Full contact karate
Focus | Striking |
---|---|
Country of origin | Japan |
Creator | Varies depending on subtype. |
Famous practitioners |
|
Parenthood | Varies depending on subtype. |
Olympic sport | Yes |
Full contact karate is any format of
History
Full contact karate competition comes in several different formats developed for the art of karate at different times in different places. Some developed independently, others developed out of other full contact rule systems or from light contact rule systems.
There are no major unifying organizations in any of the different formats, and the rule details may change drastically between the many rival sport/style organizations and different promoters. Some organizations stick rigidly to one set of rules. Other use several rule formats harmoniously side by side. Some even have tournaments that switch rule formats between rounds of the same bout. Sometimes the differences between the different rules are large, and sometimes the only significant differences between different sport rules are the organizational structures that use them.[4][5]
Different formats
Knockdown
One major format of full-contact sport karate is known as knockdown karate or sometimes Japanese full contact karate. This style of sport fighting was developed and pioneered in the late 1960s by the
Points are scored by knocking the opponent out, down to the floor, by sweep and controlled follow up for half a point, or by otherwise visibly incapacitating them. Unless there is a knockdown or sweep, the bout is continuous, with stoppages only to break up locked clinches or if the fighters leave the fight area. Unlike American full-contact karate, or point karate, clean hits are not counted in and by themselves, as the scoring depends entirely on the effect of the hits, not on the formal or stylistic appearance of the techniques. No matter the perfection in execution of a technique, it will not score unless it visibly affects the opponent. In the same manner, if a technique does show a visible effect, it does not matter if it is executed in a manner regarded as inferior.
Common, minor variations to the basic-knockdown rules include
Although this sport format originated with the Kyokushin karate organization, it has spread until now and it's used by many karate styles and organizations. Karate styles embracing these rules are often called knockdown karate styles, and these include both organizations that originated from Kyokushin, such as
Though severely divided by rivaling styles and organizations (several of which use their own minor variations of the basic rules), and lacking a unifying sport organization, the sport of knockdown karate today is common all over the world. Despite the lack of a unifying sport organization to hold unifying championships (and the friction between the different styles and organizations), there is a long tradition in most knockdown karate organizations to hold special open-tournament knockdown karate events, where fighters from any knockdown karate (or any other) style and organization are welcome to participate.
American
A second full contact karate competition format is American full contact karate which was developed in the US by the Professional Karate Association during early 70s by borrowing rules, settings and gloves from western boxing, and adapting it. It is continuous fighting, where the bout is not broken for scoring, but point scores are summed up at the end of the bout. Protective equipment used is boxing gloves and often foot-pads, shin pads, and amateur boxing helmets.
It had its origin when Joe Lewis, a traditional Shorin Ryu black belt, was disappointed with scoring in point karate and wanted to prove martial artists could fight to a knockout. For his role in promoting and organizing the first full contact bout, Joe Lewis is considered the father of American full contact karate and full contact kickboxing, both important predecessor to modern-day mixed martial arts fighting.
American full contact karate is closely related to
Gloved
One more recent system of full contact karate that has gained in popularity is Gloved karate or Glove karate. Sometimes called Shin-karate/Shinkarate (or "new" karate, in a partial translation) depending on sport organization and promoter -with the largest sport organizations being Shinkaratedo renmei[7] and All Japan Glove Karate Federation[8] This system originates in Japan where it has become a popular amateur sport for karate fighters wishing to enter professional kickboxing. Outside Japan it has gained some momentum in Europe, but is still very small compared to other forms of karate.
The rules are based on the knockdown karate rules explained above, but modified to use boxing gloves and allow punches to the face, although it may be argued that it is unclear where this karate competition format ends and kickboxing begins. This is especially true since many gloved karate fighters seamlessly go on from their amateur gloved karate career to professional kickboxing careers. Many Japanese gloved karate fighters have in recent years become well known as pro-kickboxers, and many of the most successful Japanese kickboxers in K-1, such as Kozo Takeda, Yoshihiro Sato, Yasuhiro Kido, Hinata, Yuya Yamamoto, originated in gloved karate.
Bogu Kumite
Still another form of full contact karate is
Nevertheless, compared to most other major full contact karate sports, Bogu Kumite is still very small.
Full contact point karate
One format of full contact karate competition is full contact point karate. It is similar to non full contact competition karate; the only difference from
Karate Combat
In 2018, a new professional league was launched with a new full contact rule set, called Karate Combat.
The rules of this contest is punches, kicks to the calf (not thigh) and to the head and body, as well as knee strikes. If a fighter gets knocked down the opponent can punch them on the ground for 5 seconds before the referee stops the fight or stand them back up.
In December 2019, the league announced an extended schedule of fight events for the year around the world with an event in Kyoto, Japan, planned for the Spring.[15] The Kyoto fight was cancelled and the promotion held two events that year, one in Orlando, Florida and one in Hollywood with guest announcer Danny Trejo.[16] In April 2020, the league announced a new plan that would hold all of a season's fights in one location and use CGI to add the exotic atmosphere; the plan was partially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17]
Hybrid fighting karate
Hybrid fighting karate is a form of full contact karate allows the use of both striking (Karate) and grappling (Judo / Jujutsu) techniques, both standing and on the ground.
In 1981, Grandmaster Takashi Azuma created "
Other groups combining traditional karate striking with grappling are Nihon
Another type of Karate Hybrid fighting style is karate Zendokai. This type of karate is based on striking and grappling techniques.
Others
Other sport rules, including versions allowing full contact bare knuckle strikes to the unprotected head, exists, but tend to be small and obscure compared to the above listed major formats. These rules tend to be restricted to a single small style organization or even individual sport event promotions.[18][19][20]
Examples of minor full contact rules system are the Irikumi Go as used by some Gōjū-ryū organizations (most notably the International Okinawan Gōjū-ryū Karate-dō Federation and the Jundokan Goju-Ryu organization), and the rules of Mumonkai Karate.[21] Kyokushinkan shinken shobu uses a variation of knockdown karate using thin gloves, and allows headpunches, clinching and throws. Irikumi Go is a traditional continuous fighting using full contact, gloves and face-punches, used in Gojuryu karate. Mumonkai use rules similar to knockdown karate, but modified to allow head-punches with protective headgear and thin gloves.
In France, a full contact karate promotion called pro fight karate, has been formed for professional karate with MMA style gloves, clinching and limited grappling.
An example of full contact karate rules unique to a single promotion is the now defunct Chaos Madmax[22] special event in Japan, arranged by the FSA Kenshinkan[23] style organization. Here fighters fight without gloves or protective equipment, and head-punches allowed. Chaos Madmax has been replaced by Pro KarateDo,[24] an organization using similar bareknuckle rules.
See also
References
- ^ "The Empty Hand | FIGHT! Magazine – Archives". Fightmagazine.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2015. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ "Smoker | FIGHT! Magazine – Archives". Fightmagazine.com. 2007-10-31. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
- Black Belt Magazine. May 1975. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- Black Belt Magazine. April 1976. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- ^ "Budo Kyokushinkai Karate - Croydon Martial Arts - Kyokushin Karate - Kumite". Budo Kyokushinkai Karate. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06.
- ^ "NPO法人 全日本新空手道連盟". Shinkarate.net. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ "NPOË¡¿Í Á´ÆüËÜ¥°¥í¡¼¥Ö¶õ¼êƻϢÌÁ - ¥ª¥Õ¥£¥·¥ã¥ë¥Û¡¼¥à¥Ú¡¼¥¸". Glovekarate.jp. 2014-01-03. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ "Pro Karate Makes Debut". The New York Times. 1981-05-01. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- ^ Carroll, Charlotte (2018-04-04). "Karate Combat's full contact karate league announced". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ^ [1] Black Belt Magazine, April 4, 2018
- ^ [2] The Athletic, Ben Fowlkes, September 20, 2019
- ^ [3] Associated Press, Dan Gelston, September 28, 2018.
- ^ [4]. United Press International, Alex Butler, April 14, 2018
- ^ Yahoo Sports Yahoo Sports, Rory Carroll, December 21, 2018.
- ^ [5] Deadline Hollywood, Patrick Hipes, January 10, 2019.
- ^ [6] Reuters, Rory Carroll, April 22, 2020.
- ^ "Black Belt February 1976". February 1976. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- ^ Black Belt October 1988. Internet Archive. p. 13. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
Full contact karate.
- ^ "Black Belt December 2001". December 2001. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
- ^ "ホーム|日本空手道無門会Official Website". Mumonkai.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ "Chaos Madmax". Chaos Madmax. Archived from the original on 2014-05-17. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ "Karate & Submission Arts [ Karate Dojo International F.S.A Kenshinkan ]". Karate.gr.jp. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ "Pro-Karatedo". Pro-karatedo.jp. Archived from the original on 2014-09-06. Retrieved 2015-08-12.