Supersize my karate

“Welcome to <insert name here> dojo, may I take your order please?”

Dare I use the forbidden M word?

Are McDojo’s the future of martial arts clubs as we know it?

The problem is that martial arts is becoming something that is being offered to the masses, no longer do we see small clubs of a few highly skilled and hard training and devoted members; more and more clubs are popping up all over the place and advertising to attract members. But how did this start? where did the shift come from? Is it the natural progression of things and are we witnessing the end of the small “secret” club?

The main problem that I think is the root of this issue is money. Sooner or later, what it all boils down to in the capitalist culture that we live in is a rectangular piece of paper, with some old dead person’s picture that nobody can really recognise anymore anyway. Because dojo’s need cash flow to survive, they are forced to do what they can to attract a larger student body. The result? Martial Arts for the Masses. Unfortunately, in any sport the people that train the hardest and become “super athletes” are not the average joe, they are usually only represented by less than 5% of the population (ok I can’t support that statistic) and unfortunately it is the remaining 95% that pay the bills. Pushing everyone to their limits generally only attracts the hardcore ahletes, the ones willing to really put in the effort to see the major returns. This strategy unfortunately drives away a lot of students, which means less dues and a tougher time at making the rent. Even if these clubs can make rent, where does that leave the instructor? More often than not they have to volunteer their time… Is it any wonder that in all popular media the “superhuman martial arts instructor” that runs the club/dojo that our hero joins to train at is struggling to break even or living at the dojo to keep costs down?

So what is the solution? I don’t think there really is one… some dojos / clubs have gone the other way, bumping up the fees so that they can get by with fewer members. The problem with this approach is that it excludes the people who just cant afford exorbitant fees…. so what next? A return to backyard dojos?

I just don’t see this epidemic going away. McDojos are here to stay and they are a fact of life as it really is the natural progression if we are trying to make martial arts accessible to the masses.

Commitment Issues

Perhaps the most frustrating part of sparring for me right now is my inability to commit certain techniques. I throw something like a roundhouse, front snap kick, or back fist strike, and it ends up coming short of the distance needed to score a point. At times, my body feels like it has a governer on it, restricting my attacks. Even when I tell myself that I need to get in, get the point and just tap the persons abdomen with a good solid (but non-excessive) front snap kick, my body does otherwise. Its really just as well I talk to someone else’s leg.

The House of Nakayama

中山正敏館?

“Shotokan” literally translated means “house of Shoto” (Shoto being the pen-name of Gichin Funakoshi). Karate practiced by followers of Gichin Funakoshi is very much the way of life Master Funakoshi was hoping for, with little emphasis placed on competition as he did not feel it was in the spirit of karate, but later allowed some minimal amount of competition to avoid inter-dojo fights and to open Shotokan karate to a larger audience. Instead, more time is spent on being good human beings who push their own personal limits. This is justification for why the passing criteria for a belt level is flexible to some degree, as individual growth is variable and so cannot be pigeon-holed into a rigid predefined box of grading criteria.

Karate in the Olympic Games Part 3

Based on a recent interview with Okazaki Sensei published by “The Shotokan Way” (see here), it seems unlikely that karate will ever be in the Olympics under the governance of the ISKF. This should not come as a surprise to many, however, given that the WKF has already been identified by the IOC as the “governing body” of karate. Not that karate will be in the Olympics in the near future .

Okazaki Sensei’s comments re: Judo bring to light an issue that has been swirling in my head since talk of Karate in the Olympics first came onto my radar. Does sport competition really turn the martial arts into less of a martial art? On the flip side, does increased competition make things better?

Sensei Yaguchi’s new book “Mind and Body: Like Bullett” expands on this concept at one point, explaining that free sparring was set up to last for only 1 point because any more and competitors would lose the “life or death” feel that is integral to martial arts. I think this is the key component to whether sport competition detracts from the “martial art” aspect of any of of our martial arts; the mindset that you as the competitor have towards the tournament and/or training.

I both agree and disagree with the aforementioned masters, I think that sport competition has the potential to cause the arts to become more of a sport and less of a martial art, but only if we let it. Only if we as the competitors go into competition with the mindset that it is just a game will it turn the arts into something else. Indeed multi-point rounds, such as those used by the WKF, do not have to cause you to lose site of the “life or death” mentality, though I can see how this would happen for many people. By always having a second chance the severity of being scored on does not sink in.

Perhaps the point that the aforementioned masters are trying to make is that there are no second chances in real life.

phil

Looking Forward to ISKF Canadian Nationals 2010, Winnipeg

Many are just returning from the 29th ISKF Canadian National Karate Championships in Calgary and I think all would agree that it was a great success. From an attendee’s perspective, the organization of the event was flawless. From a competitor’s perspective, the quality of competition was fierce.

Karate Survey: How do you like your Karate Tournament?

Medium? Rare? Well-done?

Wondering what people thought about the most recent ISKF Canadian National Karate Championships in Calgary, I thought I’d put together a brief survey to get your feedback. Prefer hotel tournaments over a gymnasium? Tatami mats vs. hardwood floors? Let us know.

phil

Karate will not be in the Olympics in the near Future

I held out hope that maybe the IOC would find a place in their hearts for karate and vote it in for the 2016 Olympic games. No such luck. Once again, it has been outpaced by the likes of rugby and golf. Now we just hold out to see if it will be put back on the agenda for the IOC Session meetings in 2013 to be possibly considered again for the 2020 Olympics.

Perhaps with Brazil winning the 2016 bid, they’ll consider MMA in the Olympics! Let’s not hold our breaths. MMA competition at the level of UFC is not nearly wide spread enough, with only a half dozen countries seriously involved at present.

An Interview with Teruyuki Okazaki Pt 2

Interesting article that was circulated around our club, worth a read through.

http://www.theshotokanway.com/aninterviewwithteruyukiokazakipart209.html

hershees

Canadian Nationals ‘09 Training Progress

Nationals are just 6 days away and I haven’t blogged about my progress as much as I would have liked, but here goes nothing.

ISKF Calgary 2009 Canadian National Karate Championships Logo

Yoga

Yoga has been a blessing. I’ve taken about 15 minutes every morning for the last two months to do yoga in the morning. There are a few types of yoga and I’m no expert on either but what I’ve been doing is a form of hatha yoga. The routine has been:

Tokui kata: How Do I Choose the Right Kata for Me?

While practicing all my kata are important, I’ve had to choose a couple for extra practice at the 2009 Canadian National Karate Championships in Calgary in October. The questions I’ve been tossing around are:

• should I determine my body type and choose two kata from that type? or,
• choose a kata from the two main types of kata: sho-rin and sho-rei?

Let’s see…