Skip to main content

Why Martial Arts can not be a sport?

Just yesterday one of my gekusai's (student) was discussing with me about how karate will benefit from being accepted in to the Olympics.
Well so that is what has made me decide to write this post to educate and inform people about the facts then decide. Karate may get more popular and recognized world wide after it enters Olympics but at the cost of losing its authenticity, its traditional training practices and so on.
Any fighting form is called Martial Arts. This is the oldest thing known to mankind. Even before man made languages he knew how to fight to defend and protect himself. Martial Arts specially the oriental ones are a way of life. In my honest opinion you cannot execute a punch or a kick properly and expect it not to hurt or injure. A martial artist spends years harnessing his skills, power, technique. If we just make all martial arts an Olympic sport am sure over a period of some years all the training that goes into making a martial artist tough will vanish. In today's day and age one of the main reasons why people take to martial art training is for self defense. Just imagine if all martial art schools teach sport sparring or kumite what will happen in a real life situation on the road. You are not going to get points or any protective gear like abdomen gaurds etc on the road. So the very purpose of martial arts is lost. In sport kumite it is basically about points about going in touching the opponent with the executed technique and coming out. Where as in full contact kumite both opponents have to be more cautious as the attack wont be just a touch but will be executed with power. This over a period of time and practice makes a martial artist more alert and faster with his reflexes improving his blocking abilities. I am not saying kumite should be about injury and pain but making it a sport kumite reduces the self defense aspect from the training. I have seen many sports martial artists their kumite styles are very defensive always guarding themselves in a way to save points. This makes these sports martial artists incapable of defending themselves on the street as for them fighting only means saving and getting points. Many of the schools that are into sports kumite dont even train their students in conditioning as in competitions they get complete protective gear. It is sad but have met a few black belts who have spent years training and have never taken a punch in the stomach or a kick on the thigh as they were never taught conditioning. Fortunately Boxing is the martial art that has retained its originality even after getting into the Olympics. Just imagine if a boxer gets disqualified because he knocked out his opponent or a penalty or warning for making his opponents nose bleed. How many people would train or follow boxing if this happened? I say less than half of those who are into Boxing today. Yes we do get injured at times training in Martial arts but if you will look into those injuries it is more our fault than that of the opponent. May be our technique was not properly executed or we blocked wrongly. So we just need to train better improve on our weaknesses and flaws and then the injuries wont be there even in full contact kumite.  At the end I would just like to request all the Sensei's (teachers) and gekusai's (students) of any martial art world wide to continue with the originality and authenticity of the training. Recognition is good but if it brings an end to what we are seeking to get recognized then the whole effort is futile.    

Comments

yakbi11 said…
Hi farzaan,
I totaly agree with you!

tal
Martial Art Training
January 31, 2011 at 10:59 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Importance of Self defense training for all.

Self defense training is a life skill that is very important for all to learn irrespective of age, gender or fitness levels. It is the training to be ready and prevent being a victim of a violent assault or crime. Self defense is about how we respond in the first 10 to 15 seconds after being physically attacked and also about the few minutes prior to that.  Very often the attitude of most people is - Why do I need to learn all this, we have the law to protect us and it won't happen to me. Yes we do have a wonderful law enforcement departments like the police and the judiciary to protect us and give justice etc. But we are our own first responders. There is no police patrol vehicle following each of us to protect us as soon as something happens. Self defense training is exactly for this time zone between being attacked and the police coming to the scene to protect you. We need to train for this exact moment on how to respond when attacked violently and prevent ourselves ...
1 comment
Read more

The weight loss lies and scam.

There are so many theories and beliefs surrounding weight loss programs and health. But a generic approach can never work for all. It may show some results but to get to the optimum of health and fitness that can be achieved, a personalized program or methodology needs to be designed.  The height to weight chart is also very generic. There are many factors that go into deciding a person's ideal weight beyond just their height. Things like activity level, type of bones, genetic ancestry, lifestyle, kind of work, and lots more. To fit all into the same box is like trying to fit an elephant in a matchbox.  Weight should always be approached holistically. What is the use of losing lots of weight but being physically weak or tired all the time. One needs to be healthy, active and fit, this is what should always supercede weight.  Our obsession with weight makes us do so many stupid things thinking it will get results. To fuel this stupidity we also have all the non...
2 comments
Read more

Motivation is a scam that is making us weak.

There are some words that are created or given a different meaning to an already existing word. Some of these words are scams on the entire human race, making us weak, soft and escapist.  Motivation is one such word. It is one word that has made so many of us blame our escapist behaviours on something else rather than stand up to bring the change within. Just by saying - I don't have the motivation - we are trying to shift the blame onto something else besides our laziness or escapist behaviour.  Trigger is another word with a new meaning. A few decades back trigger was just something on a gun. Today everything triggers everyone, making us softer than soft toys, crying or getting anxiety over anything anyone says.  Coming back to motivation. The self help books hoax is another stupidity trying to mint money off gullible people. How is it a self help book, if you need to read what someone else writes to introspect or bring change in your own life. Self help com...
Post a Comment
Read more