Page 29 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 88

www.sportsenergynews.com Issue #88 March 2020 29

KARATE KOMMENTS The Bishop Cup Puck

Is sport karate good for self-defense? Drops in March!

By Staff Writer
By Jim Riddell,
Seaway Karate Club

or many karate practitioners, social media has become a popular place to discuss
Fvarious aspects of the sport. With karate making its debut this summer in Tokyo as
an Olympic sport, this has created a topic of conversation on some of these social media
groups.
Training in karate can be very loosely catorgized in two groups - either traditional or
sport. Both types teach combative techniques but they differ in many ways. Traditional
karate can be described as a lifelong journey focusing more on personal development
and self-defence. The sport version that we will be watching from Tokyo this summer
concentrates more on tournament competition where points are awarded for being the first
to strike a targeted area of their opponent’s body or head.
I belong to several of the Karate/Martial Arts Facebook groups, regularly checking in
for topics of interest. There are many very knowledgeable contributors in these groups The 14th annual Bishop
who offer valuable insight and training tips - but there are always a few “keyboards Cup face-off between Holy
Kyoshi’s”, whose background may be a bit suspect, providing their opinions too. In a Trinity Catholic Secondary School
recent post, a few individuals were discussing how the techniques of sport karate could be and St. Joseph Secondary School is
easily adapted to create an effective means of street defense. Yes, it’s possible that these
techniques, like those of any karate style or other martial art discipline could be adapted, set for Wednesday, March 11th.
but it would involve a considerable amount of re-training for the practitioner as well. The puck drops at 6:30PM at the Civic Complex. Admission is
In sport karate there is a referee present looking out for the wellbeing of the participants.
The match begins with a respectful bow and the fight starts outside of kicking distance $2 or two non-perishable food items.
with the combatants then moving around, trying to close the gap and score a point. There All proceeds will go to the St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank.
is very little in-fighting as by that time the fighters get inside, either a point has been scored
or the combatants are separated by the referee. Light contact is allowed, but each fighter Everyone is welcome to attend this Catholic High School sporting tradition
must always be in full control of their techniques with each match lasting up to three which has become a popular event in Cornwall since the first match-up 14
minutes. Sport karate tends to be a bit of a chess match with both fighters trying to create
an opening – if you were to do a strike count for any 20- 30 second segment of a match years ago. The winner of the game will claim high school hockey bragging
you may find it to be surprisingly low. rights for an entire year!
For self-defence on the street, there is no referee or no respectful bow. Things usually
start with aggressive behaviour sprinkled with lots of profanity, starting close and fast,
staying that way and generally ending quickly.
There are several ways to adapt tournament sparring for self-defence and they all
require keeping things at a very close range. One variation that I have found effective is
to ignore the first clean point and only count the second or even the third one to land. This
forces both competitors to stay in close, making every strike part of a combination rather
than relying on a single technique to score a point. Perhaps the best method of distance
control that I have seen is a drill that I learned about twenty-five years ago from Kyoshi
Earl Barber of Barber Martial Arts in Orleans, Ontario – in this drill, the combatants’ belts
are tied together. This creates a realistic scenario, keeping things at a close distance and
forces almost every technique to be altered.
There is an old saying in the combative arts that says, “How you train is how you fight.”
This is most often true, but it doesn’t always apply to self-defence since the environment
in which self-defence arises can be a major factor. Most combative art training takes place WE LOVE FOOTBALL
in a well-lit facility either on a mat, in a ring, or in some form of cage with an adequate
amount of uncluttered space. In self-defence, one does not often have the chance to choose
the battlefield and sometimes this can be a game changer.
As an example, I will remind the reader of the 2002 press conference held in the
Hudson Hotel in New York City to announce the title fight between Mike Tyson and
Lennox Lewis. Tyson and Lewis were two of the best heavyweight boxers in the world at
that time; but when Tyson attacked Lewis during the press conference, the altercation that
followed didn’t resemble a boxing match in any way. What did happen (which is often the
case) were lawsuits following charges of assault and claims of self-defence. During the
brawl, Tyson bit Lewis in the leg resulting in a settlement costing Iron Mike $335,000 US.
WBC President, Jose Sulaiman, tripped in the crowded area during the ordeal, striking his
head on a table and he suffered a concussion. Sulaiman then filed a lawsuit against both
boxers for $56 million dollars. For the record – when the actual fight did occur, Lennox
Lewis knocked Mike Tyson out in eighth round to retain his WBC Heavyweight title belt.
Self-defence consists of much more than physical techniques – any good personal
protection program will consist of at least 90% awareness, avoidance, and common sense,
plus another 5-7% for the verbal skills needed to de-escalate a situation. It is only the
remaining 2-3% that involve the physical skills needed as a last ditch effort when all else
has failed. Sport karate competitors are highly skilled athletes that are now competing at Joe St. Denis Field, 504 Fourth Street East
the highest levels, but it is a combative sport where the required skills are considerably Cornwall, Ontario
different from those needed for effective personal self defence.
(For more on Earl Barber, check Sports Energy News online, current and past editions www.cornwallwildcats.com
– Issue #38)