Fighting Dirty: Sport vs. Karate

[JWLuiza]

An Excerpt from my blog

tOne of the Most Interesting Things (tm) about Tournament Karate Sparring is that it isn't Karate.

I'm not saying it isn't fun, skillful, or martial, I am just saying it isn't true martial art. And let me tell you why...

Well first, let me tell you a story.

The Naval Academy Karate Team came to our ERKC this year and did an amazing job. If you were to imagine the type of group that would be welcome at any tournament, they would be it. Athletic, talented, humble, and intelligent. To give you an example, a yellow belt won the Kata and Fighting in the Women's White to Blue division. (Neglecting that she supposedly had dan rank in another art, she still was competing in the correct division based on my observation of her skills.)

Now here is where I come in. I fought one of their Yudanja in the Heavyweight division. He was a good fighter and tall like me. I'm not used to kicking against someone who is just as tall as me, so it was an interesting experience. He was up in points, 2-0, after he head kicked me. I wasn't getting my distances right, so I decided to use my hands. I scored with two 1 point hand techniques in two exchanges.

It was 2-2 when I fought dirty. I was getting anxious. I hadn't planned to lose in the sparring division, it has been a few years since that happened... So maybe my hubris was getting to me. Interestingly, when I switched my style to "hands", I was fighting a very different style than I normally compete with. In fact, I don't really drill my hands in sparring much; I am much more of a Kata exponent than a fighter. So the main information I pick up for hand techniques is from my Kata.

It seems you CAN actually learn to spar from Kata

So HOW did I fight dirty?

Now, this wasn't a conscious thought or intended action, but I used my right hand to grab onto his Dobak and punched him with my left.

That's not very sportsmanlike is it? (No Fezzik, it isn't...) In fact, that may not match your view of Karate at all.

While the legality of the move is questionable (according to one Kodanja, one hit while holding the Gi/Dobak is fine...) the intent is obviously outside the realm of Sport Karate.

But I am pretty sure it was awesome traditional karate. Real karate isn't about sport, but about putting the smackdown on anyone who would intrude on your individual safety. The Japanese call the grabbing/holding hand action "Hikite" in Kata. Every time we do a basic move, our non-striking hand is pulled back to the hip. Why? Shouldn't we be guarding against the next strike? Well yes, you should.... UNLESS: you are gripping a soft, fleshy spot on their body, pull them off balance and beat the living crap out of them. Then you don't have to worry about blocking.

For example look at the 4th and 5th sequences of Gojushiho:



During those sequences, the artists sweeps the hand in front with a clearing motion, a GREAT chance to cling on to something. Pull them into you, punch them a few times, kick them, and then punch them again (This version, while labled Dai, is the JKA Sho version). In the JKA Dai version, the kick is retracted backwards, in the JKA sho version, the kick extends forward with the body weight. In the Dai version, the kick would be lower on the leg while holding the attacker, destroying their base, while the hikite hand pulls them towards you as you punch in the head. The Sho version has you smashing their knee while driving through them.

Establishing control of your opponent is the first step in dominating a confrontation. Sport karate establishes that control as distancing and timing. Adding drills to practice physical controls can build strength, tactical awareness, and conflict based confidence and bring you closer to the true nature of Karate.

I'm trying to bring some traffic in to force me to write more, so check out the full post and comment in either place!

Thanks!

 

[Deaf Smith]

JW,

The hardest part about fighting dirty is not getting injured! Now I love to spar, but messed up knees or missing a testical is not my way of learning.

Where I workout, I let one of the 3ed black belts (a SHE!) go for my legs while sparring. I trust her control. But most others I don't!

And that's the difficult and hazardous part of practicing dirty techniques (which I think every growing boy and girl should know!) You have to have mature people who can control their technique and not go wild.

Deaf

 

[JWLuiza]

JW,

The hardest part about fighting dirty is not getting injured! Now I love to spar, but messed up knees or missing a testical is not my way of learning.

Where I workout, I let one of the 3ed black belts (a SHE!) go for my legs while sparring. I trust her control. But most others I don't!

And that's the difficult and hazardous part of practicing dirty techniques (which I think every growing boy and girl should know!) You have to have mature people who can control their technique and not go wild.

Deaf

Yes, you should be very comfortable with your training partners!!!

Thanks for the response!

 

[thesandman]

Truly, there is no forum for the competive use of the martial arts in combat. Such a forum would be entirely too dangerous. Once you put rules into the system to ensure safety you've taken a little of the realism away. We can't practice lethality or brutality to their fullest extent, nor should we really want to. A lucky person never has to use these techniques. Anyone using these techinques are being forced to by the situation, and those are situations we should be trying to avoid.

On the other hand, our societies have laws as well. If someone tries to take my wallet, that doesn't give me the right to kill him or even break every bone in his body. The respectful, controlled and measured use of force should be a part of every MAs training. Knowing HOW to break someones neck but not understanding why they shouldn't or when they have to is not only scary, but very very wrong.

Most competitions reflect this reasonably well. Their rules to ensure safety for everyone isn't much different than laws in the real world that would get you in trouble anyway.

One of my great fears during my training was that with all the control I was being asked to learn, that when it came down to it in a real situation that I would exercise control on instinct and fail to defend myself or someone else as a result.

From experience, it wasn't a valid concern. Learning control did not hamper me in any way in any of my real life situations, but rather the training enabled me to keep a cool head and make reational, reasoned judgements on the situation. Learing control isn't only about controlling the force of our techniques, but also about controlling our fears and our instincts.

The ability to think clearly during a violent situation is the martial artists greatest advantage I believe.

 

[Nolerama]

An Excerpt from my blog



I'm trying to bring some traffic in to force me to write more, so check out the full post and comment in either place!

Thanks!

I think it's great that you thought outside of your normal box when it came to a combat situation. Maybe you should give yourself a little more credit as a fighter than just a kata specialist.

Now, on to your blog.

 

[tshadowchaser]

Now, this wasn't a conscious thought or intended action, but I used my right hand to grab onto his Dobak and punched him with my left.

That's not very sportsmanlike is it?

well, kind of depends on the rules of the tournament. If no grabing is allowed then yes it was dirty. If throws, grabs, etc. are allowed then it was not.

In times past grabing an opponent was always part of the game and an excepted part of any tournament

 

[Josh]

Very nice blog post. Thanks for sharing.

 

[JWLuiza]

well, kind of depends on the rules of the tournament. If no grabing is allowed then yes it was dirty. If throws, grabs, etc. are allowed then it was not.

In times past grabing an opponent was always part of the game and an excepted part of any tournament

The legality is still in question, but the other guy wasn't expecting it and my intention was to compare SPORT vs. Karate. Sport (now) is more about the tag. Karate is about the KO.