Where did the real Karate go?

[RRouuselot]

Thanks for the response. You are right, "the real deal" is still around. In my neck of the woods it can be found in the AAU Karate tournaments.

Here is a former student of my teacher who is now a Member, Board of Directors & Member, Coaching Committee for the AAU.

http://www.usjujitsu.net/bio/boggs/

 

[RRouuselot]

1) They can call themselves whatever they like, as can you.

"Art" has many meanings.

2) And "Martial Arts" is more commonly associated with the theatrical methods then anything else anyways, so it would seem that it is not they that lost the fight for the name

A judged, Choreographed routine is about putting on a show, nothing more. Doesn't matter what it is called, that is the goal.

1) And by doing so can look totally stupid. Someone that does jujutsu cannot call what they do Arnis. (but I guess according to you they can because you are just arguing semasiology and not really the issue)

2) According to who? You? here is what I found in my dictionary:
Martial Arts: a system of combat and self-defense, for example, judo or karate, developed especially in Japan and Korea

 

[Mark70Z]

David:

In regard to tournaments...if "all" the tournaments become gymnastics competitions, then where are these young people going to go to see traditional MA performed? Doesn't anyone have a traditional karate tournament out there?

Even tough it has been mentioned that there are different groups within a tournament, i.e. traditional, creative, Xtreme, they all bleed into one...and that's a bunch of fancy nothing...

 

[okinawagojuryu]

I used to compete in the AAU , at that time they were a lil' biased towards Shotokan . I've heard they've improved . You might wanna ck them out . I heard now they have seperate divisions for each style , so it might be better now . I know the Karate division of the AAU has their own site , but I dont know it off hand , but if you type in AAU Karate , I'm sure you can find it .

David

 

[Mark70Z]

David:

Thanks! I'll check it out...

 

[Mark70Z]

David:

I looked at the AAU Karate website and the closest tournament to FL in 2005 would be in Houston, TX. I guess they may list more in the future. This tournament is just the karate portion; the AAU also has Taekwondo, Judo, Jiu Jitsu, and Wrestling.

From just the initial looking at the website, I guess you have to be a member of the organization to compete. I guess it's not like open tournaments. At this point I don't think I'm willing to travel that far just to check it out.

 

[okinawagojuryu]

They do have tournaments in FL , but not many . Here is the contact info , for the AAU directors of FL :

Florida


Regional Director Dave Roth
P.O. Box 2427
Vero Beach, FL 32961
772-563-9333 (O)
Email: [email protected]

Florida Gold Coast Douglas Stein
12299 SW 112 St.
Miami, FL 33186
305-373-4900
305-373-6914 (Fax)
Email: [email protected]

You might also wanna ck out The USANKF , here's their site : http://www.usankf.org/ , not sure if they have anything in FL though .

David

 

[The Prof]

Dear Sensei Sommers,

Sorry for the late response. Re: AAU, I do believe that they have cleaned up their act. (at least in my neck of the woods) The AAU knows that in order to remain or be successful, they must have the support of all styles.

Yes, it is sad when judging is biased or when the judges have absolutely no clue of what they are looking at.

There are some good tournaments out there, but none of them will ever run perfect. Open tournaments especially will bring the best and the worst of karateka.

Have a great and prosperous New Year.

Prof.

 

[takezo]

Over the past several years I have seen real Karate replaced with acrobatics, loud screaming, (not to be confused with kiai) bad sportsmanship, arrogant instructors or coaches and deplorable conduct by parents...

...Will we ever return to the real deal again?

"Bring n the barf bags."

Yow!, sounds like another old guys lament. However, I qualify as an 'old guy', so I know and am disgusted by the same things. I've watched it continue to slide down hill since 1964 and it wasn't real good then.

Where did the real Karate go? Simple: Out the window when the almighty dollar crept in!

Want a return to reality? Host a tournament without entry fees, judges, or throphies. Let them all spar, do kata, and demonstrate self defense techniques with nothing more than some old guys to keep the younger tempers in line. That's the way we used to play sandlot baseball. We picked even teams and if they weren't even we adjusted. We played for hours and solved the disputes without having to call the police to separate out of control parents. Organized ball (i.e., LittleLeague) wasn't even a close second.

Likelyhood is you won't have too many attendees but you will most likely develop some new life long relationships.

Just my opinion. Have a nice day.

Mark Galvin

 

[okinawagojuryu]

Well , we dont do tounaments , but we do train together , no fee's , politics , or bs . Just training , learning , & making new friends . Ck out the link , on my site : http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/okinawagojuryu/kenkyukai.html

David

 

[takezo]

Well , we dont do tounaments , but we do train together , no fee's , politics , or bs . Just training , learning , & making new friends . Ck out the link , on my site : http://www.angelfire.com/fl5/okinawagojuryu/kenkyukai.html

David

Looks like you have captured the essence of how a martial art should be practiced. No distractions, just training.

Best of luck,

Mark Galvin

 

[okinawagojuryu]

Galvin San ,

Thank you very much ! We do our best to preserve , & promote traditional Okinawan/Japanese Martial Arts . Are you too located in FL ?
Also , Mark70Z , do you train , as well , or is it just your son ? If you do , would you be interested in comming out sometime , or Prof. , to our get together's/training sessions ?

David

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

........or #3.....take the "martial posers" out back and beat the crap out of them.

artyon:

 

[Mark70Z]

David:

I personally don't train in karate, just my son. Thanks for asking. I do enjoy watching the karate classes. I sure hope he sticks with it...

 

[okinawagojuryu]

What part of FL are you in ?

David

 

[takezo]

Galvin San ,

Thank you very much ! We do our best to preserve , & promote traditional Okinawan/Japanese Martial Arts . Are you too located in FL ? ...
David

Unfortuneately no. I'm in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia (Auburn, Northeast of Sacramento). Little to far to travel even for what looks like a good group of guys to work with.

Mark Galvin

 

[marshallbd]

Originally kata performance was meant as a way to demonstrate one’s knowledge/understanding of the kata as well as “kime” = focus, power, speed, and “spirit”……

Beautifully put, this is what I aspire to be able to do in my Kata someday.....for me and my own sense of accomplishment. As you can see, I feel I have many more years of practice to reach that level. Until then I will just practice,practice,practice and then practice some more.... :asian:

 

[marshallbd]

I have to say that I couldn't agree with you more, a family member recently recorded a Discovery Channel production they called XMA, and I must admit that it got my goat

I saw that show on Discovery Channel. It featured Mike Chantarabut (Sorry if I mangled his name). That stuff sure is flashy, but dont see where alot of it is pratical. It was fun to watch though. Have you seen the XMA on ESPN? It is even worse than that! Looks alot like the "Break Dancing" from the 80's with a few kicks or punches thrown into the spins. But the breaking competitions are fun to watch!

 

[Mark70Z]

David: I live in Jacksonville, FL. There are a ton of MA places in Jax., a lot are listed in the phone book and some are just word of mouth. From our original seach for MA schools; there weren't an abundance of good ones. I met his instructor at one of the local open tournaments when my son first started karate. I believe the only MA his instructor has been involved with was Shorin Ryu.

 

[still learning]

Hello, My first karate teacher always said tournments were for making money and not about real fighting. It was for sports and points fighting was just a game of tag and trophies. Just a contest for fun and sport. Today people want more showmanship for the tournments, just like the movies today.

Real karate is still around but not seen in to many tournments. Keep your stuffs real at your training dojo. Let the tournments be fun and money making projects. We all like to be entertain today. You can always make your own form of tournments too? We have just among our own branches. Mostly for the younger students who love to challenge themselves in tournments.

Where did real karate go?....It is still here and not use at tournments, after all ,tournments have rules...?....Real Karate...no rules.....Aloha