Fighting in Tournaments(good or bad?)

[Tigerclaw]

I wish to open a debate on tournament fighting and what it has done to the martial arts of today.I for one strongly feel that tournament fighting is wrong,and i feel like this because i was always taught that using the physical side of my art for anything other then self defense is wrong.I hope that i do not offend any of you because i know there are alot of people who love competition,but i was trained in a school where it is forbidden,and my instructor has explained his reasons to me many times why we do not compete and i have to agree with him.The martial arts was never ment to become a sport.

[IAMA_chick]

i love tournament fighting, or sparring. i think that it does not contradict the fact that martial artists are not supposed to used their physical aspect unless needed. do you fight in class? do you do self defense in class? it is different in a tournament because you are fighting someone with around the same general skills. i think tournaments are a great place to see how you have come along and to show you how well you do against people of your same ranking.

[Tombstone]

Competition was the only reason I ever trained.

[Tigerclaw]

This is what pro2006 said

 

it is different in a tournament because you are fighting someone with around the same general skills

 

So basicaly your sayin that its ok to fight if they know martial arts to?

 

Tournament fighting only exsist today so schools can make money off you...like the enrolment fees and test fees ain,t enough.I had a friend of mine who used to fight in competition,and he said one time during the fight he was in,the crowd sounded like a blood thirsty mob,yellin and encouraging the fighters to hit harder,knock his brains out,ect.My point is people that its wrong to fight,remember first rule of karate? Only use karate for self defense!

[monkeygirl]

First, I would like to remind everyone that even though this is a debate, it should still be kept respectful. Everyone's opinion should be read carefully and considerately.

 

Not that you'd do anything else, right?

 

Tournament sparring (at least TKD point sparring....the only kind I'm familiar with) is in art in itself. In TKD point sparring, the purpose is not to hurt your opponent. It's all about speed, control and strategy. In black belt competition, the fighting is a little rougher, but it's still not NHB-type fighting.

 

I can't speak for kickboxing, bjj or any other style's competitive fighting. I only know my own.

 

I also think you should never elbow anyone in the face or knee them in the groin as hard as you can, unless you're in a self-defense situation.

 

However, in competition, both people are willing to fight. Nobody is being forced to fight against their will (in most cases...sometimes schools do require students to compete)...everyone knows what they're getting into, and it usually doesn't involve being elbowed in the face.

 

As far as the "bloodthirsty mob", at our tournaments there's a lot of yelling and screaming...but that's because there's people in the crowd who care about each of the fighters; family, friends, fellow students, instructors. They're shouting "Come on! You can do it!" "Don't forget combinations!". Never "Knock his brains out!" I'd like to say your friend's experience was an aberration, but it probably isn't, which is unfortunate.

 

Tournament fighting can be exciting. It can also be a good training tool. When you lose, you wonder "where did I go wrong?" and train harder. Fighting the adrenaline stress helps to prepare you for the adrenaline of a self-defense situation.

 

IMHO, when done respectfully and without the intent to severely damage your opponent, there's nothing wrong with tournament sparring.

[IAMA_chick]

point sparring and olympic sparring is what i am talking about. and yes it is okay to fight in a tournament. and i did say that. like what monkeygirl said, it is based on controll. do people get hurt? of course they do. but that is how it goes. if you aren't comfortable with tournament sparring then you don't have to do it.

[kchenault]

I don't care for competitve sparring. I don't mind if others do it. That is their business. The reason I don't care for it is because the tournaments I have gone to, there is no weight class, only rank and age. Now at 195 lbs. and 5'7" tall, I may not ever be as fast as a smaller opponent, meaning, someone lighter than myself. Point sparring IMO is stacked against heavier, slower people. I know it sounds like sour grapes, but in a real situation, I would tear alot of the point sparrers in my age and rank category apart, just because of my size and technique. I am not as fast as some, but faster than others. Anyway, that's my 2cents.

[chh]

I've only been to one tournament, I didn't compete but went to watch. I didn't much like it or the way it was run. One of the kids from my dojo sparred another guy from my dojo (actually a teen from our adult class, but nobody else from his age group was competing so they dumped him in with the kids). The kid lost, and that was it, he didn't get to spar again. Long way to go and lots of $$ to spar somebody from your own school! There were a couple of schools that clearly trained only for tournaments, their instructors (coaches?) and families were everywhere (matching jackets), questioning the judges' decisions and being generally annoying. Our dojo doesn't put any emphasis on tournaments and it definitely showed. We didn't score well at all and seemed to get lots of warnings (apparently hand strikes to the face/head are non-scoring no-nos, even when clean and controlled?), but seeing some of the attitudes there made me really appreciate the approach and general philosophy at my dojo. I'm sure other competitions are run better, and it was interesting to watch, but if I had any subconscious interest in competing it's gone now!

[TKDLadyInSC]

Ahhh... many points to make.

 

Point 1: What my instructor says makes sense. You can have 2 people, same level, in the same class. 1 plans to go to the tournament in 3 months. The other doesn't. Generally the one going to the tournament is going to train harder. They want to do well at the tournament. They will focus on becoming faster in their sparring, more artistic in their forms.

 

Point 2: It's good to see how you are progressing against students not from your school. It's fun. You learn a lot. One of the black belts at my dojang said he had this same guy in his ring at all of his tournaments for 3 years straight. It took him 3 years to figure out what the guy was doing. He was very patient with his attack, but when he did attack he always got in with the point. After 3 years in this guys ring, my fellow student finally figured out this: the guy sat back and blocked waiting for his opponent to blink and in that instant attacked. Really neat. Got to try that.

 

Point 3: Size doesn't matter. I am a 5'8" too many pounds female. I have been beaten by small people. But my most recent defeat was to a lady who is 6'2" and probably 50 lbs heavier than me. Really long legs!!! She beat me 5 to 0. Looking forward to our next tournament. Since that tournament I have been working on getting quicker and roundstepping.

 

Point 4: I am so glad all of our tournaments are closed. Our organization has over 200 schools across the U.S.A. All of our schools teach by the same curriculum. So when we go to tournaments, it's the same standards and the same rules. Plus, generally you have the same people in your ring. With 3 national tournaments a year, it's fun to see how you progress.

 

Point 5: As far as travelling that far to spar someone from your same school and losing the first round, part of our tournament guidlines is unless you have no other choice, people from the same school do not spar first round.

 

Got a tournament coming up June 13 right after our national black belt camp. Should be fun. Can't wait!!!

 

[crash]

my first instructor was very much pro-tournament oriented and well known on the point cirquit in the 80's, so in my early years I did participate in many tournaments and I agree it does make you train more on good form and sparring drills and it allows you to meet and make a lot of new friends. true, I have seen some tournaments that were not run very good for any number of reasons, but I have also seen tournaments that were excellently ran with amazing talent and professionalism. I see nothing wrong with tournaments, I think the choice is up to each individual. if its something you enjoy, good, if its not for you then so be it.