I’ve noticed on the karate related forums of late there has been a lot of discussion about karate getting into the Olympics, and whether it would be a good thing.
What’s the point? I for one fail to see what good would ever come out of having karate in the Olympics.
Some have stated that it might be good to actually have that distinction between martial art and sport. This would indeed be a good thing, however the general public tend to have little idea about what is involved in genuine martial arts, likening it all to either mystical monk type characters rambling nonsense, or cheesy Kung Fu films where the hero takes on all comers with a dazzling display of backflips and high pitched noises. Attempting to popularise karate through the medium of the Olympics would only serve to further damage the integrity of this martial way, in the same way that it has done with Judo and Taekwondo.
People would see two practitioners squaring off against eachother in a glorified contest of playground tag, with the person who can lightly touch the other the quickest being declared the winner!
The reputation of karatedo as an effective method of self defence is generally in a pretty poor state. Now, this has to do with a number of things, not just sport karate. Self proclaimed 10th dan grandmasters at the age of 30, running a string of dojo’s so large that Starbucks would be suffering from an inferiority complex, have probably done the most damage. However, I don’t see that promoting karate as an Olympic sport will assist our cause in the slightest.
There are many alternative pursuits through which people can compete in combat. The amatuer boxing, Muay Thai and MMA scene are all enjoying large amounts of popularity and allow for a much more effective way in which participants can test themselves. There are many things to be gained from engaging in such activities, and I’d recommend all serious practitioners to step into the ring at some point as you can really learn alot about yourself from the whole experience.
As for karate, I don’t think the current method of competition is a good reflection of what karate is. The karate that would become popular by its introduction to the olympics would be this sport variety, and my overiding fear is that true karatedo would become extinct andreplaced by this strange, unrelated, recreational game….and the odd dojo on the corner teaching ninja death moves in multi-coloured gi’s with far too many badges!!
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