Competitions (Having a moan)

[miffersy]

Hi Everyone,
I would like to know what really bugs you when you are at a Competition. One of mine is you always got the token Instructor that while his fighters are doing well he is saying "great, brilliant" and then when they lose even if its in the final the Instructor is right in their face snarling "what the f*** were you doing there that was absolutely f****** rubbish you t****r.
These people really get to me , where's the spirit gone where you go enjoy yourself and if you get a Medal/Trophy it's a bonus.
So whats the thing that really jerks your chain people.

[thingy]

Hello to you.

I've seen rather damned senior grades of an organisation cheer their fighters on, nothing wrong with that but then they start shouting abusey things at the referee for points missed etc (for their fighter only of course). I'm not too keen on this.

You have your poor 1st dan referee being shouted at where they're going wrong by some (heavily biased) 18th dan in the same organisation and you know I think that's a bit intimidating. It's not easy to completely shut out the words when one of your seniors is shouting instructions at you.

[random]

I was a spectator at a competition where there was the most disgraceful display from one of the finalists.

One of the scorers may or may not have missed a point, one of the fighters family went and got the point added during the fight, one of the corner judges saw this and stopped the fight and had the point deducted.

There was much screaming and shouting and the referrer did well to control the situation. Some of the fighters club were shouting for him tp get his equipment off and quit, ironically his opponent got two more points and would have won anyway, after the fight there was mitts and foot protectors and head guards flying all over the place.

It was a poor and unfortunate end to a good days fighting.

Poor discipline from the fighter and his club, it was a very negative image for MA.

[tomahawk]

I'm not much interested in the competitoins anymore.
The last one I participated in was back in June of this year and it was a real disappointment.
This was my first tournament in a lot of years
(more than 20) and things seem to have changed.
I am required to be involved in a certain number of
competitions as I'm under contract but I'm not required to compete, which I'll not under the conditions.
All of the screaming and flaring tempers and disrespect
turn me off in a bad way.
So I'll just moan too ;D

Tomahawk.

[Aefibird]

I hate it when fighters/competitors (or even worse, their parents) scream abuse at a referee. It's only a competition - they're only fighting for a lump of metal (or, usually, plastic)!

Yes, it is disappointing when a decision goes against you but you just have to take it with dignity and try and work even harder to overcome that.

One of the things that really bug me at competitions is parents having a go at their kids for not doing a good kata, or not kicking enough or whatever. Give the kids a break!! It's an achievement in itself just to stand up there and have a go, especially those kids without a lot of experience.

It's even worse when the parents who shout at their kids are the ones who have NO martial arts experience and wouldn't even be able to fight their way out of a paper bag. Grrr!

[miffersy]

aefibird said:

I hate it when fighters/competitors (or even worse, their parents) scream abuse at a referee. It's only a competition - they're only fighting for a lump of metal (or, usually, plastic)!

Yes, it is disappointing when a decision goes against you but you just have to take it with dignity and try and work even harder to overcome that.

One of the things that really bug me at competitions is parents having a go at their kids for not doing a good kata, or not kicking enough or whatever. Give the kids a break!! It's an achievement in itself just to stand up there and have a go, especially those kids without a lot of experience.

It's even worse when the parents who shout at their kids are the ones who have NO martial arts experience and wouldn't even be able to fight their way out of a paper bag. Grrr! >:


Yes it is terrible in all walks of life, parents who try to live life through their kids glory and are unwilling to accept if they fail in any way

[AngelaG]

I'll be controversial here and say that I have absolutely no interest in competitions at all... I will even go as far as to say that in my opinion concentrating on most types of modern kumite breeds bad habits, and has little correlation with the overall spirit of what we should be promoting.

So NUH!

[Mr. Precision]

angelag said:

I will even go as far as to say that in my opinion concentrating on most types of modern kumite breeds bad habits, and has little correlation with the overall spirit of what we should be promoting.

So NUH!

You are soooo Shotokai.

[AngelaG]

SHOTOKAN all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[random]

The first Shotokan club I trained in we entered one open competition a year, just for fun, we did extra fitness but that was it no special preparation, we always came home with a few tin cups, all that sporty stuff can be over come with good karate, they just don’t like being hit and from what I have seen recently, haven’t learnt that spirit that embodies karate do and still don’t like being hit.

I enjoy being a spectator but I have serious reservations about entering a competition now, there is too much of the ‘football’ mentality around to spoil it.

All though…never say never…

[AngelaG]

miffersy said:

Hi Everyone,
I would like to know what really bugs you when you are at a Competition. One of mine is you always got the token Instructor that while his fighters are doing well he is saying "great, brilliant" and then when they lose even if its in the final the Instructor is right in their face snarling "what the f*** were you doing there that was absolutely f****** rubbish you t****r.
These people really get to me , where's the spirit gone where you go enjoy yourself and if you get a Medal/Trophy it's a bonus.
So whats the thing that really jerks your chain people.

I was surprised at SENI when I saw people having very little respect for their opponent if they injured them. I find victory dances etc. inappropriate and distasteful if your opponent is lying on the ground in pain.

[thingy]

So what do you kids think of the (real) fighting abilities of your respective top competitors. Are they falsely labelled as supreme fighters or could they do the necessary when it came down to it?

(yes i realise this is an incredibly generalised question).

[jack]

I am certain, despite other forums, that karates top competitors would make mincemeat of a good street fighter. The likes of Frank Brennan, Ronnie Christopher and all of that era were scary in their technique, speed and power. I saw at the KUGB finals in the mid eightes, awesome.

[Aefibird]

thingy said:

So what do you kids think of the (real) fighting abilities of your respective top competitors. Are they falsely labelled as supreme fighters or could they do the necessary when it came down to it?

(yes i realise this is an incredibly generalised question).

Just depends who it is. A 'top' XMA practitioner would most likely get his/her butt whipped in a street fight (unless they were trained in other styles) but there's some great karateka about (both the older legends like Frank Brennan and the newer kids like Wayne Otto and Sonny Roberts) who would be able to give as good as they got. It really does depend, though. There's some MAists (in all styles, not just karate) who are great in the ring but their fighting/SD skills aren't transferred out of the arena.