Competition:
Spencer Sensei
10/05/13
It’s that time again. Yes… time for our invitational tournament. Many instructors hate the idea of tournament, but I believe there are many benefits. They don’t believe that competition is truly a part of traditional karate. In their opinion preparing students for competition takes away from valuable class time, and they believe that the techniques used to win tournament kumite (fighting) are weaker versions of those needed in a real-life preservation situation. Tournament is an environment where flash replaces legitimate karate technique. Some instructors feel an extraordinary pressure placed upon them and their students to win these events. They believe a poor performance reflects on them and their school. In truth if winning is your reason for going to tournaments, you’ve missed all the purpose for competition. This article is neither pro competition nor is it an attack. I will try to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of karate competition as I see it today.
Tournaments are somewhat of a new addition to the martial arts. In the old days two schools would get together and pit their students against one another to test their abilities. This way the instructors could modify their curriculum to strengthen any weaknesses in their student’s training. It is a good practice to fight other schools and styles because if you spar with the same karateka over-and-over and you learn each other’s tendencies to the point that it becomes difficult to surprise your opponent. Fighting someone from a different school or style may give you a surprise that is better learned in the dojo than on the street. Still… the real purpose of competing with another school is to learn how to control your fear and even more importantly to make new friends. These early competitions grew and unified the martial arts as a community. In one moment, students would be pitted against each other and in the next they’d swapping lies about the last school they faced. There were no trophies to be carried home only a few bruises and memories along with the satisfaction of having done their best. The great thing about inner dojo competition is that there is always a chance to grow as a martial artist and perform better next time the schools met.
In the old days, some students would roam from school to school challenging other black-belts. Young students are insecure in their karate and seek reassurance that their training is effective. Unfortunately, those early gunslingers just wanted test their karate and didn’t care who they injured. These challenges were taken very seriously and had no rules. Sadly… in that environment the only thing being tested was the speed, strength, and endurance of the fighter. Karate was meant to be more than an avenue to imposing your will upon another. If they really wanted power, they should have bought a gun, and saved themselves the years of dedication that it takes to become a proficient martial artist. In the world of these young guns, it became more important to beat their fists into weapons, and taste blood than to build honorable character. I believe that they in some perverse way thought that they were following the samurai code. Still… I was young once too, so I know the temptation to test your karate. Tournaments replaced the need to look for other black-belts to challenge. The early tournaments were closer by comparison to full-contact fighting than to the kumite we see in tournaments today. Lawsuits have called for stricter rules and lighter contact along with protective equipment. In my first tournament we were not even allowed to wear protective equipment. Times changed quickly. Modern kumite has become more of a game of tag than a test of a fighter’s skill. Out of this overprotective environment full-contact karate events emerged for those that felt a need to test their skills at a higher level. Even these contests have rules, so a simple life preservation skill like jamming a finger into your opponent’s eye is not allowed. Even the great All Japan Kyokushin karate tournament has rules, but it is probably still the best venue if you have a desire to test your martial arts skills against other talented fighters.
Local karate tournaments began to flourish in America when promoters realized there was profit in this type of extravaganza. Originally the annual tournament was meant to keep the dojo doors open, but eventually was marketed and became part and parcel of American karate. There are tournaments on Okinawa and in Japan, but they are not as frequent as their American counterparts. Training for karate competition in the United States has become as American as high school football, and winning, because of the emphasis placed on it by our culture, replaced some of the values that karate was meant to teach. This win-at-all-cost attitude gave rise, in the late seventies and eighties, to poor sportsmanship and the belief that coming in second place was simply being the last loser. All the life lessons which were the sole purpose of karate competition were lost. They were replaced by arrogant students, trophies, and shouting karate moms.
The closest thing now to the inner dojo competitions of the past are the closed or invitational karate tournaments. A closed tournament is where the promoter or organization invites the schools, they trust to compete against each other. The only reward was usually the bragging rights to having won the annual organizational championship which is greater than any trophy in my opinion.
Open tournaments were created to make money. Making money is not a bad thing. Martial arts schools are after all a business venture, and businesses must make a profit to keep the doors open. One way to do this is to have tournaments and open them to the community. The problem is, when you open the tournaments, you invite every newbie gunslinger in town, and you have limited control over those loose cannons. Some of these loose cannons present themselves as black-belt judges, and they can create even greater havoc. Even strict adherence to the rules in this environment cannot always insure that someone will not get hurt or cheated.
Rules vary from competition to competition. There are no definitive set of rules a competitor can follow. Different schools have different philosophies about the amount of contact competitors are allowed to administer. Kyokushin tournaments are full contact with no pads, but you’re not allowed to punch to the face. Some styles kick to the legs while others keep all kicks above the waist to prevent knee injuries. At every black-belt meeting I’ve attended someone asks about sweeps. More injuries to the knee and ankle come from poorly executed lead-leg sweeps than occur when leg kicks are allowed, so in many tournaments, sweeps are not allowed in kumite (fighting competition). The real irony is that in the tournaments that have allowed sweeps, in which I’ve judged, I have yet to see one executed successfully in thirty-five years. Still at every black-belt rules’ meeting prior to starting a competition some asks about sweeps, so we spend ten minutes going over what is acceptable and what is not. In many open tournaments there are rules against coaching, so mom and dad yell instructions and sometimes obscenities from the stands. No coaching is a little silly in my opinion. It is like having a football team that trains for a game, and then on game day the coach is not allowed on the field. Tournament rules turn life preservation skills into a game, but rules are necessary to protect students while they test their technique against other students. It must be understood that the best fighter, in a point tournament, never wins the competition. Point or controlled sparring is safer, but there are aspects of fighting that cannot be measured in this cloistered and isolated environment. You cannot judge how well a fighter can take a punch or how hard they can deliver a blow. Point judging is subjective. The rules may say that a punch must not be extended, and it must contain proper focus, shoulder, and hip rotation, but if the tournament judges waited for this to happen, during competition in the lower ranks, no one would ever score a point, so we’ve substituted who gets there first for good technique. Shimabuku sensei, according to Master Harold Mitchum, scored only what he considered to be a devastating blow. It could be the second strike or counter strike. If neither blow was powerful there would be no score. Today it is the fastest gun that wins power or no power In our zeal to make the karate sparring safer we’ve turned a life preservation skill into a game. Rules, I’m sad to say, allow the competitor the ability to exploit things that would get him/her hurt in a real confrontation.
It may sound like I’m bashing karate tournaments, but I am not against them because they can teach valuable life lessons in a safe environment. Life lessons learned from competition can easily be overlooked if the karateka’s focus is simply on winning. Part of martial arts is dealing with fear, and this is one of the most valuable lessons that competition can help teach a child or an adult. If you’ve never place anything on the line, then you have never learned the value of risk verses return. Fear of failure can safely be experienced in competition. Tell yourself that you can be afraid after the competition and practice quieting your mind. These are skills that can be taken into the workforce. You can use that experience the first time you speak before a crowd. This is skill that can also be used the first time you ask someone out on a date. Fear is the founder of low self-esteem and isolating your children from it does not prepare them for life. Competition was meant to teach young people how to cope with stress in a safe environment. Without feeling this stress, you cannot learn to deal with it in a rational manner, so participating in childhood sports is similar to receiving an immunization against a disease. There are little league baseball teams that give every player a trophy at the end of the season. They do not keep score to prevent their bundles-of-joy from developing low self esteem, so the child develops an entitlement attitude and expects a trophy at the end of every season. Many karate tournaments give out medals anytime a student participates in a karate tournament. This attitude ill prepares them for their first job where they’re expected to perform and not simply take up space. They have never felt the pressure of competing in a close game nor have they had to deal with defeat. They only know that you get rewarded without sacrifice. These competitive learning experiences are sacrificed on the alter of self-esteem, and when they are cheated or passed over for promotion as an adult, they have no cornerstone or reference in which to relate. Dealing with fear, following rules, and being flexible are small life-lessons that can be learned from competition.
In life we have a basic set of rules that we follow, but as society grows it changes the rules we live by, so we must learn to adapt to these changes. No two karate tournament promoters follow the same set of rules, so the competitor must be flexible and learn to adapt. Not following the rules in a tournament will get you disqualified during the competition, but not following the law (rules) in life can have more devastating implications. I march to the beat of my own drum most of the time, but I still drive the speed limit…. well, most of the time.
Another lesson that karate tournaments or any competition can teach is how to be a good winner. Being a good winner is a skill that is often overlooked in our win-at-all-cost society. Professional athletes taunt and trash talk each other on and off the field. It is common to witness their in-your-face antics at the moment of victory. Then to salve their conscience they claim they’re not a role model, and we give them a pass for their bad behavior. It is this behavior that our children see on television, so they assume this behavior is acceptable because we do not speak out against it. Each time your child witnesses this type of behavior it is an opportunity for a teachable moment. A good winner does not flaunt victory. They curb their celebration until the proper moment. They quietly celebrate with family and friends. A good winner congratulates those that he/she has defeated and encourages their future competition. This lesson must also be taken into the workplace. You can be the guy that humbly received a promotion or be that jerk everyone despises and does not want to work with. Learning to become a good winner is important.
The opposite of the good winner is the bad loser. I’ve seen black-belts throw tantrums upon losing a kata competition. At one tournament I saw a black-belt throw his weapon down and kick it across the gym. This bad behavior was because he didn’t place first, and in that moment, he felt his behavior was justified. I have seen moms go berserk in the stands when they see what they perceive as poor judging of their child’s match. Granted these are rare moments, but they still occur. Karate must be about more than winning. In life we suffer more losses than victories, and it is important that we teach our children how to properly handle these losses. I know adults that have missed a promotion and it became the focus of their existence. It eventually poisoned their attitude and made the working environment intolerable. You must learn to get over a loss. Professional athletes let failure drive them forward by working harder. Do not hold on to losing like it is something precious. The life lesson in losing is that it is not the end of the game, it is only part of it, so don’t let failure govern your future performance.
Trophies have become standard issue at karate competitions. This good for stimulating the economy, but other than keeping trophy manufactures in business what real value do they have? These icons of tournament victory are so prevalent, that they fill every space in some children’s bedrooms and are more like notches on the karateka’s six-shooter than items that stimulate fond memories of past victories. At some events everyone gets a trophy, so the gesture is even more devalued. It’s a marketing tool and it’s what draws many competitors to tournament. There are so many trophies that there value is nonexistent. I am not anti trophy. I am not opposed to rewarding students for a good performance, but there should only be one overall winner if you truly want to make the trophy a thing of value. A victory should be unique and give the karateka something they carry for a lifetime. My personal belief is that only one or two trophies should be awarded at tournament, and minor recognition given to exceptional demonstrations of skill. Limiting the number trophies awarded increases their value and meaning. I once overheard a black-belt complain that the tournament his sensei (instructor) forced him to attend only gave out medals for first, second, and third place. He was not concerned over his representation of his school or his personal reflection upon his instructor. No… it was all about the kewpie-doll he could take home. He gained no life lessons from the experience because he was far more focused on bringing home something he could brag about or place on the mantle than focusing on the lessons that competition was meant to teach. There is only one fact that a karateka needs to know about winning trophies, and that is that after the moment of victory fades, the only thing the trophy is good for is collecting dust. If there is no specific memory associated with that little icon, then it has no value. If your home is cluttered with these little statues, and you cannot remember when or where you won them, then where is their value? Today tournaments held almost every week. When I began competing, there were only one or two tournaments a year, so winning a cup or plaque was a difficult thing to do, and because of their rare nature the memento from that victory held great meaning.
There are intangible benefits from karate tournaments. It is a chance for the martial artist to meet others with the same passion. The trophy should not the most important thing a karateka takes away from these competitions. No… it is the memories and new friendships along with an introduction to the greater martial arts community. I personally have friendships that were made long ago, and it still warms my heart to see these guys occasionally at tournament. Competition breeds healthy rivalry that can lead to longtime friendships.
Another downside to competition is the use of intimidation, but it too can teach us life lessons. Intimidation has become one of the tools a few sensei’s use to gain the upper hand when his/her student is competing. Some competitors use intimidation to gain the upper hand in the ring. Sadly, intimidation does not only manifest itself in a competitor-to-competitor confrontation, but some instructors use it to bully volunteer judges. Winning has become so important that instructors will use these degrading tactics to gain an edge. I believe these tactics are wrong and have no place in true karate, but they still exist outside the dojo, and if karate is a microcosm of the world maybe it should be experienced at tournament. Intimidation is something that everyone must deal with at some point in life. Whether it is with a coworker, boss, salesman, vendor, or employer, intimidation and bullying are still a part of life. We protect our children from being bullied in school by their peers for good reason. They are not developed emotionally and can be easily influenced and overwhelmed. How do we do prepare them for the bullying happens in adulthood? In life intimidation is covert, and most people are not skilled at handling the situation. They do not understand that being intimidated is a decision. You decide if works or does not. You cave into it or stand strong. A karate tournament is a safe environment to let the student’s sensei rant and rave while you continue to score both competitors fairly. You choose to be intimidated by your opponent or see past the manipulation. Even parents of the competitor will try to get into your head while you’re judging five-year old beginning student’s kumite. The lessons we can learn from competition are not only for our children some are for the adult judging his/her first competition. We all must learn how to deal with these unpleasant moments.
I’ve judged at more tournaments than I could possibly remember. I started karate training in the late seventies and hold black belts in more than one style. I have won trophies myself and coached students nationally ranked tournament victories. I am not anti nor am I pro tournament. What I believe is that we are missing the real value of this experience. Karate is about growing students into good citizens. I feel we miss the mark, as karate instructors, when we fail to use this type of experience to teach our students these important lessons. A word of encouragement by a sensei, after a loss, can go a long way. Using these teachable moments to help our students is more important than teaching them a devastating side-kick. People are harder on themselves than they need to be. Students do not desire to disappoint their instructor, so don’t let them.
Competition creates stress in a controlled and safe environment. At the end of each competition there are winners and losers. These can be precious teaching moments. It is also important that a child learns how rare winning really is, and that loosing is not the end of the world. A child learns that crying and misbehaving does not change the outcome of a competition, and the same is true of life. These are precious life lessons that both children and adults can benefit from. There are no real winners or losers at karate tournaments… only life lessons.