KickChick Posted November 19, 2002 Posted November 19, 2002 Recently karate has recieved the attention of the IOC (Internationl Olympic commitee), and will hopefully enter the 2004 olympics as a demonstration sport.Is sport the way to go, or must we retain our foundations and stick with the traditional way of karate? As previously posted .... Just look at what the IOC has done with TKD and Judo. I'm afraid Karate will inevitably suffer the same fate ... ah but if what thai_kick says is correct and the IOC is allowing full contact for demonstration , well, that is for demonstration only.... will they change the "rules" across the board? Karate just might end up as Tae Kwon do has ... we traditionalists on one side trying to explain our art and the Olympic practitioners on the other adding to the misconceptions of TKD.
BlueDragon1981 Posted November 19, 2002 Posted November 19, 2002 Depends on who is in control if it suffers the same fate. I think it is a good idea to put it in the olympics. At least one year. OF course that means they will have to take out others because the commission wants to keep the number of events down. At least that is what I read the other day.
KickChick Posted November 19, 2002 Posted November 19, 2002 On Nov. 25-26, the IOC is scheduled to consider a proposal for dropping baseball, softball and modern pentathlon to open the way for new events in 2008 summer Olympics. It is unclear when a decision will be made, but if officials add some new sports, contenders could include golf, seven-a-side rugby and considering ..... wushu (may stand a chance given that Beijing will be hosting the 2008 Games. But critics fear putting wushu in the Olympics could water down its spirit and diversity. The standardized rules and scoring could make it look more like Chinese opera than traditional combat art! Critics also say it wouldn't leave room for all of wushu's more than 100 variations, which employ about 30 kinds of weapons, including spears, swords, axes, hammers and hooks. Jet Li said it best ..... "The most beautiful things in martial arts are not about sport, and they're not about speed".
Kensai Posted November 20, 2002 Posted November 20, 2002 Again KickChick, very wise. I will always be in favour of Martial Arts, not Martial Sports. Take Care.
ramymensa Posted November 20, 2002 Posted November 20, 2002 As a karate practitioner I must confess this thread gives me head-aches, because there are so many possible interpretations ... Karate in the Olympics would be a good thing on one side, because of the promotion. Karate is famous, but one could always use some "extra promotion". The downsides are important though . Losing many of characteristics that made karate known and loved. Losing it's traditional "touch" already happend to karate, as we have now dojos that emphasize only sparring, dojos where dojo kun is not recited anymore and so on. Karate is facing this problem for some years and entering the Olympics could worsen the things, but the harm was already done. Should karate go into this stage? maybe yes, maybe no World Shotokan Karate
Naspirated Posted November 21, 2002 Author Posted November 21, 2002 However, Karate in the Olympics would not only include Kumite(sparring), the second half of the MA would also include Kata. Personally, I believe if one were to compete in the Olympics in Kata, the individual must still retain the true meaning of Karate, since Kata is the essence of Karate. To be good at kata, you must have good Kihon(basics) and kumite(sparring). One cannot perform good kata without knowing the true traditions and culture of Karate do. Japan Karate Do Ryobu Kai (Shindo Jinen Ryu)https://www.JKR.com
Kensai Posted November 21, 2002 Posted November 21, 2002 Perhaps you are onto something there, kata would be a good area of competition as there is nothing really like it in the Olympic's. Take Care
username237 Posted November 21, 2002 Posted November 21, 2002 at the end of the day they are changing the rules of karate just to turn it into a sport... that alone is enough to make me think it should stay in its traditional form!
Karateka_latino Posted November 22, 2002 Posted November 22, 2002 I think Karate is wide popular as it is now, No need to become an Olympic Sport. Plus, the promotion that is going to have is going to be as an Olympic Karate not traditional Karate. so i still say, Karate for you own sake, stay away from the Olympics.
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