WKF - too much contact

[IronWarrior]

Karate without contact is pointless! Now you dont gotta go around breaking noses but there has to be contact! Its Karate! Not dance class!

[Shrekka]

At no point did I say there shouldn't be any contact, but the contact made in the WKF, IMO, is far too much.

I am of the opinion that contact should be controlled, and in some WKF comps, it is not.

[Enshin Karate]

But if people train to fight, they should rely on the fact that you can not block or parry every attack. Sometimes you have to take punishment. I for one will always guard my head. I think for my body that I would rather take any punishment to the body. We learn to control our kicks and punches, but for the reason that if you miss, you do not want to expose your back to your opponent. When it comes to fighting or even training with arm guards, it is all out. I think that one thing that is missing in karate now is the mental prepareness that I can take or block anything that you throw at me.

As for the guy who had surgery on his nose, he will be the first one that will say it happened because he did not train enough for the tournament. When you lose a match you should be looking for the reason why, not a law suite.

Just my thoughts, but I could be wrong.

[angus88]

The tournaments here in the okc/texas/missouri/kansas/arkansas area, are not even close to either one of your examples killer.

They are the stereotype that people think of. They take what the less contact example you spoke of and water it down even more.

Just as other things are ~ here in the bible belt ~ the heart of america...lol

Whether you do less contact, sport contact, or full contact, the point is the same, accidents occur, and you should go in expecting to get hit, while doing your best not to...

Later!

LOL! Texas used to have a reputation as having some of the hardest hitters and some of the toughest tournaments in the country. I'm sure the hitters are still there, they just stay away from the tournaments! But honestly, tournaments are all about money now. People won't go if they think they might get hurt - thus the highly watered down version of something that used to be pretty cool.

So now, unless you think of karate as a sport, as I've said a million times before, tournaments are utterly useless.

And yeah, it stinks when someone gets his jaw broken, but I think suing is the wrong way to go. If the alternative is that crappy olympic style sparring with baseball catcher's equipment on, I'd rather risk the broken jaw.

[P.A.L]

Is anybody else sick of the level of contact allowed in WKF style competitions?

I know the JKF has introduced face masks and body protectors for the kids, but why can't the adults use this as well?

At a recent national competition, a well seasoned fighter had his jaw broken in three places. Does anybody else see this as a low point in WKF comps?

In the rules it says only feather touch to the face, but people continously come away with broken noses and black eyes and the referees and judges sit idly by.

What are your views on this?

isn't it a rule that a hit with no control gives a wazari to other side automaticaly.