Sabaki Challenge

[Charlie]

What I will say about some Sabaki events I have witnessed first hand is that some bad calls are made because of favorism towards the Enshin stylists.

I've only personally witnessed one Sabaki event so far so I'm reserving judgement on whether that is true or not. I suspect that in a Sabaki tournament match if neither fighter is knocked-down or if the match ends in a tie on points, then many of the judges might be more inclined to choose the fighter that they think used more Sabaki method than the other fighter, no matter how many kicks or punches the other fighter threw. Nevertheless, in our tournament, several of the divisions were won by non-Enshin fighters who defeated Enshin fighters by judges decision.

[Makushi]

I have five years of Sabaki Challenge videos.

I agree that the judges tend to reward fighters for using Sabaki technique. So, if two fighters are equal, the one that demonstrates greater Sabaki technique will generally be given the nod by the judges.

Angie Yeoh is an example of a non-Enshin fighter that has done very well, winning three Sabaki Challenges.

[powerof0ne]

What I will say about some Sabaki events I have witnessed first hand is that some bad calls are made because of favorism towards the Enshin stylists.

I've only personally witnessed one Sabaki event so far so I'm reserving judgement on whether that is true or not. I suspect that in a Sabaki tournament match if neither fighter is knocked-down or if the match ends in a tie on points, then many of the judges might be more inclined to choose the fighter that they think used more Sabaki method than the other fighter, no matter how many kicks or punches the other fighter threw. Nevertheless, in our tournament, several of the divisions were won by non-Enshin fighters who defeated Enshin fighters by judges decision.

In '01 at the Seattle Sabaki Sattellite Jon Gerkin fought the Oregon state Enshin branch chief for 1st place...I really need to get a video link of this on youtube.com or something. Anyhoo, Jon was throwing leg kicks, body kicks, neck kicks, head kicks, punches, spinning side kicks, etc..throughout the duration of the fight. The Oregon competitor went the distance but all he did was tsuki(punch). Just throw soem body punches while Jon was using him as a punching bag throwing combinations. I'm not saying this by any favorism, it's just a fact, many people came up to Jon right after the match and told him he should have won. It was literally the worst decision I have ever seen in person, ever.

[powerof0ne]

Wow, I just posted a long reply and it made me relog on here..doh!

I train at Family Martial Arts in University Place(Tacoma), WA. I'm not exactly a student but go here because it's convenient for me after work, and gives me a place to train and occasionally spar with some nice people. I teach the Muay Thai here and we also do knockdown style kumite, here. I also occasionally train with Jon Gerkin privately on the weekends, and he will be competing in the Kyokushin tourny on april 29th, as will I. The school I train/teach at is a Kempo school but I don't feel comfortable calling myself a kempo, or even a shito ryu stylist anymore. I hold rank in Shito Ryu but don't feel comfortable sparring in jiyu kumite, the "shito ryu way" anymore. I've even been going over in my head of joining another association/style/etc. because I don't know exactly what to call what I do anymore. Anyhoo, I'll stop here before I go on a long tangent. Unfortunately, the Kyokushin I was involved with is no more(tjakai in burien)and I've considered cross training at the SEattle U Kyokushin club(my brother does or was recently) but will wait after the tourny on the 29th, if I do.

What about yourself, where do you train? Sorry it took me so long to reply but if you want to get a hold of me quicker u2u me or email me @yahoo.com