Karate research - asking for help

[Buka]

Don't really know why that would happen, sorry! It might be to do with the fact that the survey is hosted from within the UK? I know very little about software engineering, so I'm not too sure what I can do to fix it

I don’t really know anything about these things, either, buddy. Sorry I couldn’t fill it out.

 

[jks9199]

Are you looking for answers from only karate practitioners -- or all martial arts?

 

[Gyakuto]

Just to address a couple of these messages, sorry for being a bit inactive, I've been away at a competition when I posted this. No, my PhD is not a diploma mill, it's a Russell Group uni in the UK (I know Russell Group doesn't mean much anymore nowadays, but this is the University of Birmingham, as you can see from the actual post itself, so it's one of the more decent ones).

The University of Birmingham is an excellent university.

I apologise if I offended anyone by posting this here; I have no intention to cause harm to anyone, I'm just trying my best to finish my degree and in the process, find out more about a topic that's been of interest to me for many years and maybe contribute a bit to existing research in the process.

I’m sure you haven’t. I think the members here like to have a bit of interaction with posters than just a request and then nothing!

 

[Gyakuto]

That's actually very interesting! This is a part of Wado culture I don't think I'd know much about (I started in 2008 in Hungary, but we've always been more occupied with the internal politics of Wadokai/Wado-ryu than performance enhancement), so that sounds like something super interesting to learn more about.

It became very messy. When the founder died, Suzuki Tatsuo (8th Dan Hanshi) was felt to be the next head of Wado Ryu because of his contributions to the art (he invent the ‘Ohyo gumite’) and was technically superb. But the head job went to the founder’s much less able son Hironori Ohtsuka II…nepotism. Suzuki became disenfranchised and broke away from Wado Ryu and did his own thing.

That's been echoed a lot with people I've asked about the topic so far, the fact that doping is not worth doing unless you stand to gain something from it in terms of prize money or anything of the sort.

Why would you risk your health unless there’s some great reward?

But that being said, I think there is a very real risk of unintentional doping in the sense that people don't bother to check supplements and might not be aware that certain medications are prohibited (think stimulants for ADHD, for example - you might have a legitimate reason to take them, but you need to declare that if you're at that level of competition, which a lot of people, especially in English Karate, don't know about).

And bagels/bread rolls with poppy seeds on them!

 

[Hot Lunch]

It became very messy. When the founder died, Suzuki Tatsuo (8th Dan Hanshi) was felt to be the next head of Wado Ryu because of his contributions to the art (he invent the ‘Ohyo gumite’) and was technically superb. But the head job went to the founder’s much less able son Hironori Ohtsuka II…nepotism. Suzuki became disenfranchised and broke away from Wado Ryu and did his own thing.

I always thought "nepotism" was the norm (I put the word in quotations, because I'm not sure if the Japanese think of it that way).

SKIF is headed by Hirokazu Kanazawa's son and ISKF is headed by Teruyuki Okazaki's nephew, despite both organizations having shihan kai members that have been practicing for almost as long as their respective heads have been alive.

Personally, I have zero problems with this as long as they've never stated or implied that becoming the head was based on a meritocratic system.

 

[Gyakuto]

I always thought "nepotism" was the norm (I put the word in quotations, because I'm not sure if the Japanese think of it that way).

Well, the Tenshin Katori Shinto Ryu (the oldest extant school of martial arts) have the right idea. The blood relation of the founder is the titular head, and Risuke Otake was the ‘technical’ head.

Personally, I have zero problems with this as long as they've never stated or implied that becoming the head was based on a meritocratic system.

It’s not good for the school if a substandard blood relation becomes the headmaster.

 

[Hot Lunch]

It’s not good for the school if a substandard blood relation becomes the headmaster.

There is one benefit to it being hereditary: the sense of ownership. Someone being (s)elected to the position is going to be more "detached" from the organization than someone who inherited it from their parent.

While I'm not suggesting that someone (s)elected on merit alone will have the attitude of "I don't care, this organization doesn't belong to me," I do think that this attitude falls on a wider spectrum - and that someone who inherited the organization from a previous generation in their family will almost always have an attitude that falls on the better extreme of that spectrum.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Well, the Tenshin Katori Shinto Ryu (the oldest extant school of martial arts) have the right idea. The blood relation of the founder is the titular head, and Risuke Otake was the ‘technical’ head.

I think one of the considerations re: heirs is their knowledge. To whom has the master passed on the full curriculum, including "hidden" or "secret" proprietary techniques/methods. Sometimes these remain solely within the family, sometimes to the best most senior student. It would be convenient if these were the same guy but that's not always the case. And if no such heirs exist, the master's knowledge dies with him.

 

[Gyakuto]

There is one benefit to it being hereditary: the sense of ownership. Someone being (s)elected to the position is going to be more "detached" from the organization than someone who inherited it from their parent.

There’s little point having a sense of ‘ownership’ of a stunted, degenerate school because the choice of accession has gone to a less able hereditary leader over a gifted, technical one.

Perhaps this tendency amongst the Japanese old schools accounts for the almost laughable demonstrations of ‘old school’ martial arts (Koryu) one sees at various shrine demonstrations and the Tenshin Shoden Katori Ryu’s strong and vigorous constitution.

 

[Hot Lunch]

There’s little point having a sense of ‘ownership’ of a stunted, degenerate school because the choice of accession has gone to a less able hereditary leader over a gifted, technical one.

Leadership and technical ability are two different things. We're not going to promote a high functioning retard into the newly opened supervisor slot at the warehouse just because he can move more boxes than anyone else, are we?

That sense of ownership, however, is a consideration when we're talking about leadership.

By the way, I'm not totally dismissing what you're saying. I'm not stating that heredity is better than meritocracy. I'm simply saying that sense of ownership is merely one argument in favor of heredity.

 

[Gyakuto]

Leadership and technical ability are two different things.

Yes, which is why there are times they should be separate roles as in Katori Ryu. Somebody may be a great surgeon but an incompetent administrator. Let that surgeon operate and hire in a manager to run the hospital.

We're not going to promote a high functioning retard into the newly opened supervisor slot at the warehouse just because he can move more boxes than anyone else, are we?

Which is why there are times they should be separate roles as in Katori Ryu. Somebody may be a great surgeon but an incompetent administrator. Let that surgeon operate and hire in a manager to run the hospital.

That sense of ownership, however, is a consideration when we're talking about leadership.

Sounds more like a consideration of the ego.

By the way, I'm not totally dismissing what you're saying. I'm not stating that heredity is better than meritocracy. I'm simply saying that sense of ownership is merely one argument in favor of heredity.

I’d rather join a dojo with a great teacher/technician than a dojo who’s leader is not but is the 64th direct descendant of the founder. I can’t imagine anyone would disagree with that.

 

[Hot Lunch]

I’d rather join a dojo with a great teacher/technician than a dojo who’s leader is not but is the 64th direct descendant of the founder. I can’t imagine anyone would disagree with that.

The "ownership" argument has been used in favor of monarchies versus democracies.

In democracies, you get someone who serves a term of x number of years, and could really give two craps whether or not he leaves the country in a mess because he's eventually going to be out of office - and that mess he leaves is going to be someone else's problem. Monarchs don't have that luxury, plus they have to consider the legacy that they're going to pass on to their heirs.

Granted, there are arguments for democracies over monarchies, and I get that.

But ownership is a very powerful thing, and it has its place when determining the best person for the job.

 

[HighKick]

Are you looking for answers from only karate practitioners -- or all martial arts?

I filled out the form, but I am TKD, Shotokan, and Kali. There is a moderate amount of overlap with Shotokan, so I figured what the heck.