Karate an Olympic Sport

Kong Soo Do

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If I may offer an opinion...

I don't know if the information is correct or not. However, I couldn't help but notice the joyful news of being an Olympic sport coincided quite nicely with the limited time offer of a lifetime membership for the low, low price of $250, operators are standing by. Personally, I'd wait till they throw in the set of Ginsu steak knives.

Karate is already getting watered down enough with sport trappings, this, if true, will only make it worse. Too many people think a 'high block' is actually a block, this will make that even worse.
 

Kframe

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I agree in part with KSD, karate does not need more dumbing down. For evidence just look at TKD.

I do disagree with KSD on deflections though, and Ill use this prominent Karate instructor, as representative of my opinion.
That and the fact that OLD school BKB had a rising deflection that finished in the same position and as the rising block in karate.

I find it hilarious the notion that karate does nothing outside of foot work to defend attacks.. You cant dodge everything, you cant sidestep everything, foot work can only take you so far. That is were deflection comes in.
 
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Kong Soo Do

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I should offer a clarification in that I should have stated, some people think a high block is ONLY a block. And using the high block probably wasn't best choice in blocks to offer as an example.

Thank you :)
 

Kframe

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KSD I was going to offer up this follow up article from Dan. http://dandjurdjevic.blogspot.com/2009/05/reinventing-wheel-back-to-rising-block.html I agree that there are other uses, but one must never abandon the basics, basics win fights. In my own practice, I find that the rising block is my go to, for intercepting weapon attacks. IE intercepting the arm holding the weapon. Allowing me to control the weapon. Now, I do my rising block differently then I was taught at my old Shorin ryu place, and others I have seen on the net and in person. I don't throw it up so close to my head, I actually use it as a interception as I feel most so called "blocks" in karate are ment to be used. Which co incidentally is how Dan in the blog I have contained above feels it should be used.

Not sure how I managed to do it further out, but when I started using it against real attacks, projecting it out as a interception is what felt right, and it worked. I do that for all my interceptions. I hate the word block, my boxing skills have blocks, karate does not. I honestly wonder how many of the karate blocks are really parries? I find parries work wonders on just about everything.

Along that point, I had a recent revelation. The Chudan Uchi, I wonder if it is not a singular technique, but a stringing of several techniques together. I stumbled across this as I was trying to find the karate equivalent of one of our straight punch defenses. What we call the parry trap. It is simple. Its a inside parry that I pass, my rear hand comes in behind and grabs and pulls(or not depending) and then a back fist to the face. It wasn't until I saw videos of karateka doing there basic line drill of the chudan that saw the connection to my parry/pass/trap/backfist.
 

Grenadier

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While it may have the support of the USOC, that's no guarantee that it will become an olympic event.

Karate has placed exceptionally well in the voting recently, but has been passed over for other sports. The fact that the USOC decided on putting in squash as an olympic sport shows that having a favorable status basically ensures nothing.

The letter also looks a bit odd... Just about everyone is now calling it USA Karate, and not the USA-NKF. In addition to this, putting in the pitch for NAPMA makes it seem more of a promotional thing, and less of a purely informative one.
 

twendkata71

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Wow, how old is this post? Roger Jarett has not been president of the USANKF for several years. I think that letter is from 2008. Sounds like someone got a little over excited. It looks like a push to gain more members or life members at that time, playing off of the excitement of the USANKF being recognized again by the USOC(which it has several times) as a possible Olympic sport.
Karate was just shot down again for the 2020 olympics. I personally do not think that Karate will ever be an official Olympic sport. Apparently the Koreans (TaeKwon Do) are a lot more organized, that is why it is an Olympic sport and karate is not.
Karate is fragmented, with several large organizations(ITKF,WKF,) fighting for control. WKF being the best from what I have seen.
In Taekwondo there primarily is just one the WTF.



 

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