I often hear martial artists discussing the 'good old days' and how things were so much better 'in their day'.

I'm as guilty as this as the next person, and I would like to relay my experience of nostalgia if I may.

A wee while back, at the gym, I was talking to a guy who used to compete at ITF Taekwondo tournaments back in the day, and that he thought the tournaments today seemed 'tame' in comparison.

I had to think back on my own experiences, but were they really?

I used to compete on the old British Grand Prix and Welsh Grand Prix Circuits back in the late 1980's and early 1990's which were held to WUKO rules.

I remember the buzz of these tournaments because, 'back in the day', there was little to no distinction between the Traditional Tournaments and the Freestyle Tournaments.

Obviously the Traditional Tournaments were held to WUKO rules, wearing WUKO equipment, and Freestyle Tournaments were held to WAKO rules with Semi-Contact equipment, but it was always the same faces.

Often you would see Alfie Lewis and his infamous Liverpool Freestyle at a WUKO event one week and a Freestyle event the next, and they would be winning at both.

Likewise WUKO stalwarts such as Vic Charles and Gerry Flemming could often be seen at Freestyle events such as the FSK Circuit. I remember seeing Gerry Flemming fight Kevin Brewerton from Lau-Gar once, and what a battle it was.

Even teams like the ITF styled TAGB broke new ground when they became the first ITF National Squad to compete on both the Freestyle and WUKO Karate circuits as well as their own ITF style events.

I still keep my hand in coaching at Traditional and Freestyle events and occasionally competing in the Traditional Kata divisions, and I no longer get the vibe I did back in the 80's and early-mid 90's. The buzz of seeing a TAGB stylist such as Kenny Walton fighting and beating the WUKO fighters at their own game, and WUKO guys like Vic Charles beating the Freestle competitors under WAKO rules. We don't seem to see that cross participation of scoring formats anymore.

I mean, it's not as though we're an Olympic Sport, or a high prize money sport, so I don't understand the mentality of sticking to just the one scoring system.

I still enjoy tournaments, but I find them to be a bit stale, and a bit too 'samey'.

Is this just my nostalgia or does anyone else feel the same?

You know what they say about nostalgia, it's a thing of the past........ I'll get my coat!

I don't suppose this was inspired by Bob's editorial in the May edition of MAI? He was also reminiscing about the golden days of competitions.

I think in all situations when people are looking back at things they remember fondly there is a tendancy to subconsciously ignore the bad parts and just remember the good.

There certainly don't seem to be as many 'characters' coming through as there used to be, or perhaps they just don't get as much coverage the 'old boys' do?