Hi guys

As you may or may not know Karate has missed out on an Olympic berth again. I want to know what you think the main reason behind this is.

For those of you who may not have seen it you can find a small feature on it here.

If I can get some good informed answers then they will possibly be included in the next edition of Martial Arts Illustrated.

darylcrowther wrote:


As long as the Olympic programme is as large as it is, and as long as WTF Taekwondo is included, then Karate is unlikely ever to be included.

The IOC are already looking at removing OR replacing various sports, however, because of the simmilarities between WKF Karate and WTF Taekwondo to the average Joe Bloggs, Karate just doesn't 'fit' at the moment.

Also, as long as the WKF stick to the Draconian Article 21.9, it won't ever be included, as Article 21.9 contradicts the IOC principal of Sport for ALL.

This is why you no longer have to be a WTF stylist to compete in the Olympic TKD event. As long as you are willing to compete to their rules, and have membership to the IOC recognised TKD body for your country, you could be an ITF stylist from the TAGB or UKTA and still be allowed to compete.

A former female US Olympic TKD team member (who's name escapes me at the moment) was a Kung-Fu stylist who previously compted on the American Freestyle Karate circuit.

PS. 53 people have voted on this topic, and as of yet I'm the only response!

Apathy???????

It would be interesting to see karate included, and I'd be quite happy to see TKD removed. That sort of rolling approach to inclusion in the Olympics might make for some interesting developments. I'd be radical enough to say take out judo and replace it with Ju-Jitsu for a few years as well.


I really enjoy TKD, but am unconvinced of its general spectator appeal as a sport in the Olympics. How would Karate competitions square up? Anything based on scores for technical merit would be fraught with difficulties and, again, be challenging for the general public to engage with. A single strike system might be difficult for the general public to grasp. If there was to be a continuous sparring bout then why not simply introduce a generic kick boxing sport? Or ITF rules TKD?

By changing the martial arts elements of the games every three or four games you might get to spread the wealth of the Olympics a bit more. In contradiction to myself (as I am often want to do) I'd leave the boxing in, separate from such a scheme. But by changing things on a regular basis, whilst still attending to the martial arts as a discipline, you could help fund new stuff. You might also persuade some of the arts based sports to generate a governing body to make a bid possible. The Olympics isn't just about the sport at the games, but about the support in the communities that can arise from inclusion. It seems to me that such support could benefit from being spread out a little.

I'd rather Pole Dancing was included, it's far more interesting to watch....

Well, it would seem that there is a general recruitment drive out for TKD players for the Olympics. Ant discipline (anyone else think this is a marketing trick?)

So perhaps your pole dancers are in with a chance Steve. Not sure its what you had in mind, but we must all make compromises.

Marketing aside, it does raise a question or two. The sport of TKD is very very different from the art. If a player can come from any martial art (or even none?) and compete at the highest standard of the sport, what is it about the sport that makes it distinctive to TKD? Why not simply have a generic Olympic Kick Boxing event?

I would like to see Karate in the Olympic games which would benefit more people to take up karate it is shame that it is not in the Olympics after all Karate is a sports after all as well self defense.

It is a good thing that Taekwondo is in the Olympics, i'm not against Karate coming in but it would makes the Olympics less internationally diverse in terms of sports, Japan already has Judo as a solid event. It is nice to have something from Korea.

Sport TKD is so boring to watch. I'm with raging pagan, and was going to suggest an 'open' kickboxing event, much like a kumite, with competitors using karateka, gong fu, TKD etc. fighting it out in points based battles, without head protection. Much like the Combat 32 circuit in the UK.

For continuous, full contact bouts, an open-style contest would attract western/Chinese/Thai boxers to the fray (or anyone else who fancies themselves). I suppose the trouble with that might be deciding how people qualify?

Either of these would surely be better than a 'closed' competition for only one style??

The Olympics desperately needs a martial art competition (with the exception of boxing) that is exciting to watch.

I believe I have said this elsewhere before but I am going to say it again here because the topic started up again.

I personally don't want to see karate at the Olympics because I don' like the way that martial sports practitioners conduct themselves sometimes. Learning the proper etiquette has always been important for me in martial arts and Otsuka Sensei put it beautifully when I was training with him a while ago.

(Paraphrasing and translation from Japanese of course):
"In whatever tournament you are in it is always important to consider your opponent. If you beat an opponent, you should not celebrate your victory in front of them. Though you have won, your opponent has lost and it is important to understand the sadness and pain of loss. Give thanks to your opponent by giving your all in the next round because you wouldn't be there without them and treat every victory and every defeat as a learning experience and a way to become stronger"

Respecting your opponent is really important in Japanese martial arts and it is really important not to do any kind of celebration as soon as a bout is over because it is extremely disrespectful. I don't know if anyone knows much about sumo but there was a Mongolian Yokozuna (top sumo wrestler) that landed himself in a lot of trouble for this "guts pose" stunt after a match.



This kind of thing happens in Olympic judo already. I have spoken to a lot of Japanese judo ka about this that have told me that Olympic judo is not real judo. Its techniques are different, its goals are different and the etiquette has disappeared.

Fast forward to about 1:20 on this video to see the winning technique and the reactions:



Also how could anyone forget the kick felt by every TKD practitioner in the world when this representative of the sport lost it and kicked the judge in the face.



Finally, I saw a WKF karate video a while ago which is the final nail in the coffin for me to be honest. I don't want the Olympics to roll round and have to justify to my Japanese counterparts, who I KNOW would keep asking me about this, why I am not interested in Olympic karate when these martial sports practitioners are my representatives.



-facepalm-