Whats with tournaments nowdays???

[searcher]

I will tell it to you the same way it was told to me by one of the largest tourney promoters in the midwest, "The traditional forms are boring and they don't pack the house". That was his response to after asking why he thought there are more people doing extreme forms and not traditional. I have competed in open forms and IMHO they have their place, as a side show at the circus. If you want real MA you need to stick to Knockdown and Traditional tournaments, they are out there if you look for them.

 

Don't get me wrong they are fun to watch, but they have little, if any, practical martial arts in the whole form.

[The Saint]

I once saw a guy try a 360 round house kick in a tournament in sparing. Little did he know that the fist of his opponent was under his jaw when he came around... lights out.... not a pretty site. Kinda funny thou how a basic technic can easily beat a flashy one. Flash is trash, I'm not a fan of the backflips and flashy kicks.

[ComicBookGuy]

and i've seen a guy do a butterfly twist and threw a roundhouse out of one of the legs...and landed the kick in sparring! i've seen a guy do a webster (front flip where you land on your back but one of your legs sorta acts like an axe kick) and score with it in sparring! of course, these were the big name XMA people sparring, so they're experienced in such moves...so flash CAN work, tho it almost all cases it probably won't...i'm just saying flash is nice to look at and it's something different...it's not meant to replace the traditional basics...flash isn't meant to fight with..."flash is trash without any basics" -Mike Chat...so flash has SOME place in the MA world...but it's not taking over the techniques you're supposed to use in a real situation...it's just some fun stuff to do...

[Kreisi]

FLash really is trash the ones who do it just wanna impress other people

[ComicBookGuy]

it's kinda like NASCAR...you guys are trashing the flash aspect of sports martial arts or the XMA...saying how impractical it is...it's like saying that NASCAR is utterly stupid and is trash...it's just something different...NASCAR, you take something basic and practical (driving) and do something a little more with it cuz the drivers love doing it, which is driving really really fast in many circles and stuff...it's like that with XMA...you take something basic and pratical (MA base) and do something a little moer with it cuz the competitors love to do it...

[Kicks]

I went to a tournament where the young adult forms division was mixed (men and women) due to a small number of competitors. A guy tried to add flash to his Koryo form, he even opened up with a back flip. An overweight young lady also did Koryo, very simple and basic and with no major mistakes. She beat him. The guy went home without a medal and very PO'd.

[fxkarate]

Martial arts is a discipline. The ability to add "flash" into a contemporary form take extensive training and discipline. The ability to use a particular technique in a fighting situation is really mute with any form be it traditional or extreme. Martial arts practioners are taught to respect tradition and others styles. The techniques being used in contemporary forms are great evasive moves that can be used in a fight. I would put a contemporary fighter up against a traditional tae-kwon-do fighter any time. I just returned from NBL super grands and the contemorary practioners were on stage in the fighting finals every night. One is not better than the other , there is room for all.

[ComicBookGuy]

Martial arts practioners are taught to respect tradition and others styles.

 

yes, i agree...although i know some of the hardcore old school traditionalists will say that the xtreme forms are no longer martial arts and are more gymnastics, respect is one of the main things in MA...that's what pissed me off about one of my "teachers"...we went to a tournament and he was mocking all the styles that kia loudly (anything louder than a quick shout...i know that currently, a lot of people scream for prolonged time as their kia and that kinda takes away from the original purpose of adding strength, but still)...basically he was dissing all styles other than the quiet wushu stylists...that's what bugged me, after 20-30 some years of training, he still did not grasp the concept of respect...it doesn't matter whether they were silly or not, you learn respect in MA since day one with the bowing and "sirs" and "ma'am" and "sifu" and everything...but yeah the point is, whether you like it or not, you shouldn't be trash talking about the flash and xma...it's okay to have an opinion about it but you should at least respect it as a different form of the art

[kataman]

Flashy or not, the biggest opponent in a tournement is you self.When I do tournement open or not I always come out with positive thoughts it is because I look at me, not at others. I am my own challenge.

[jakmak52]

Is this stuff even martial arts or is it gymnastics or chearleading. whats with all of the backflips if you try that in a fight youre dead!!!! How can such a impractical move be graded seriously, these tournaments really leave me with a bad taste in my mouth and I fear what message they are sending to the general public. Everyone is just trying to be more flashy than each other which is practically no self defence value at all in my opinion FLASH IS TRASH.

 

I agree, get used to it, welcome to world of XMA, people want to see the gymnastics and aerobics, not martial arts, too boring... Hey, let's go to the Ringling Brother's show, their doing kata behind the ponies and midgets