Dealing with challenges

[smr]

maskedman said:

smr said:

I'd hand them a tournament schedule, and highlight the dates that I plan to compete.

This gives them an opportunity to gear up beforehand...train for it. The fights are organised between masters and the fighters are not told till the day....if you see some people walk into your scholl you know its fight night and you best be ready!

*bows respectfully*

Let them. I will have been training just as I always do. If they show up, then let the best man (or woman) win. Besides, this is intended to be sort of a brush-off than an actual invitation to the tournament. If you want to challenge me, then you're gonna have to wait your turn just like everybody else... and let everybody else see you get whipped, too.

[Shorin Ryu Sensei]

I had two guys come into my dojo years ago and drop a challenge in front of my class. This was a challenge to me, not my system, and not for my students. I quietly asked one of my students to go upstairs (iclass was held in my basement) and called the police.,..who came about 15 minutes later and escorted the idiots out of my home...never to be seen or heard from again.

My philosophy is thus...if attacked, I will defend myself to the best of my ability, regardless if it's in the dojo, tournament, street, bar/pub or anywhere else. My opinion of challenges is is that they are issued by imature individuals that feel they have somethignto prove. I don't. Accepting the challenge is stooping to their level, and I won't go there unless attacked.

The thing with challenges is sure, you can set up rules and referree's, but who's to say that the person dropping the challenge is going to abide by those rules? Example: A guy drops a challenge to the sensei. Sensei doesn't know this guy but figures his pride is a stake. He accepts the challenge, rules are agreed upon for light to semi-contact. Well, the challenger, unknown to the sensei, is an experienced full contact fighter..possibly a good boxer, and decides "Screw the rules" and starts out full contact. The sensei, unprepared for full contact and not expecting it, gets hammered into the floor. Does this make his pride feel better? Did he save face? Does he have good insurance?

Nope, if somebody challenges me to a fight and won't leave when asked, or pushs to the point that I have no other choice but to fight, then it will be a no rules fight, full contact, and one of us is leaving in an ambulance...or a body bag.

[maskedman]

srs said:

I had two guys come into my dojo years ago and drop a challenge in front of my class. This was a challenge to me, not my system, and not for my students. I quietly asked one of my students to go upstairs (iclass was held in my basement) and called the police.,..who came about 15 minutes later and escorted the idiots out of my home...never to be seen or heard from again.

My philosophy is thus...if attacked, I will defend myself to the best of my ability, regardless if it's in the dojo, tournament, street, bar/pub or anywhere else. My opinion of challenges is is that they are issued by imature individuals that feel they have somethignto prove. I don't. Accepting the challenge is stooping to their level, and I won't go there unless attacked.

The thing with challenges is sure, you can set up rules and referree's, but who's to say that the person dropping the challenge is going to abide by those rules? Example: A guy drops a challenge to the sensei. Sensei doesn't know this guy but figures his pride is a stake. He accepts the challenge, rules are agreed upon for light to semi-contact. Well, the challenger, unknown to the sensei, is an experienced full contact fighter..possibly a good boxer, and decides "Screw the rules" and starts out full contact. The sensei, unprepared for full contact and not expecting it, gets hammered into the floor. Does this make his pride feel better? Did he save face? Does he have good insurance?

Nope, if somebody challenges me to a fight and won't leave when asked, or pushs to the point that I have no other choice but to fight, then it will be a no rules fight, full contact, and one of us is leaving in an ambulance...or a body bag.

Like I said in Tmax shorin ryu sensei, it boils down to cultural differences, we usually end up taking on the same schools, schools we know, people we know, like and respect! We have ways to deal with the people who break the rules in this and bring disrepute to the dojo/sensei!

*bows respectfully*