Olympic karate: expectations

[Spartacus Maximus]

Now that karate has been entered as an Olympic sport, what kinds of developments can be expected from it?

What can reasonably be expected in the way karate will be presented in the Olympics?

[singularity6]

Having not really watched the Olympics in the past, I have no expectations. I do know that I'll probably watch Karate, and maybe Tae Kwon Do this time around!

[sensei8]

I've absolutely no expectations about it whatsoever. I seriously doubt that much will be televised for one reason or another; one can hope, though. After all, it'll not be as popular as Gymnastics or Swimming or Track And Field or Boxing, just to name a few.

[Spartacus Maximus]

will it last as an Olympic discipline or is it likely to be included for only a while? How will it be presented versus TKD, which is very similar(at least to spectators)? Sport/competition karate is much more diverse(rule sets etc) than TKD and one can easily imagine the headache of coming up with something all interested participants can agree on.

[JR 137]

will it last as an Olympic discipline or is it likely to be included for only a while? How will it be presented versus TKD, which is very similar(at least to spectators)? Sport/competition karate is much more diverse(rule sets etc) than TKD and one can easily imagine the headache of coming up with something all interested participants can agree on.

As of now, karate is a demonstration sport (I think that’s the term). Every host country gets to add 5 (or so) sports of their choosing. Japan choose karate, baseball/softball, I think some form of skateboarding, and some form of rock climbing. There’s probably another one thrown in there too.

The demonstration sports receive medals like the others, but I don’t know how official they are in the history books. If any of those sports do exceptionally well, it may replace a regular struggling sport in subsequent Olympic Games. Very, very few demonstration sports make the regular Olympic roster. I’m pretty sure it gets covered like everything else, but I highly doubt it’ll be a prime time event. Basketball, track & field, gymnastics, and swimming certainly aren’t going to take a back seat to it.

Personally, I’m pretty disappointed they went with the WKF and their rules. I completely understand their decision and on paper it’s the right decision, but I’d have much preferred to see knockdown karate like Kyokushin rules. Far more entertaining to me, and I highly doubt the start-stop format is going to have mass appeal. Add in the annoying hand raise, back turn and yell to influence judges’ calls, and I see a lot of people changing the channel.