Competition at its Best

“This sport development is, of course, welcome, but training merely to win a match can lead to the deterioration of this dynamic and powerful art.  The need to build true proficiency on a solid foundation, I feel, is more important than ever.  I believe that karate-do should be viewed from a broad viewpoint.  From the aspect of its development as a modern discipline, and from the aspect of physical education also, the ultimate goal of karate-do should be the attainment of a wholesomely developed moral character built through hard and diligent training.”  Nakayama Masatoshi Sensei

Competition is what has made America one of the greatest nations in the world.  Without competition against the Soviet Union, the United States would not have been first to land a man on the moon.  Competition is also what drives capitalism to boost the economy.  Without competition, there is less incentive for companies to strive for improvement of their product and/or processes.  Athletes in various sports excel as a result of competing with other outstanding athletes, thus raising the bar of the sport itself.  This is competition at its best.

Even in the world of karate, the result of karate-ka competing at a high level has produced some of the best technicians in the art.  During its early inception, karate competition was more of a spectator event, where only the top black belt athletes showcased their talent to large audiences.  The number of participants were few, and the level of competition was high.  But as karate competition became more inclusive, allowing lower rank participation, the number of spectators declined, and karate tournaments became more of a participant event.  As karate practitioners of all ages and level participated in tournaments, the sports aspect of competition started to overshadow the art value of karate.

Unlike sports, karate-do competition was not originally intended to produce winners and losers.  Philosophically, the intention of karate-ka to engage with one another is to test each other’s skill.  The term, “shi-ai” ( 試合 ) was used, literally meaning coming together to test each other.  As a samurai uses his skills to slay an opponent in battle, the outcome is more about learning from the opponent and thus improving one’s own skill for the next match.  In this regard, the honor is bestowed upon the opponent who sacrificed his life for the purpose of learning.  In this manner, karate-do shi-ai ( 試合 ) was intended as a training ground to test and learn from each other.  The ultimate goal was not the declaration of a winner or loser, but the development of the individual’s skills and character. 

When the concept of shi-ai ( 試合 ) and budo ( 武道 ) aspect of martial arts are forlorn for the sake of medals or trophies, it diminishes the value of the art.  Judo is a prime example of a once proud martial arts of Japan that lost its budo ( 武道 ) value once it became an Olympic event, the apex of all sports competition.  As a method of self-defense, judo-ka demonstrated the ability to throw opponents much larger than themselves using maximum effectiveness with efficient use of the body.  But as a sport, this aspect of the art is lost when competitors are segregated by weight division for the sake of parity, and penalty points could potentially declare a winner in a match.  Modern judo, not to be confused with Brazilian Jujutsu related to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), where many of the rules are not similar, today is associated with sports rather than an art of self-defense.  In retrospect, even the Founder of Judo, and initiator of judo competition, Professor Kano, concedes sports competition has led judo towards a different course than originally intended. 

“Contests are to be conducted according to the highest standard of moral behavior; a contest should be a learning experience that improves your character, not an occasion for building your ego.”   Kano Jigoro, Founder of Judo

The impending introduction of karate into the Olympics may be a harbinger of another martial art facing the same outcome as judo.  The Olympic stage demands a large spectator attraction, which may not exist if the competitive event is deemed boring for the audience, such as individual kata performance.  Without fully comprehending the purpose of kata, the audiences will only view the performance as an unrealistic fight against an imaginary opponent.  Even in present day tournaments, competitors are altering kata movements with “flashy” execution to both lure the excitement from the audience and influence the judges for higher scores.  The kiai ( 気合 ) is executed more as a scream to attract attention rather than harnessing one’s energy.  In team kata, the bunkai ( 分解 ) or application section of the event is intended to demonstrate the realistic meaning behind the techniques.  But sometimes the bunkai ( 分解 ) is executed with nonsensical acrobatic actions more for entertainment than proper demonstration of realistic application.  Even in kumite, some organization rules dictate kicks to the head are permissible, but disallow hand techniques to the face, seemingly to make it more challenging for athletes. But the underlying reason may be more to sensationalize the action of high kicks for spectators.  Such alteration of the art for the justification of sports competition is in total contradiction to the budo ( 武道 ) aspect of karate-do and brings about an inevitable demise of the art. 

Sports competition also reveals some disconcerting behavior in some competitors.  The desire to win precipitates any other sense of virtue that may be taught in the philosophical aspects of the art.  Competitors do not like to lose, and when things do not work in their favor, the reason for losing falls on others. For example, competitors often blame judges for failing to award a point in kumite, or faults bad judges as the reason for receiving lower scores in a kata performance.  Coaches also protest and fault others, if the outcome is not in favor of their athlete for whatever reason. 

It is always easier to blame others than to take responsibility for one’s own actions.  This occurs even in school, where the student or even the parent blames the teacher if the child does not comprehend a homework assignment or receives a poor grade.  Violent behaviors have ensued between parents, coaches, and umpires at Little League games, all for the sake of challenging a bad call or play.  Soccer games in Brazil have even resulted in officials being stabbed by spectators for making seemingly bad calls during the game.

Interestingly, winners never complain about bad judges or make excuses as to why they won.  But even though winners and champions may not complain about officiating, winning sometimes brings out the most egregious behavior in a person or team.  Being labeled the best or top ranked athlete can produce an attitude of arrogance.  Athletes become more demanding; hero syndrome of wanting to take the last shot, desire for more money, more playing time, taunting the opposing team or athletes, etc. 

Karate competition is not immune to this form of prima-donna behavior.  Kata champions may start to believe they have mastered the form based on the accolades received at national and international tournaments.  Mastery in a sense that the champion kata athlete is no longer receptive to suggestions from sensei or sempai for improvement or unwilling to change since their actions on the court has been vindicated by judges.  They begin to believe in the modified kata for points as the true kata.

True mastery of a kata is not defined by display of athleticism on the part of the karate-ka or the number of points awarded by the judges.  Mastery is being able to execute the details within the kata without flaw like the Chado ( 茶道 ) master in the presence of the samurai such that each movement is performed without leaving an opening for an opponent to attack.  Mastery is taking something complex and executing it with simplicity such that during the performance of the kata, the karate-ka moves in a Zen state where the karate-ka becomes part of the kata.

Kumite champions may start to believe their skills in the ring makes them good fighters in actual street fights.  The reality is karate competition is confined by rules which prohibits certain seemingly dangerous techniques and targets to be executed in a match.  But in actual combat there are no rules or judges to stop a match, and victory is not determined by winning a point.  There is not setup in a real fight – attacks are often initiated by surprise, and anything goes.  The false sense of bravado on the part of a kumite champion in believing competitive sparring is equivalent to a real fight only fuels the undesired hubris behavior in a karate-ka.  

These are some of the negative side effects of competition. However, it must be noted that competition in general should be viewed as a positive for the human soul.  Competition drives the individual to train harder and excel at a level greater than they could ever have achieved otherwise.  Without such aspiration progress is slow and possibly little improvement over the long haul.  The very desire to succeed in life is to compete.  Without such desires and challenges, the human spirit is stifled or lost. Communist ideal of equality amongst the workforce essentially stifled the ambitions of the labor force to excel.  But the human desire to compete in any discipline must be tempered by sound moral values and judgement.  And for karate-do competition the delineation must be discernable regarding competing purely for sports versus testing oneself through competition for the budo ( 武道 ) aspect.