eDitorial 10

Sports Karate - Is there such a thing?

“What's the difference between sports Karate and Budo Karate?” This question comes up from time to time and it seems like a reasonable thing to ask, but considered carefully, the question may be flawed.

To the Budoka, the term Sports Karate is contradictory, to them sport is sport and the Martial Arts are something very different. Sport is done relative to other people, ie to beat an opponent or a team in order to win a match; to go faster, jump higher, stay longer or touch quicker than anyone ever has. Budo on the other hand, is solely concerned with one thing - the preservation of life; the purpose of Budo is to survive.

This is not to make light of sports – they can be very demanding. Training at the elite level goes well beyond the physical abilities of most people, Budoka included. But there is confusion among traditionalists including JKA people, as to the difference between them. This is understandable because tournament Karate has become the public face of an art that is 99% done in the relative privacy of the Dojo. Unfortunately, watching these events leaves the strong impression that there is nothing more to Karate. It’s no wonder the line is blurred.

Shiai (match) was created as a means to test the ability of young Karateka who have the urge to demonstrate their skills - it was not designed to be an end in itself. This desire to excel in competition that exists among Karate students is fine when they remain true to the Budo mindset and understand that the competitive element is only one, short-lived aspect of their progression. When competition becomes the reason for doing Karate, things change and we see an aggressive attitude where the art loses its noble value as a means to character development. This is no great revelation, the very same point was strongly made by the founding fathers of competitive Karate in the JKA of the 1950’s and has been heavily emphasised ever since.

But a culture has emerged within Karate circles where a sports mindset extends into the Dojo where everything is aimed at competition. As a result, the sempai-kohai structure central to Karate-Do and the Dojo Kun are compromised. Instructors become coaches and a “winning” attitude is encouraged above, and to the detriment of everything else.

Observing competition behaviour can give clues to a persons underlying state of mind. Karate was never meant to be the exaggerated spectacle we often see with extroverted personalities strutting around venues psyching-out opponents and officials, then running onto the mat bouncing and twitching their way through matches that look more like games of tiggy than a life-or-death face-off, then jumping around high-fiveing everyone in sight if they win. Nor was it meant to be a public stage for the kind of melodramatic performances we see when 'unbeatable' favourites loose a match, then openly challenge the decision and refuse to acknowledge the opponents effort. These sporting tantrums, so commonplace in soccer and tennis, do not reflect Budo, they are characteristic of a game, not an earnest test of skills.

Most Sports Karate players display the same overtly aggressive determination we see in combat sports such as Boxing. This is perhaps why contact sports have an attraction for some Karateka; they figure that because they see these traits in sport - they are fine for Karate. A sportsperson may train to extremes and as a result, be the best at what he or she does, but excellence in sport can’t be correlated with excellence in Budo Karate. The focus we see in high-level sportsmen is one, but not all the hallmarks of a Budoka.

The object of sport is to participate in a game of rules to win, this requires certain physical attributes that come with youth. Combat sports such as boxing are definitely the domain of the young and fit. If you listen to fight pundits, the great champion Kostya Tszyu who recently lost his world title at the age of 35 to a man 10 years his junior is too old to be fighting, but in terms of Budo he would only be starting. We don't see too many older folk taking up boxing, nor do we see champions remaining in the sport until they die – when their 'career' is over, they move on. The converse is true of Budo. Karate is a whole-of-life proposition where dedication spanning 4, 5, and even 6 or more decades is common.

Also, training in a highly competitive sport brings a degree of eagerness that can force people to damage their body. It is only after the cessation of competition that most realise the drive to push themselves to the limit with punishing ferocity has not been a good policy, especially if the sport involves high-impact training or deliberate physical contact with another person. The Karate student in the full flight of his competitive years should understand that a properly prepared and trauma-free body will be able to train at its best now, enjoy it, and continue to do so for many years to come – well beyond the mandatory 30+ retirement age of sportspeople.

Integrating Karate with sports training is possible, but the Budo mindset is what sets the Martial Arts apart and it needs to be cultivated for its own sake over a lifetime. Interestingly, the origins of sport are based on facets of human survival such as hunting, gathering, escaping etc elements we can still see today, Javelin is an obvious example. Early accounts tell us that sport was far more risky then than it is now, infact, deadly. There was a time when survival certainly was the motive - the Gladiators of old literally weren’t playing games. Today, beating the clock or achieving the highest score over an opponent has become the desired outcome and the sole objective of sports training. Budo, on the other hand has remained true to the survival element.

The Chief Instructor of JKA Australia Takahashi Sensei makes this very clear when he teaches; “this (Karate) is about your life……if you must use Karate, decide if you want to live”. His advice encapsulates the whole point; to live we must survive anything that comes our way.

Karate is Budo. There is no room for cross-over to sport and no middle ground. There is no such thing as Sports Karate - it can only be one or the other.

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