What does it mean to be a world champion?

[Lupin1]

A place near where I'm moving brings students to the "Martial Arts Olympics". One time it was in Jamaica and recently it was in Ireland. Basically they go there and compete and if they place in their division (which from what I gather are pretty small) the school considers the child a "world champion".

[ps1]

Right now, in BJJ, it's very different. There really is only one world champion per division. And of those winners, each has the opportunity to compete in an "absolute" division, where you go against the winners of all the other weight classes. So I guess you'd call the winner of that division the absolute world champion.

Here's a link to the winners of those divisions:

http://www.ibjjf.org/results/2010mundial.htm

This would be for grappling with gi on. For no-gi grappling, the world champion would be the winner of the tournament in Abu-Dhabi. That's where the best of the best go to compete every other year. Here's a link where you can look up those winners:

http://www.adcombat.com/adcc-results?year=2009&weight=-66

There are several tournament circuts within the US. But BJJ and grapplers all consider these two tournaments to be the pinnacle of the sport aspect.

[skullsplitter]

So lets see we have the following orgs with World Champs each year:

NBL

SKIF

WUCO

JKA

JKF

IFMA

SKIL

TKO

AOK

SKITA

ATA

and many others...

They should all get together and have a tournament of champions to determine the Super Champ

Add the WKA too. They hold an annual world championship tournament. think this year is in Scotland.

[sensei8]

Don't forget....ISKA!

What does it mean to be a world champion? I don't know! Personally, I've never aspired to be one! I'm sure it must be cool, but, as in everything else, I'm sure that there are downsides to deal with.

[quinteros1963]

So I saw someone that was a world champion the other day. How did I know? Well they had a shirt, with their picture on it that read the person's name and 2009 world champ!

Edited February 12, 2011 by quinteros1963

[isshinryu5toforever]

A lot of people use world championships as a marketing ploy. It works on a lot of people, because they aren't educated on what to actually look for when they're seeking out a martial arts school. It is no fault of their own, there's a lot of marketing in the US that is difficult to see through. Knowing that your child's instructor was 5 time (insert random letters here) National Champion makes you feel like that person is definitely a somebody. The fact that martial artists don't usually get made into celebrities, and you've got a recipe for every organization touting their own champions as a way to market themselves to the public. It's smart business. Not the most honest way to go about things, but smart business none-the-less.

I won't lie though, training with someone like Kenji Midori does have its appeal. If you have no idea who that is, he is the smallest man to win the All-Japan Open weight class tournament in Kyokushin Karate. Winning big tournaments doesn't mean the person is a good teacher, but it helps indicate that they have at least a small idea that they know what they're doing, and as such, should hopefully be able to teach it.

[sensei8]

So I saw someone that was a world champion the other day. How did I know? Well the had a shirt, with their picture on it that read the person's name and 2009 world champ!

Novelty items...don't ya' just love 'em?

[bushido_man96]

I can remember when I was in the ATA how I admired seeing the words "World Champ" on the back of the doboks of those who had accomplished it. It was a really inspiring thing for me, and I had met and seen some of the world champs from the organization. I know the ATA gets a bad wrap a lot, but there is also a lot of talent in the ATA, and those who did get up to world competitor status, where pretty darn good with technique and sparring.

[sensei8]

A World Champion needs to be respect for, if nothing else, having won the World Championship. Ability has to be there, doesn't it? I think so!

[quinteros1963]

In light of the comments and all the MA orgs in the world, I am going to conduct a small "field experiment". I am going to attend several tournaments this year in an attempt to become a world circuit champion. I want to see just how good these tournament martial artist are. This will be very out of character for me, as I've only competed in 2 tournaments in my lifetime. Don't worry I won't make a shirt if I succeed! I just need to figure out which org ( i have a few in mind). Wish me luck!!