Competition as requirement?

[Shorinryu Sensei]

I do not require any of my students to compete in tournaments. Never have, never will. However with that said, if they want to compete, they may, but I stress over and over to them that a tournament needs to be considered "play time", not as a viable test of their skills for self-defense purposes. I also tell them that bringing home a 5' tall 1st place trophy...or not scoring a single point against an opponent, makes no difference to me in regards to testing them.

 

I tell them it is a fun experience, they'll meet some great people and see some interesting things.

 

"Go...have fun...play nice...then come back and get to work!"

[ninjanurse]

Sensei's family traditionally kept their style in the family only and it was a great privledge to be allowed into the "family". Since these styles were traditinally developed and practiced in secret one was never allowed to show their skills in public...unless to defend a life. Keeping to these principles was as much a part of the art as the techniques themselves and to violate this family trust would be an insult.

 

[RavenX]

Just like there are all different types of styles of karate, I beleive that there are many different types of students, instructors, and sensei's. Some people are better at forms, some better at self defense. What I'm getting at is, it all depends on what type of person you are. I would NEVER require ANYONE to compete in a tournament if the (a) didn't want to and (b) if I knew they wouldn't stand a chance. Tournaments should be a good thing, a confidence boost. If they want to compete yes, but FORCING them? NO.

[ladyj]

Ninjanurse that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the clarification.

[pineapple]

Ninjanurse, thanks for your reply.

 

I like your answer and now I understand that competition to your teacher is an insult to traditional ways and I respect his feelings.

[aes]

The dojo I train at promotes competing. Saying it helps students focus on the fine details of kata, kumite etc and I would tend to agree.

 

It was not so long ago that Kyoshi made it a requirement of all our brown belts to win 3rd or better in kata, kumite and weapons before they would be allowed to advance. This was to force them to bring the standards to a higher level. I would have to say it seemed to work. However one student quit over this.