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The "Karate wars" and inter-dojo challenges.


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last night i was talking history with Sensei and we got onto the subject of the inergration of martial arts into American society.

 

then we got into the early "karate wars" between dojos. in the earley 50's-60's (not possotive on dates) students would challenge other dojos which sometimes resulted in all out gang brawls bwteeen dojos.

 

one of the most famous of which of course involves a man known as Count Dante, the self proclaimed "Worlds Deadliest man" and his black dragon fighting society.

 

one such brawl ended in the brutal deaths of several students (one got a spear through the chest, another bleed to death). needless to say, Count Dante was liable for this and went to jail for a long time.

 

we also talked about even today in the filipines, you have to be careful who you speak to and how you speak to them when training, because some times it can be seen as a challenge. Sensei talked about alot of masters (and particulairly members of their entourage) who would talk online with someone in the states who would bad mouth their system, hop on a plain, come to the US and duel with them

 

i was wondering what people think about challenges and duels between dojos. personally i think they're i good way to test your skills, but some people take them to far. a duel is a seriuos thing, not something you can do at the drop of a hat.

If in your journey you encounter God, God will be cut


~Hatori Hanso (sonny chiba)

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That is very sad to have a friendly competition degenerate into something involving the deaths of people.

 

I can understand competitions between people, between dojos, etc. but that is senseless. To compete and "show your stuff" is a good thing in my opinion, because it gives us all goals and to compare our knowledge and skills with others.

 

BTW good sig, Bdaze, I saw that movie and enjoyed it very much.

.

The best victory is when the opponent surrenders

of its own accord before there are any actual

hostilities...It is best to win without fighting.

- Sun-tzu

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To be honest, that is not what MA is about. That is definitely not the martial spirit. Friendly competition and tournies are one thing, but to go out and do something like that gives martial arts a bad name.

 

Just my opinion, though ;)

Laurie F

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talk online with someone in the states who would bad mouth their system, hop on a plain, come to the US and duel with them

 

What what WHAT!!! :o

 

That's just ka-Razy!!!

 

---------------

 

We have 'rival schools' --- we settle it at the tournaments. And its all friendly --- never any hard feelings---that just takes all the fun out of it. :karate:

KarateForums.com Sempai
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As for the Philippines, I don't think it ever happened that way seeing as how difficult it is for a Filipino citizen to acquire a visa of any type to enter the US.

 

I lived in the Philippines until 2002. Been back almost two years. I taught martial arts, among other things. I would have to say that the sort of pride and animosity described isn't true over the whole. There might be a couple of students that are aggressive. But as a whole most Filipinos don't even know of a school where any martial is taught. Most of the teaching is from someone they know who learned from someone else who learned from someone else, etc. Formally organized schools are rare, even in Manila. I know of 1 in the Cubao, Quezon City region. A couple in Makati. Maybe two in Manila. 1, that went out of business, in Quiapo. There is 1 arnis school near Sampaloc.

 

Anyways, about the 'karate-wars' those have always happened. Not so much today. But back in the day, stemming from asia to the US, schools would duel to determine who was the best. As for historical data, I have none. No records were kept. It was all word of mouth. However, a few of my older teacher friends were participants and first hand witness to some. Outside of their word, which I believe, I can't prove the other stories--and they may just be that: stories.

 

As for why they did that...well, the warrior spirit of the martial artist was more stressed in the primary days of martial arts. Today you find schools focus more on the spiritual side of martial arts. Therefore, the aggression is reduced because the fight is not so much stressed, as is friendly martial arts competition.

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." Einstein

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haha...

 

some youngsters from a village 'man-handle' their instructor and all 160 students go and attack them...

 

i'm not sure what's more funny,

 

the fact that it took 160 of them,

 

or the fact that the instructor got 'man-handled' by kids.

post count is directly related to how much free time you have, not how intelligent you are.


"When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite."

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As for the Philippines, I don't think it ever happened that way seeing as how difficult it is for a Filipino citizen to acquire a visa of any type to enter the US.

 

it does happen. Sensei has taught in the philipines and done seminars many many times and his instructor in Sayoc Kali has also.

 

i can't remeber the name of the guy whos possee did this. ill ask him on tuesday if i remeber, but he named one of the old masters (he's about 80 now)

 

PS: a visa is not required to visit a country. it's only necissary if you intend to become a citizen and seek employment

If in your journey you encounter God, God will be cut


~Hatori Hanso (sonny chiba)

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that sounds like a MA movie i saw once

 

it was a MA movie where two schools fought each other and only one guy survived from one school- his arm got trapped in a forge or something and he ended up with an iron arm, He then made this comeback and beat everyone up with his iron arm.

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