OldKarateGuy
Green Belt
This board seems pretty slow, so I'll toss out something that has been bothering me for awhile. At a recent, very large TSD tournament, I was judging for most of a day in ring which (based on rank of competitors) seemed to be nothing but Sip Soo (Jitte, Jutte). I personally thought that most of the competitors I saw feloniously murdered this form. They seem to have replaced karate technique with theatrical moves, which had nothing to do with anything remotely resembling genuine karate. Fcous was not intended to demonstrate how to correctly focus a technique, but was a grunting and growling intended to impress the watchers with a competitor's fierce spirit. The same with facial expression. I thought maybe I was witnessing a Haka war dance before a rugby match, for all the wild ferocious faces. Some of the moves included such low stances that no one could possibly move effectively from them. Overall, I felt most of the performers had totally missed the essence and the meaning of the form. They were, in my opinion, demonstrating their ignorance.
BTW, I was usually a minority among the judges, since my scores were just about the opposite from the rest of the panel. As the head judge (in my ring) told me, "I reward loud kihaps and spirit." Well, what about stance? Footwork? Timing?
So, my questions: Have we turned traditional forms into a form of theater or dance, where arbitrary movements are favored for their artistry or spirit, over proper fighting technique? When we add little flourishes and fancy hand movements, which do nothing to show karate, but seem artistic and pretty, are we still doing karate? When we reward tournament performances like I have described, don't we do a disservice to our art, because we create incentives for theatrics over technique?
What's your feeling about this? Your experience? Should we create some new performance art, maybe more gymnastics than fighting art, and call it "Forms?"
BTW, I was usually a minority among the judges, since my scores were just about the opposite from the rest of the panel. As the head judge (in my ring) told me, "I reward loud kihaps and spirit." Well, what about stance? Footwork? Timing?
So, my questions: Have we turned traditional forms into a form of theater or dance, where arbitrary movements are favored for their artistry or spirit, over proper fighting technique? When we add little flourishes and fancy hand movements, which do nothing to show karate, but seem artistic and pretty, are we still doing karate? When we reward tournament performances like I have described, don't we do a disservice to our art, because we create incentives for theatrics over technique?
What's your feeling about this? Your experience? Should we create some new performance art, maybe more gymnastics than fighting art, and call it "Forms?"