Olympic Karate

[Charlie]

I notice that this past July the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted on allowing Squash and Karate to replace baseball and softball as events in the 2012 Olympic games. However, the majority of the IOC general committee voted "no" on allowing entry for either one.

I investigated around the Internet to try to find out just which Karate association would be recognized by the IOC as the representative body of Karate if it was included in the Olympics. What I found was a somewhat convoluted history involved with Olympic Karate. It appears that Shotokan Karate is the style that is recognized by the IOC as Olympic Karate so perhaps Shotokan practioners in this forum might have additional insight.

From what I understand, the World Karate Federation (WKF) is the IOC-recognized Karate association, being given this designation in 1999. However, the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF) claims on their website to be the official organization of Olympic Karate. Which one is it?

The WKF appears to be centered mainly in Europe while the ITKF is stronger in the US. Which one is stronger in Japan? Or, does Japan have another Shotokan association that is larger than either one of those two?

Also, it appears that both the WKF and ITKF originally come from Master Nishiyama who I understand supported the Japan Karate Association (JKA) as opposed to the Japan University Karate which was supported by Master Ohshima. If I understand right, Ohshima's organization is considered a more "stricter" interpretation of Master Funakoshi's teachings. My quesion is, which one is the main Shotokan style today worldwide? Is it the descendents of the JKA, or of the University (Ohshima) organizations?

Since it appears that Shotokan is the IOC-designated representative of Karate, does this mean that Olympic Karate would probably be under point-sparring, semi-contact rules? I read an article by Sensei Kiyoshi Yamazaki, member of the WKF technical committee, that appears to take a "swipe" at full-contact styles, saying, "Karate must remain a participation sport and therefore, the rules must first consider the safety of the athletes: not only of those who compete in the World Championships or the Olympic Games, but also of athletes of all ages and skill levels in local, regional and national competitions, and even of those who do not compete at all. I oppose any attempt to make gladiators out of karate athletes, sacrificing their safety." (Source: http://www.dragon-tsunami.org/Dtimes/Pages/articledt16.htm).

One final question: Karate is included in the World and Pan-American Games. Which Karate organization governs the participation in these events?

I would enjoy seeing Karate in the Olympics someday along with Judo, TKD, wrestling, etc

[niel0092]

Here's an earlier discussion on the topic...

http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=20263

and the SI article

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/magazine/05/31/olympic.new0606/index.html

one from espn

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=2104434

[Killer Miller]

Karate in the olympics has been Nishiyama's goal since I can remember. He has always been heavily involved with the IOC and the Pan American games.

Which organization is the originator, I don't really feel like getting into the politics of the matter on this forum. However, there were, and I'm sure there still are, various representing organizations internationally representing their chapter for their region of the world. Nishiyama is the U.S. chapter of representing Olympic Karate - I'm sure some will disagree with that statement, but I know it to be true.

When the BIG SPLIT of JKA happened, there were many written claims stated as facts that were not necessarily facts of what truly occured and whom was in charge of what. Only those involved will know the truth.

- Killer -

[mushin_042]

The WKF is the only governing body of karate recognized by the ioc, you can find that on their site here,

http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/if/fi_uk.asp?id_federation=46

The WKF's site is,

http://www.wkf.net/

The governing body for karate in the usa, as recognized by the IOC and the USOC is the USANKF you can find their website at, http://www.usankf.org/

Neither organization is a "Shotokan" organization, the 4 major styles of Japanese karate that these organizations represent are shotokan, wado ryu, goju ryu, and shito ryu. The rules are indeed not full contact you can find a copy of the WKF rules at,

http://www.wkf.net/html/karaterules-eng.html

If you've never seen a tournament run in this format you can find some videos at the following website,

http://richschwinn.com/video/karate/y_frame_index.php

[Blitz]

The WKF is the only governing body of karate recognized by the ioc, you can find that on their site here,

http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/if/fi_uk.asp?id_federation=46

The WKF's site is,

http://www.wkf.net/

The governing body for karate in the usa, as recognized by the IOC and the USOC is the USANKF you can find their website at, http://www.usankf.org/

Neither organization is a "Shotokan" organization, the 4 major styles of Japanese karate that these organizations represent are shotokan, wado ryu, goju ryu, and shito ryu. The rules are indeed not full contact you can find a copy of the WKF rules at,

http://www.wkf.net/html/karaterules-eng.html

If you've never seen a tournament run in this format you can find some videos at the following website,

http://richschwinn.com/video/karate/y_frame_index.php

That pretty much sums it up.

[johnnymac]

Well I don't think that I will see Karate in the olympics in my lifetime. Karate is still not quite a sport. Especially for the traditionalists. Shotokan would be the natural choice for rules and whatnot. It has been marketed more as a sport than an art, and it has the clearest set of Kumite rules.

Johnny

[Killer Miller]

WKF is only a "recognized" organization. It does not mean that they are the "sole" governing body slated for the olympics. Any other organization can submit their organization as a "Recognized" organization for a given sport or art and long as they meet the criteria for becoming a recognized organization.

Olympic Sport:

WTF - Taekwondo (179 affiliates)

Recognized:

WKF - Karate (173 affiliates)

IWF - Wushu (101 affiliates)

A sport has to be practised in 25 or more countries on three continents to be eligible for the Olympics.

So the question becomes, how many countries and continents is the WKF practiced? The structure of the WKF has nobody significant affiliated with the traditional structures with the historical teachings of the art of karate. It is possible that the WKF may meet the requirements and become an olympic sport, and I'm sure they are a legitimate organization. But there are other organizations working on meeting these requirements as well. Whom will be excepted as the official olympic sport? We'll have to wait and see. These organization also have to meet financial and orgainzational requirements for a pre-determined number of years prior to be excepted as the official olympic sport too.

My point is that the IOC did not choose or appoint the WKF as the official representitive of Karate. The WKF submitted their application as meeting the requirements of becoming an IOC recognized IF. Now the WKF has to work on meeting the requirements as becoming the governing body to represent Karate in the Olympics. Will they become that governing body? Perhaps? But the race to become the governing body is not over until that happens.

Will it be WKF, WUKO, ITKF? Who knows, we'll just have to wait and see. The big issue that hurt JKA was the friction between WUKO vs ITKF/ITKF. I'm sure they would had become a recognized IF by now had this friction not occured...

- Killer -

[mushin_042]

Actually a recognized sports International Federation (IF) is the "sole governing body" of the sport as recognized by the IOC. Certainly some thing could happen that would cause the WKF to lose that status but for the moment it does have it, and if karate were to be inducted as an olympic sport tomorow it would be running the show. Also on their website when it says 173 affiliates it is important to distinguish that those are the number of national governing bodies that are affiliated with the WKF, not the number of independent karate organizations affiliated with it. Also, as i understand it the WKF sprang forth from WUKO and for all intents and purposes they are now one and the same (although i admit that i was born in 1984 so alot of the WUKO/ITKF/WKF political intrigue occurred before i would have been old enough to care). Furthermore, the JKA is a style of karate, and as such would not be recognized as an IF by the IOC. As to the friction that occurred between WUKO and the ITKF, i've heard that this was one of the reasons that karate wasn't considered for entry into the olympics earlier, and i for one sincerely hope that inter-style/inter-organizational bickering wont hold the art/sport of karate back in the future in the same manner that it has in the past.

[Killer Miller]

No disagreement here. And it looks like the WKF is likely to be solidified as that role. My only point was that it doesn't set it in stone if another organization was to become more structured for that position. My other point was that just because the IOC has recognized the WKF as the acting "sole governing body" doesn't mean that they were necessarily the poineer organization for traditional karate.

Two key factors that hurt WUKO and the ITKFfor that role, other than their lack of solidarity between organizations, are protective gear and weight classes for the olympics. The IOC perceived any combative olympic sport as having various weight classes. The traditional concept of karate is no weight classes and all against all - everyone is equal. There was also a big concern of safety and the use of protective gear - which in traditional karate was not allowed to be used (except for a mouth piece, a cup and other related protective gear for vital organs). WKF seems to have incorporated these factors nicely to meet the percieved IOC's requirements as an olympic sport.

Many of who see written statements of the WKF being the "sole governing body" as an olympic sport becomes a little degrading to the true traditional organizations that have worked so hard for so long on this effort. It's almost as if the WKF came along and borrowed all of thier hard work. It also seems as if many of the true masters and talent of the world were not included in this effort - which is what bugs me the most. But perhaps there will bee some sort of aliance one day and the Olympic talent in this art will become truly awesome...

- Killer -

Actually a recognized sports International Federation (IF) is the "sole governing body" of the sport as recognized by the IOC. Certainly some thing could happen that would cause the WKF to lose that status but for the moment it does have it, and if karate were to be inducted as an olympic sport tomorow it would be running the show. Also on their website when it says 173 affiliates it is important to distinguish that those are the number of national governing bodies that are affiliated with the WKF, not the number of independent karate organizations affiliated with it. Also, as i understand it the WKF sprang forth from WUKO and for all intents and purposes they are now one and the same (although i admit that i was born in 1984 so alot of the WUKO/ITKF/WKF political intrigue occurred before i would have been old enough to care). Furthermore, the JKA is a style of karate, and as such would not be recognized as an IF by the IOC. As to the friction that occurred between WUKO and the ITKF, i've heard that this was one of the reasons that karate wasn't considered for entry into the olympics earlier, and i for one sincerely hope that inter-style/inter-organizational bickering wont hold the art/sport of karate back in the future in the same manner that it has in the past.

[mushin_042]

Agreed, they certainly havn't been around since the old days promoting the art of karate. Although, i would say that they are pioneers in the "sport" of karate, because they have created a new set of rules and developed new gear for the protection of the athletes.

For the record i definetly approve of the use of weight classes and hand gear. Regarding the weightclasses i'm 5' 8" and about 150-155 lbs, in local tournaments (where there usually arn't weight classes) and in open weight rings i've fought people that are 6' 4" and 200+ lbs. Size is not an insurmountable advantage, but it is an advantage none the less. As to the safety gear i've definetly seen a decrease in the number cuts on faces at tournaments since they were introduced, and they don't interfere with my ability to form a fist or grapple so i like them as well.

I would agree that they've continued the work started by others, but honestly i could care less who gets credit for the work as long as karate gets into the olympics without turning into TKD or a NASKA style event. Also, i can understand your frustration regarding certain masters of karate not being involved by the organization. For instance i study WIKF wado but if i were to compete in WKF tournaments i would have to perform wado-kai katas. However, i've come to except that large political organizations such as the WKF are always going to be imperfect, and that unfortunately many of the old masters really don't get along very well. But i definetly agree that it would be nice if we could get all the greats together under one organization to promote the art.