Black Belts Discipline

[the beast]

There was also grappling at this tournament , before this happened alot of the grapplers were watching the karate part and admiring it saying how cool the katas were and such but after that happened they stated that is why they don't do karate because there is too much ego involved.

I just hate that a few idiots can ruin what should be an honorable art and give it a bad rep like this.

[tori]

Bushido, I don't believe I was labeling all tournaments to be this way and certainly didn't mean in anyway to be labeling any MAist who competes. I think you misunderstood me. I have not found any tournaments in my tri state area that are not connected somehow to the PKRA or PKA tournament system. I am sure there are schools hosting none point rated tournaments, they are just hard to find because they are not always posted online.

[bushido_man96]

I'm pretty serious about the way black belts should behave, this sounds awful and i'm glad i wasn't there. This is another reason i don't compete anymore...not only that but i noticed in my last comp the judges can be biased.

There is a kid i know who is almost a BB and he picks on my son and his language is obscene, he just is very unpleasent even threatening to "knock my sons teeth down his throat". I mean for a young kid to come out with that.

Karate is supposed to teach dicipline and respect and self defence...if this is what Karate does for some people maybe they shouldn't do it?

How does your Sensei handle this situation, Kez? Hopefully, he has done something to rectify these actions.

To tori: I understood what you are getting at. Yeah, it is unfortunate to hear that kind of talk going on at tourneys, but when practitioners get serious about competing, especially at a high level, I think you end up seeing more of this. I think that some competitors will even try to do this gain a psychological edge in competition, but I could be wrong.

[Tiger1962]

I'm pretty serious about the way black belts should behave, this sounds awful and i'm glad i wasn't there. This is another reason i don't compete anymore...not only that but i noticed in my last comp the judges can be biased.

There is a kid i know who is almost a BB and he picks on my son and his language is obscene, he just is very unpleasent even threatening to "knock my sons teeth down his throat". I mean for a young kid to come out with that.

Karate is supposed to teach dicipline and respect and self defence...if this is what Karate does for some people maybe they shouldn't do it?

I hear ya on that one. As much as I LOVE competing, and I do it for the sheer FUN of it, there are things I've seen go on that make my blood boil. Now, I don't care if I come home with a trophy or not, if I do, then it's an added bonus, but like I said, it's for the fun of competition. What DOES tick me off is when I see judges being biased or unfair. Come to think of it, I didn't start seeing any of this going on until I became a black belt. It doesn't ALWAYS happen, but it DID happen at the last two I went to and it soured my urge to attend more.

[white owl]

I'm pretty serious about the way black belts should behave, this sounds awful and i'm glad i wasn't there. This is another reason i don't compete anymore...not only that but i noticed in my last comp the judges can be biased.

There is a kid i know who is almost a BB and he picks on my son and his language is obscene, he just is very unpleasent even threatening to "knock my sons teeth down his throat". I mean for a young kid to come out with that.

Karate is supposed to teach dicipline and respect and self defence...if this is what Karate does for some people maybe they shouldn't do it?

I hear ya on that one. As much as I LOVE competing, and I do it for the sheer FUN of it, there are things I've seen go on that make my blood boil. Now, I don't care if I come home with a trophy or not, if I do, then it's an added bonus, but like I said, it's for the fun of competition. What DOES tick me off is when I see judges being biased or unfair. Come to think of it, I didn't start seeing any of this going on until I became a black belt. It doesn't ALWAYS happen, but it DID happen at the last two I went to and it soured my urge to attend more.

I am not even a black belt and I have also seen the biasedness of the competition I really notice it in the last 2 that I attended especially in the Black belt and advanced division and I also notice it a little in the Children's divisions it is also discouraging me from competition it already has my 11 year old son.

[JohnC]

In general I'd offer you get the behavior you tolerate. For people to act in these ways there must be at least tacit approval by the group (i.e. why aren't these types of folks banned for life ?). To pick on B96 , the idea of 'excitement', 'adrenal rush' or 'competitive strategy' to excuse lack of consideration, lack of control and / or self-discipline (there's that word again ) is an example of tacit approval, imo.

The nibble effect of the excusing of these behaviors is what has led us to the current environment. If that's what folks want, fine, as I am only one of many. If that's what folks want, then I've voted with my feet. I don't compete and I don't go to watch (except when doing research on current state of things (i.e. once every couple of years)).

I see the behavior. Regardless of how wide spread, I don't have to like it..... and I don't.

[bushido_man96]

I do agree that self-control should be adhered to, and I don't look at things like adrenaline rush, excitement, etc., as reasons to lose self-control.

They can act their way, and I'll act my way. In the end, can I change them? I can try, but would I want that forced on me? I digress...

[Tiger1962]

As far as doing something about it, competitors can complain about it, however it is the judges and/or the organization that head's or sponsors these tournaments that have the ultimate say. And if they are letting stuff happen, it's their fault / responsibility.

[Ozpunker]

I'm pretty serious about the way black belts should behave, this sounds awful and i'm glad i wasn't there. This is another reason i don't compete anymore...not only that but i noticed in my last comp the judges can be biased.

There is a kid i know who is almost a BB and he picks on my son and his language is obscene, he just is very unpleasent even threatening to "knock my sons teeth down his throat". I mean for a young kid to come out with that.

Karate is supposed to teach dicipline and respect and self defence...if this is what Karate does for some people maybe they shouldn't do it?

I hear ya on that one. As much as I LOVE competing, and I do it for the sheer FUN of it, there are things I've seen go on that make my blood boil. Now, I don't care if I come home with a trophy or not, if I do, then it's an added bonus, but like I said, it's for the fun of competition. What DOES tick me off is when I see judges being biased or unfair. Come to think of it, I didn't start seeing any of this going on until I became a black belt. It doesn't ALWAYS happen, but it DID happen at the last two I went to and it soured my urge to attend more.

I haven't seen a lot of bias in competitions... I think the biggest case the come to mind is a few weeks ago at my last tourny I was watching children do point sparring. There was a strike, Ref called for points, himself and one judge awarded points to competetor "A" and the other judge awarded the point to "B" (A child from his same school). The point got scored to "A" (2 votes to 1) and the judge who awarded the point to "B" scrunched his face in disgust/protest. I believe that the point was awarded to the child who earned it and saw no need for the judge to act like that.

I think that I can say that I haven't been seen favorably amongst judges that I know. Just about every fight I've been in that has had judges or refs that I know from class, I have lost. lol.

[the beast]

Having to judge is tough especially for sparring. Remember the judges cant see everything. I like to think that I'm being fair when I give points but not everyone will see it the way I do.

Some tournys will not allow two judges from the same school in the same ring, this seems to eliminate the bias, also when judging students from your own school in kata you do tend to score them harsher than students from othe schools.