karate sport

In order to understand what Karate Sport entails, including how it is played and how it started, a deeper understanding of what Karate itself entails is necessary.  For most people, a mention of the term Karate reignites memories of Chinese and Japanese masters fighting using bare hands and legs without any other weapon as portrayed in many Asian movies and Television shows. These movies often portray Karate as a solely physical art, with karate chops and spinning kicks. Those who think so are not mistaken since Karate, which literally translates to “empty hand” in Japanese, is a martial art or an unarmed combat system using striking, kicking and defensive blocking with legs and arms which is taught to have started in Okinawra Japan during the 17^th century, though some scholars argue that Karate might have started in other Asian countries like China and Korea before it was introduced to Japan (Smit & Cook, 2008).  For instance, Gibson and Wallace (2004) stipulate that karate originated in the Lucku Island, about 300Km from Japan following the Japanese invasion and subsequent colonization of the Island. Following this invasion, Japanese people who moved the Island devised ways of terrorizing the natives of the Island using bare hands given the fact that the Japanese government banned anybody living in the Island, including its nationals, from carrying any form of weapons. The tactics were later imported to Japan for attack and self-defense without any weapon (Yates, 2008).

In Japan, different systems and schools developed, with each of the schools embracing and promoting its own training methods and techniques. Nevertheless, all the schools retained the fundamental elements of the original Karate. For instance, all the different schools and systems of Karate promote rituals of courtesy, mental and physical fitness, spiritual awareness, self-defense capabilities, costumes and a very complex system of ranking by the color of the belt (Alswang, 2003). For many years, Karate has been embraced as a self-defense and attack system, where people could fight attackers using bare hands, elbows, heels, head and knees as weapons.  That was then and like everything else Karate has undergone substantial changes becoming a competitive sport on professional and amateur levels, with organizations and wealth promoters fighting for the control of one of the world’s latest lucrative sport. This is what is now referred to as Karate Sport.

The transformation of Karate into a competitive sporting competition with global status like other sports such as football started around 1957 following the establishment of the Japanese Karate Association or Nippon Karate Kyokai (Alswang, 2003). Upon its establishment, the new organization arranged the first Shotokan Karate competition in the same year in the Japanese capital of Tokyo. After this first championship, new forms of karate sport emerged with their own rules and styles, and this is one of the key reasons why it is very difficult for players from different styles to compete with each in a single competition (Yates, 2008).

The Key Karate Sport Styles

Though there are more than 70 karate sport styles, only four are very common, and remaining ones are just extensions of these four. These four key styles include Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, Shito-Ryu and Wado-Ryu. Shotokan style traces its roots to its founder Gichin Funakoshi, who lived between 1888 and 1957 (Smit & Cook, 2008).  In this style, the players display their power and strength through their power movements. In Shito-Ryu players try to combine the elements of the different styles of Karate. The style was developed in 1951 by an individual named Kenwa Mabuni. Wado-ryu is a combination of Shitokan and Shito-ryu. In Goju-ryu, a combination of soft and hard techniques is emphasized. According to Gibson and Wallace (2004) Goju-ryu is a perfect example of close-quarter combat.

Rules of the Game

All Karatekas are required to seek perfection of character, endeavor, seek perfection, respect others, be faithful, as well as, to refrain from any form of violent behavior.  It is also worth pointing out that the level of contact between players in the playground differs depending on the level of the karatekas/players and the style. It is also worth noting that excessive use of force is prohibited in the sport regardless of the style or karatekas’ levels. Karatekas are also not allowed to attack certain parts of the opponents’ body, including back of the head, groin, temples, throat, and spine among other sensitive parts. All karate matches, regardless of style, are organized by weight, age, gender and experience (Alswang, 2003).

Where Karate is Played or Area of Combat

The area where karate sparring matches or competitions are held is composed of a square mat encircled by a number of officials whose roles, though different, are geared towards making sure that the players follow the rules to the point and are awarded their rightful points whenever they display the right technique. For instance, high-ranking karate experts, who sit at one side of the mat on a table normally labeled Table of honor, have the authority to overrule decisions made by other officials standing around the mat. They are the final authority in the field. Other officials include scorers and timekeepers, corner judges and the referees among others. Each of these officials plays a specific role occupy specific position on the perimeter of the mat (Gibson & Wallace, 2004).

Karate Sport Referee Signals

In Karate sports, referees use a number of hand signals to communicate to the players or judges, during bouts. Some of the signals communicated this way include resume, start, stop and point awarding signals among others (Smit & Cook, 2008).

Karate Sport Scoring Criteria

First, it is important to point out that scoring in this sport depends on the referee’s personal assessment.  In making his decision, the referee determines whether or not a given move was delivered from the appropriate distance. He also needs to determine whether or not the move was perfect in terms of attitude, timing and form. The effectiveness of the move in the real world is also determined before the points are awarded.  Once all these have been ascertained the referee decides whether or not to award a point to a given player (Yates, 2008).

Sports Gear

It includes a white uniform, commonly referred to as gi, and is composed of trousers, a jacket and a belt. Players also wear protective gear including an athletic cup, a bust protector, padded mitts, gum shields, gloves, foot protectors, as well as, shoes. It is worth noting out that the color of the belt worn by a karateka indicates his level of proficiency. There are colored belts in Karate sport, including blue, brown, red, white, black, green and yellow. It is worth pointing out that different styles use different colors in grading Karatekas. Despite this fact, all styles use black belt as the highest level and white as the lowest level (Smit & Cook, 2008).

References

Alswang, J. (2003). The South African Dictionary of Sport. Claremont: New Africa Books.

Gibson, A., & Wallace, B. (2004). Competitive Karate. Windsor, ON: Human Kinetics.

Smit, S., & Cook, H. (2008). Karate. London: New Holland Publishers.

Yates, K. D. (2008). The Complete Guide to American Karate and Tae Kwon Do. Berkeley, CA: Blue Snake Books.