Archive for February, 2011

You have entered into a local martial arts contest, one that advertises it is an “Open” tournament and you are trying to discern the rules. As a former salty old dog that has fought a few tourneys in the 70′s and early 80′s, you are shocked to discover that the rules have really changed!

In the early days of tournaments, Open tourneys meant that as well as being open to all styles – the rules were the same for hands and feet. One could do a jump-spinning-hook-kick to the head or reverse-punch the body for one point. Groin kicks as well as leg sweeps were legal (the three second rule to score on a downed opponents was in place).

Well this is NOT the old days anymore. The Closed tournaments still have inflated point values for kicks to the head and body but now even the open tournaments award more points for kicks!

In this article I am going to talk about the logic of a point system and what it is supposed to say about a fighter. Yes I will talk about sport karate in general and why this trend of flashier karate fighting may have happened. I will as usual give my opinion of where this went wrong (assuming you agree with me). I welcome the opportunity to hear you opinions in this regard. Here is a video about one organization’s rules.

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I am almost ashamed to be writing about this but before you read too much into the title, I want to assure you that most self defense classes are probably good. I even continually endorse kids, women and even men take these courses if they need a quick edge and/or are not willing to learn a fighting art. Researching for this post I found what I thought was a good story on a Los Angles self defense class and then it gave me pause!

I am a life long karate, judo, boxing, wrestling, kung fu, and any other fighting art I could find – enthusiast, so for me to say whoa… something is rotten in Denmark – is quite a a feat. You see like any other endeavor martial arts has its share of fakes and fly by night organizations – just as any other industry does but for the most part – the worst you can be harmed is to learn a mediocre fighting style that does not really work. Many people will start with one school and then end up taking up another and finely “get it!”

So in this post I will talk about one more thing to be aware (or beware) of when you consider signing up for a self defense course. I’ll also speak to what a self defense course should contain and other considerations. Ok if you are ready – please watch this video and see if your alarm bells don’t go off near the end and we will talk. There is a 15 second commercial and if you want – skip through this and get to the last minute to see the punch line.

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