Going for the gold?

[brokenswordx]

Karate was one of five sports to be voted to become an Olympic sport in future games, however it didn't gain the votes needed to make it official. So my questions are:

Are the Olympic Games the next step for karate?

What are you're feelings if karate was an Olympic sport?

[JusticeZero]

Not a Karate stylist, but it seems as though gaining olympic status is pretty much the death knell of a martial art as a MARTIAL art. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

[armanox]

In someways it would be awesome, but, seeing what the Olympics did to TKD I don't think I would want karate to got the same route.

[tallgeese]

But, Olympic TKD has probably gotten a whole lot of people through school doors, regardless of affiliation. You can't argue they are amazing athletes who operate at a very high level. They train with intensity levels that, quite frankly, you won't find at a lot of schools of any tradition.

Schools focusing on training in this sort of thing probably turn out as good a sd product as schools repping theoretical, non-contact, one steps. It might not be perfect, but it's not deserving of the beating it takes all the time.

I know, this coming from me, right?

Not to mention, what else is there to watch at the Olympics. I'm not a kicker at all, never been a Korean stylist, but I watch TKD when it's the summer games. That, Judo and wrestling are about it for me.

As for karate, I'd think that it wouldn't be different enough from the TKD to win it's own berth. My personal hope, is BJJ at some point.

[armanox]

and you raise a good point tallgeese. If karate were added, what would they do? Kata, Kumite, or Bunkai? And what restrictions would exist on Kumite to make it different then TKD?

But, Olympic TKD has probably gotten a whole lot of people through school doors, regardless of affiliation. You can't argue they are amazing athletes who operate at a very high level. They train with intensity levels that, quite frankly, you won't find at a lot of schools of any tradition.

Most of the TKD schools in my state are just black belt factories for children, and spend very little time training on martial techiniques. The ones that do train hard - more power to them.

[ninjanurse]

The Olympics did not "ruin" TKD"-it merely took the art down two different paths-Sport or Traditional. There are those that choose only the sport aspect without regard to the traditions of the art and those that choose the traditional art without regard to the sport. Either path is fraught with belt factories, just as are ALL styles of martial arts-it is not limited to TKD schools by all means.

Karate will be no different-there will be two paths to choose and life will go on.

[Montana]

Whether karate does, or does not, get included in the Olympic games makes little difference to me. It won't change what, or how, I teach.

Personally, I think that when judo and tkd were added to the Olympics, it made those arts less than what they used to be.

[bushido_man96]

What happened to TKD and Judo when they became Olympic games is that many of the instructors became focused on the sport applications. What you end up seeing is a highly specialized art form. Judo has become very specialized in the execution of throwing, as TKD has become very specialized in kicking.

Where the problem comes in is in seeking out the talent, and pushing them through the tournament scene to build an Olympic stable. This can cause the focus to shift from all who come in the door to just those with the talent to put it all together. Not all schools are like this, though. There are good and bad schools everywhere. TKD gets the bad wrap mainly because there are so many schools out there; the more there are, then the higher the probability to find a bad one. It sucks, and it can be avoided, but its tough. Does the same thing have to happen to Karate? No. Will it, though? It could...how to stop it? Make the sport-aspect available to those who seek it, along side the traditional classes.

[whess]

To me, karate is self defense and not sport. It would feel wrong to see it in the olympics. Just my opinion.

[Wa-No-Michi]

IMO Kumite is one section of Karate - but it is nothing without Kata.

And given that kata was never on the agenda for inclusion into the Olympic karate anyway, it sort of just makes it another kicky punchy sport like TKD which is on a downward spiral in terms of the viewing figures and stadium ticket sales at the Beijing Olympics - which has given karate the KB in terms of getting in now.

Maybe 2012 might be a different picture but from what I see the WKF are taking Karate down a pretty similar path to that of TKD

WNM