 

[Big Nasty Edison]

Yeah. I currently give most my training time to BJJ but I also practice kickboxing and HKD so I felt that regardless of what I'm doing I would benefit from his instruction. I also enjoy that he not only discusses the combative aspects of body mechanics and being centered, but also how to apply that psychologically. However for some people, I could see them being turned away by how much "aiki" he teaches in his karate.

Hard to believe Hotton is almost 60 years old.

 

[Ogata]

Its odd to see this thread since I became aware of him 3 weeks ago and although I practice boxing, I was deeply impressed by his content.

 

[CFGroup]

Yeah. I currently give most my training time to BJJ but I also practice kickboxing and HKD so I felt that regardless of what I'm doing I would benefit from his instruction. I also enjoy that he not only discusses the combative aspects of body mechanics and being centered, but also how to apply that psychologically. However for some people, I could see them being turned away by how much "aiki" he teaches in his karate.

Hard to believe Hotton is almost 60 years old.

Don't be fooled by "soft" application of body mechanics. That is supposed to be the principle of BJJ and JJJ it's father art. Training to only use force and strength in specific moments while being relaxed when not engaged helps endurance. Adrenaline tends to keep us in a state of tension throughout it's release. Training to regulate that will only help the body conserve energy, utilize it when effective and focus your mind for tactical technique.

Training with Japanese schooled Okinawan Go Ju Ryu, Kodokan and Hombu BB's Hotton defiantly has solid body alignment and mechanics.

Plus, one of the ways to test out a good school is to observe it's students. The best schools will have top level students that replicate their teachers mannerisms in their techniques. Not all great practitioners are good teachers so just judging a school by it's chief instructor can be misleading.

 

[CFGroup]

Its odd to see this thread since I became aware of him 3 weeks ago and although I practice boxing, I was deeply impressed by his content.

God I love that shit!

The thing I'd add to that throw at 1:57 is nutralizing the ability to walk out of it by trapping the back leg like Uchi Mata or if you can trap the front leg which dislocates the knee stopping him from walking out of the throw, as you palm heel strike into the face. It's more throwing him over your hip than pushing him forward. I've drilled that throw and been thrown a bazillion times on mats(LOL) with guys who have expert break falls to protect their trapped legs.

Deff good full body use of power like I think any good boxer trains for striking. His stances look a little wide, but that might be for rooting so he can project the upper body power without loosing his balance.

 

[andy-pandy]

Rick Hotton loves the body

 

[freakyfarley]

Any sparring videos? That's what you should look at.