Why do ‘athletes’ tend to bypass traditional martial arts? – A neglected age demographic

It’s been just over 2 years since we first opened K2C. As a lifetime martial artist with a fast developing passion for MMA, I had a goal to help create a space where martial arts styles could not only co-exist but also cross train in a facility customised to their needs. Having lived in Florida and seeing the martial arts ‘schools’ there, I couldn’t return to training in an old run down community hall without mats, toilets, changing rooms or heating, thus the concept of K2C was born. From concept to reality has been a long road but here we are.

On the journey, my personal martial arts career has taken a number of turns I wouldn’t have predicted. For one, I’ve become a kickboxing coach. Initially, this was a bit outside my comfort zone but I’m well in the groove now. I’ve also made a fairly significant shift from a traditional martial artist to a full contact martial artist. My own training schedule is mostly dominated by kickboxing, BJJ and MMA and in terms of how I train; it’s a far cry from what I had become accustomed to as a pure karate-ka.

I now find myself in a position where I’m coaching a new generation of both traditional and full contact martial artists and my experience of both sides of the tracks has shaped a number of conclusions I have about coaching. The following blog is a rant about what I feel the world of traditional can learn from full contact. Before possibly insulting fellow traditional martial arts instructors, I must stress that this rant is very generalised. You may already have adapted to include some of my suggestions in your training and if so, fair play. I’m merely highlighting the limitations from my experiences.

So here it goes:

Traditional Martial Arts, by their very nature, are technical and intricate. It takes patience and focus to be able to spend hours, weeks and years perfecting technique, to achieve grades and competition success. However, one thing that is rarely tested in my experience is physical fitness. Although fitness in inherently improved whilst practicing technique and sparring, there’s a whole different level of physical strength & endurance out there. Elements such as core strength, speed & agility, cardio vascular endurance and anaerobic thresholds are never fully pressed in a typical traditional class.

Take boxing for example. Apart from sparring, bag work and pad work, boxers must also practice skipping to build up cardio vascular endurance. Fighters will skip for twice as long as they’re expected to fight in one fight and vary the speed of skipping to mimic the intensity variations of a real fight. This practice is part of warm up and is a daily, grinding routine for boxers.

Another example is Strength & Conditioning for MMA. This is a completely separate practice session for MMA fighters where they test their bodies to absolute limits, pushing, pulling, lifting and jumping. Every single session is about finding the outer limits of your ability and going beyond. This session is normally completed 2 or 3 times weekly for 1 hour.

Now you might argue that traditional martial arts doesn’t require the same level of fitness and strength or perhaps that the technical nature of the art transcends brute force. While it is true that all things being equal, technique wins, to rest on your laurels with average physical fitness is backward thinking and naive.

I often like to compare group photographs of traditional karate clubs (as is my background) versus full contact clubs following a seminar or class. Have you ever noticed the differences in age demographic or the body shapes of those training? Make it easier; Count what percentage of each group has a 6 pack of abs or how many would fit in to a photograph of an Olympic boxing/taekwondo squad.

Now I know that last paragraph will insight anger and insult but let’s ask a few more questions first. As a traditional martial arts instructor, which age group would you like to see more of in your class? Which age group could you really get stuck into (technically and competitively), to push the boundaries of your art. Which age group would fly the flag for your discipline, would be heroes for young kids and a blank canvass for experienced black belts to influence? I’m talking about the age demographic 16-30 or what I will from here on refer to as ‘the athlete’. Would you agree that this age bracket is where most traditional martial arts students drift away? I think you’ll definitely agree it’s not the age range of the largest percentage of members in a group.

Why is that?

Can it be that exams and socializing tempt them to the dark side? Could it be work and family life gets in the way? No, it can’t. If that were the case, you would see the same dip in numbers across all sports/martial arts but you don’t. Go back to the group photographs and look at them again. I’m suggesting you’ll find all those prime ‘athletes’ are involved with disciplines that press their limits such as rugby, soccer, Muay Thai, MMA, running, weight-lifting, triathlon, skiing etc. Almost every soccer/gaa/rugby club in the country has an adult team (if not 2 or more). Each team takes approx. 15 adults in the prime of life. Yet most traditional martial arts groups wouldn’t have half of that membership for the same age bracket.

Is it because it’s a niche market? Again… no. Look at the volume of kids’ classes within martial arts. Karate or Taekwondo has been experienced my most Irish children at one point in their childhood and class sizes for kids classes by and large are very healthy and would rival any other sport. So what is it? Why is traditional not seen as a viable option for ‘the athlete’?

One word… “Fitness”

It’s what ‘the athlete’ cares about most. To cater for ‘the athlete’, you must first understand what he/she wants. If I’m 20 years old, I’m relatively injury free. I’m strong, fast and athletic. I feel invincible and I want to prove I can beat any challenge. I have 2 options Karate or MMA? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out which one I’m going to enjoy more. Unfortunately traditional martial arts are known as the poorer cousins (fitness wise) to boxing, muay thai, bjj, mma etc. It’s a perception painted on all of us traditional instructors by years of neglecting the needs of a whole age demographic and now it’s back to bite us in the ass. Sure, we can have healthy numbers of kids taking classes. We can wear black belts and take pride in the knowledge and experience we have accumulated. The one thing we can’t expect to have though is the respect of ‘the athlete’. Why not? – Because traditional karate does not give you abs! It’s too slow moving and doesn’t challenge the physical fitness of ladies/gents in the prime of life – at least not to the same extent as the other disciplines. It’s no longer seen as a viable alternative for getting in the shape of your life during the prime of your life.

And furthermore, as a result, we’re missing the head stone of our pyramid, the icing on our cake, the jewel our crown. We don’t have nearly enough prime ‘athletes’ competing with fitness levels that shock spectators, inspire young teens and mobilise crowds of fans for our art. Imagine 100m sprinting as a sport without a solid age bracket 16 – 30. Why would anyone bother with running in a straight line without seeing how Usain Bolt smashes World records? Why would anyone take up boxing without having the opportunity to see the likes of Katie Taylor beat up the rest of the world? Who have we got in traditional karate? Chuck Norris? Karate Kid? Come on guys… let’s get real here.

Now there’s a vicious circle of causality that we’ve got to overcome if we want to reverse the typecasting associated with traditional martial arts. There are things like the organization of regular open tournaments, cooperation between associations, Olympic status, finding inspirational athletes to compete, getting more education of what we do etc. There’s no doubt that the lack of a proper stage for our current athletes falls short of inspiration for a new generation and that has a huge influence on attracting ‘the athlete’ also. However, fixing that and the other problems listed above are huge tasks and mostly out of our control for now. There is one thing that we can control and that’s how we run our classes. Here’s a list of things I think will contribute to traditional martial arts regaining its respect. It won’t change the world over night but the longest journey starts with but a single step.

1. Up the tempo

We’ve got to make the training more appealing to ‘the athlete’. This means more high tempo class planning. Put technical aspects into circuit training mode so that students can improve while building physical fitness. It takes time but over a few months, this will help get ‘the athlete’ to train with you.

2. Banish lecturing

Technical training needs to be done with the minimum of words. If ‘the athlete’ stops moving for any more than 30-60 seconds at a time during a training session, you’re going to lose them.

3. Encourage cross training

Incorporate cross training. Bring in a boxing coach for example, or strength & conditioning coach. Make your team fitter and stronger. Give them abs that ‘the athlete’ will be jealous of.

4. Make weight management a priority

Introduce weight classes to your training. Although weight classes are not in all associations and styles, it’s no excuse to relax and just eat regular food. Assume everybody who’s competing needs to be as lean as they can be and make that a priority – diet wise and cardio wise (skipping or running). Remember, ‘the athlete’ who turns up to try out your class will run a mile if everyone else training with you is out of shape.

Rafael Aghavyev – the role model I’ve chosen for my karate students

5. Find and promote a role model

Seek out and find ‘the athlete role model’ that you want your students to become. If there isn’t one within your art, choose someone from a different art. Once chosen, celebrate them. Hang a picture of them in your training space and encourage your students to watch videos of them. Learn about how they train. If you can have more than one, that’s even better.

6. (Although controversial) Forget the spiritual aspect

Within traditional karate (again, this is my background), there is a pseudo spiritual vein running through it. As instructors, we have been taught to preach the practice of a Zen-like disposition and “Seeking perfection of character” etc. Guess what ‘the athlete’ aged 16-30 thinks of this? It’s rubbish! If they want spiritual guidance, they’ll do Yoga or join the church of scientology. Let’s stick to what we’re qualified to do and teach them how to kick and punch like ninjas.

You may not agree with some or all of my suggestions. Again, these are opinions I’ve formed based on my experience and this is the mind-set with which I’m approaching my task of coaching the current generation of a traditional students.

What do you think? Are you ‘an athlete’ that has been turned off traditional martial arts for any of the reasons above? Are you an instructor who feels likewise? Do you think I’m going against the grain of tradition in my thinking? Have I gone too far? As ever, please comment below and get involved in the conversation. Ideas and conversations help us improve.

Kickin’ Back with… Paul Buttimer – Episode 2

I had this interview planned last year and between the jigs and reels, we kept putting it off. Well, we eventually got around to it and here it is. You’ll learn quickly that Paul is a total head case, a certifiable nutter but you can’t deny talent when you see it. Just listening to stories of what he has achieved in Boxing, you develop a real respect for the man as an athlete and a coach. We could all learn a lot from his unwavering self belief which was no doubt a massive part of his many successes in the world of amateur boxing.

I hope you enjoy the interview. If you want to visit Paul’s Facebook page and send him a message, click here.

 

If you’re in the Cork area and you’d like to train with the champ, come along and train with him every Tuesday and Thursday at K2C Martial Arts & Fitness Centre at 6:30 for adults or 5:30 for the kids.

 

Enjoy!

Getting my nose straightened

Today I visited the ENT ward at the South Infirmary Hospital in Cork to have my nose put back to where it was before boxing sparring last Tuesday evening.

I still don’t know what it is about this injury but the thought of someone pulling my face around until it cracks just doesn’t sit well with me at all. To say I was ‘a bit’ anxious would be like saying a mother in labour with triplets was ‘a bit’ pregnant. I was twitching like a well educated lamb reading the “Welcome to the abattoir” sign

Following a surprisingly short wait, I was seen by the ENT doctor. I tried my best to give him the long version of my story – anything to delay him from poking at my face. I told a couple of jokes, sang a ballad or two but when I asked him to pick a card from the deck, he stopped me and said, “Mr Griffin, what would you like me to do with your nose!?” I showed him the before and after pictures and he was set to go. I tried to show him my version of Michael Jackson’s moonwalk but he wasn’t having it. He asked me to take a seat on the treatment table and proceeded to administer the local anesthetic.

Two long clothes infused with anesthetic were rammed up my nostrils, followed by a couple of injections to the bridge of my nose. I think the doctor was mildly excited by the fear in my eyes. It was like foreplay to him. I had a flash back to a young Steve Martin playing the dentist in “Little Shop of Horrors”.

He asked if my nose was numb. I said “I fuckin hope so!” He said “Hold on to the bed here… and here”, which seemed a little strange. Perhaps he was just making sure I wasn’t in a position to punch him. Now, my distress may have altered my perception of what was going on at this point but I could swear I saw him do a few warm up exercises in the corner of the room. He started with some neck rotations, then he cracked his knuckles. He followed that with a number of sun salutations before finishing up with some shadow boxing. This was no ordinary doctor. My experience of watching “Criminal Minds” told me this man displayed classic psychopathic characteristics. He felt no remorse and took pleasure in the pain of others. I would have screamed but the anesthetic was starting to take affect. He grabbed a hold of my nose with both hands and began to push. I heard two distinct cracks but there was no end in sight for the pushing. He lowered his centre of gravity and drove into me like he was part of the Munster scrum. The bed I was holding on to began to move across the room and the heaving medic left a primal scream out of him. He said “I can’t move it back”, to which I replied “It cracked about 30 seconds ago”. He stood up and said “Oh”… My left eye brow lifted… He added “Well in that case, we’re done!”, quite pleased with himself.

A quick peek in the mirror revealed a nose which cast an equal shadow on both halves of my face. I was happy to be out of that psycho’s death clutch and I sprinted towards the door before he came back for round 2!

I’m glad to report that now my nose is back where it should be. I should be back to training straight away. Might stay away from sparring for a couple of weeks though!

Have any of you guys gone through this procedure? What was your scariest treatment?

Sitting in A&E with a broken nose!

It wasn’t my first time sitting in the Emergency room of a hospital and most likely won’t be my last. However, I think this was the most self conscious I had felt in a long while. Fresh from a boxing sparring session at the gym, my nose was giving preferential treatment to one side of my face, broken as it was.

What better time to make use of the excellent video recording features of the iPhone? This is what I looked like while I was trying to remain inconspicuous next to the vending machines.

Now, I admit a broken nose is pretty common in combat sports, especially boxing or Muay Thai. The majority of fighters I talked to this week asked “Did you fix it yourself?” or “Are you going to leave it like that?” I can’t say I’m surprised by any of these questions. After all, that’s just the done thing.  However, the fact that it is my nose and that I can only see it from one eye these days banishes all scraps of toughness from my being. I’ve dealt with a lot of injury pain down through the years and I reckon I’d be hardy enough in general but when the Junior A&E doctor went to pull my nose back into a straight line without anesthetic, pain killers or even a hug, I felt my inner wimp exploding into a panic-stricken exclamation of “What the hell are you doing!???”  I coiled into a fighting position as we shared one of those awkward silences like in “The Office”. A passing nurse inquired as to what was going on. I felt like saying “This crazy motherfucker wants to wake up with a crowd around him. Get him the hell away from me!” Perhaps I did say that out loud because the nurse took the junior doctor to one side and proceeded to tell him that the usual procedure for broken noses in A&E in her experience was to refer the patient the the ENT (Ear, nose & throat) ward in the South Infirmary. As I assumed the fetal position on the trolley, rocking back and forth, I muttered “Ya, you crazy fool. You aint getting none of this action!”

A few days on, I look back on my A&E performance with more than a hint of shame. Would I do it differently? Would I suck it up and just get on with it? Would I hold a cool, stern expressionless stare as my facial bones clicked back into place?… “HELL NO!”

First night back training with Paul Buttimer

http://audioboo.fm/boos/194103-first-night-back-training-with-paul-buttimer

Karate for MMA – the blueprint provided by the Lyoto ‘the Dragon’ Machida

The world of Mixed Martial Arts striking is dominated by Boxers, Kickboxers and Muay Thai Fighters. The traditional arts such as Karate, Tae-Kwon-do and Kung Fu, to be truthful, don’t bring the correct level of experience to a fighter stepping into the cage. The modern sport forms are based on semi contact point sparring, which just doesn’t cut the mustard when it comes to MMA whereas some of the traditional forms claim to be too deadly to be used in the real world.

Just for the record, I am not among the camp claiming that traditional martial arts are too deadly for the real world. For me, anyone who claims what they know is too deadly for the real world, is just hiding behind a convenient opt-out fantasy and is too conceited to acknowledge the fact that any human has to ability to kill another or that there is nothing special or mysterious about any martial art – neither modern nor traditional. A kick is a kick, a punch is a punch and the human body has vulnerable target areas, that when hit, can lead to death or serious injury.

While I’m off subject here, I was chatting to a guy recently who asked me about MMA and what I thought of it. He was a traditional martial artist (from the same shotokan background as I). He succeeded in making me quite angry by claiming that any of the Japanese Black Belts in the upper echelons of Shotokan Karate would simply walk through any MMA fighter – that they’re power & speed would just be unstoppable. His evidence?… The only justification that he could offer was that he himself was unable to offer sufficient defence against attacks from the Japanese Black Belts he encountered. As I looked this middle aged, overweight man up and down, I thought to myself “It’s no wonder full contact martial artists don’t respect traditional martial arts”… If he had said “I’d like to see how a top level Shotokan Fighter would do in the cage” or “If one of the elite black belts of Shotokan did some grappling training, he might do well”, then that would be reasonable. Instead, he gauged their brilliance on his own amateur, weekend warrior, club athlete, 2 night per week standard and made the monumentally insane deduction that if someone could be beat him, that they would stomp all over professional MMA fighters.

But, sadly, the snobbish, pig-headed attitude that is passed down from some insecure traditional masters had already taken hold of him… he couldn’t be saved… I just had to bite my tongue and bid him farewell.

I am a traditional martial artist. I have trained in Shotokan Karate since I was 7 years old. I have trained with Japanese Black Belt Masters and Top Shotokan fighters from different parts of the world. I’ve been punched by them, kicked by them and I’ve witnessed the power and speed that can be generated first hand. I am happy to report that there are some truly spectacular strikers out there (some are Japanese Black Belts, other were Europeans or Latin Americans and not necessarily Black Belts). Karate, as a striking art, truly does has a lot to offer Mixed Martial Arts as long as you keep your head out of the clouds and be realistic.

I would like to plead with any traditional martial artists out there to get up to speed with the 21^st century, to stop making stupid unfounded claims about how deadly the traditional martial arts are and accept that that every style of fighting (be it karate, shin-kicking or hand-bag swinging) can be deadly or useless. It simply depends on the individual fighter, their physical size, skill and their intelligence.

Ok, that’s my rant over with. Now back to the subject at hand!

A lot of the top fighters in MMA have a traditional background. Just to pick on the ones that did karate at some point in their career, you have Georges St. Pierre, Frank Mir, Anderson Silva, Seth Petruzelli, Chuck Liddell, Bas Rutten, Yuki Kondo, Ryo Chonan, Takanori Gomi, Jeff Newton, Neil  ‘the Goliath’ Grove, Ausserio Silva, Vitor Belfort and a few more obscure ones. A more comprehensive list can be found on Sherdog here.

To be fair, almost all of these fighters have transitioned on to specialise in other striking arts and only show flashes of their karate background once in a blue moon. However, one fighter has kept his traditional style (Shotokan Karate) and adapted it to achieve phenomenal success inside the cage. Of course, the man I’m talking about is Lyoto ‘the Dragon’ Machida.

For many years, his opponents struggled to figure out his footwork and timing. He’s been described as being illusive, hard to catch and lightning fast. When he won the UFC Light Heavyweight Title, Joe Rogan screamed “Welcome to the Machida Era”, such was the mystique surrounding his fighting style. However, Karate-trained MMA fans worldwide recognised exactly what he was doing. The light footwork, the quickness at which he closed distances, the chin up – hands down stance and the hand-foot combinations. That, my friend, is Karate as practiced by millions around the globe. There is no secret and it’s not exactly rocket science either but because Karate is a traditional art, it has long been brushed aside as a viable foundation for the MMA fighting arsenal – until now!

So how does it work? What are the unique characteristics of the karate style which can benefit MMA fighters? Why do karate fighters stand in that stance? How do karate fighters cover distance quickly allowing them to hover just outside reach? How do Karate fighters seem to move out of the way so quickly? Well, if it was just a matter of a few paragraphs of text, it wouldn’t be worth learning, would it?

I don’t claim to be as slick as Machida or to be a great MMA fighter. However, I do know the answers to all the questions above and I am preparing a seminar to show and teach them to anyone interested in seeing how karate can be applied to MMA striking.

Check out the Striking Seminar at K2C Martial Arts & Fitness Centre on August 15^th 2010 from 11am to 4pm where we’ll be show-casing 3 striking arts – Karate, Muay Thai and Boxing.

So now it’s your turn. Are you a traditional martial artist who feels that your art is unfairly discounted as a viable foundation for MMA? Are you offended by my earlier rant? Do you think that Lyoto Machida’s style is boring? Do you think that traditional Arts are old fashioned and out-dated? Do you think that real martial artists don’t need to prove themselves inside the cage?

I’d love to hear your opinions!?

Martial Arts Civil War – Inter-club and inter-style rivalry?

My instructor can kick your instructor’s ass!

Sound familiar? How many times have you heard somebody argue that karate is better than TaeKwonDo because sweeps are allowed in karate. Or TaeKwonDo is better than Karate because in TaeKwonDo kicks can be full contact to the head. Have you ever felt the need to defend your martial art in an argument with somebody training in a different style? Have you ever looked at another style and thought my way is better? I have to admit that I have been that soldier and I’m sure if all of you guys are 100% honest, you’ll no doubt have ridiculed (albeit in the privacy of your inner thoughts) another style as impractical, unrealistic or weak. If you can, hand-on-heart, deny ever looking down on another style, well then you my friend are ahead of your time and I strive to be more like you. But for the vast majority of us, we tend to get sucked in to thinking of our style like an exclusive club being threatened by another exclusive club across the road. Why do we do that? How is it that a large group of people who all share an interest in personal improvement through fighting skills can sub divide into groups that look down their noses at each other. In the immortal words of Homer J Simpson: “Why can’t we all just get along?” or in the words of a famous golfer “When I’m asked what race is Tiger Woods, I reply ‘the human race’!” We’re all martial artists so what’s the problem?

Of course, like all political environments, it’s not quite as simple as that. And yes, I did say ‘political’! There are many organisations out there attempting to tackle the problem of inter-club, inter-country or inter-style rivalry by saying that they are ‘non-political’. The sentiment is good but unfortunately, the idea is flawed. If you’ve got more than 1 member, then you are a political organisation since politics is simply the art of ‘getting along’ and co-existing with others in a common space. Amongst your political tools are emotional intelligence, patience, acceptance and tolerance. For some martial arts style… you need more tolerance than others! Is that me slipping into Rivalry mode again?

Before going any further, I must clarify that by rivalry, I mean the bitter type; the type that can get personal and affect friendships; the type that can cause the next generation on either side to never become friends in the first place. Competitive rivalry between clubs or styles from a tournament point of view is a positive catalyst and can help improve standards on both sides; as long as it does not turn into “Your club can’t fight because you’ve all got one leg shorter than the other!” (or something like that!???)

Here are some of the reasons I have seen that cause rivalry:

1.       Ego (too many chiefs and not enough Indians)

Some people are leaders and some are followers. Although, all of us can follow a strong leader who knows what they’re talking about, disagreement between strong personalities festering over long periods of time can lead to fall outs and disputes. Often, this results in two clubs or styles forming in close proximity to each other each looking to develop their membership and thus hissing at each other – probably still smouldering from years of arguments.

Such a dispute is one of the main reasons for the fractured state of Shotokan karate nowadays. In the 1960 and up the late 80’s the JKA (Japan Karate Association) under the leadership of Nakayama Sensei was united and the one main association that every club worldwide aspired to be affiliated with. Following the death of Nakayama, the next generation of instructors were all chiefs and no one strong leader stepped up to hold them all together. As a result, different factions formed. Two factions had a decade long court case to decide which one could keep the name JKA and other factions just started afresh with new worldwide campaigns.

Note: Here’s more detailed history of the JKA split. Scroll to the end of the page.

Nowadays, you can have your pick of a dozen Worldwide associations, none of which really recognises the other and most of which don’t talk to each other. And all that within just one of the many styles of karate.

Here’s a sample of the ones I’m aware of:

JKA, JKS, SKIF, WSKF, ITKF, WTKA, WKF, WUKO, ISKF, IKA, FSKA, WSKA, ASK, JKF, WBF… I could go on and on. These are all Shotokan Karate Associations. Same style, same art, same insane contempt for one another! Each has its own National, Continental and World Championships every year. How can that be good for Shotokan karate?

2.       Territory & negative campaigning

Martial arts students choose to do martial arts. Often, they could have chosen a range of other hobbies or sports. In some communities, they can choose from a range of different martial arts clubs. Therefore, just like any shop or gym, a club has a limited catchment area. For example, if a club is situated in an area with 10,000 people living within 2 miles, then perhaps they can achieve a membership of 100 students. If 2 clubs are set up in the same community, that’s 50 each or 80/20 if one club has a better reputation. If you’re involved in a club, of course, you’ll talk your club up. If you’re feeling nasty, you’ll probably talk the other club down also. There’s a fine line between taking pride in your club and unfairly influencing the reputation of a neighbouring club. Most of us live right on the edge. Some can’t even see the line anymore!

Note: Here’s an example of a bit of territorial argument in Cork that happened recently online. You’ll need to read through a few post but the majority of the action is on page 2 & 3 You’ll have to make you own mind if this is negative campaigning or not! But there’s no denying it’s territorial!

3.       Insecurity about one’s own abilities

Unfortunately, this is still happening. An instructor (who’s secretly ashamed of his/her standard and that of his/her students) might forbid students from cross training with neighbouring clubs or styles for fear that they will be found out. To discourage students straying to the ‘dark side’, they may talk down at other clubs or styles.

4.       Outrageous claims

Just like any sport, martial arts have been documented and highlighted in various marketing campaigns down through the years. In some cases, especially with the Eastern Fighting styles, like this one that you can use your voice to disable an opponent. As a martial artist from a traditional background, I cringe when I see stuff like this. I just think of a boxer watching it and thinking “huh! Those karate fellas think they can knock me out with grammar!” Even though, it’s not karate, to someone from another martial art, the lines or separation are blurred and we’re all tarred with one brush. If you make outrageous claims like these and can’t back them up, you’re just asking for ridicule and yes, I’m aware, I am ridiculing a particular style here but come on! Give me a break! Knocking someone out with your voice? Even it he said he could knock someone out with his bad breath, that would have been more plausible!

5.       Second Generation Rivalry

This is perhaps the most prolific and unfortunate of the rivalries – the next generation of students coming through following their instructor’s lead. For example, as a teenager, I trained with a club in Blackrock in Cork. The instructor there had a falling out with another instructor who set up another dojo less than a mile away. I felt myself despising the members of the other club even though I had never met them or even seen them! Same style, same village and not an ounce of cooperation or camaraderie; In fact, we didn’t even meet in tournaments because we were part of different National Associations. Ridiculous or what!?

We are living in an exciting time in History. Internet and Social networking is bringing knowledge and information to audiences faster and in more places than ever before. We can all quickly learn from those who can demonstrate and argue their points on Youtube videos or web blog’s. We can decide for ourselves which style of martial arts best suit us before ever entering a local dojo and we can all decide for ourselves who our friends are.

There should be no reason for negative rivalry between clubs, styles or associations. However, there’s a long history of disputes, arguments & differences. We can’t solve them all but you can help in your own small way by opening your mind and not becoming part of the problem.

That’s my own personal goal with this blog. I hope to bridge as many gaps as I can and bring various styles together. I hope to become an ambassador for my style – Shotokan Karate and earn respect for it amongst boxers, Judo players, TaeKwonDo students, MMA fighters and any other style that welcomes me to their gym or dojo.

In the last 12 months, I’ve sweated and trained in martial artists classes such as Karate, Judo, MMA, Kickboxing, Boxing, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, BJJ, Escrima, Tai Chi and Koryo Uchinadi. Incidentally, I was asked to leave 1 gym and I’m still trying to find out why but that’s another blog post! In the next 12 months, I want to try more of all of those, along with Capoeira, Taekwondo, Krav Maga and maybe some Kung Fu. In an extension to all of that, I’d like to continue blogging about my experiences to raise awareness about the various good instructors that are out there. And finally, I promise not to look down on or ridicule a martial art… unless you tell me you can knock me out with your voice or that your skills have magic in them – in that case, your ass is mine!

I’d like to hear your story. What rivalries have you encountered? Would you admit to looking down on another martial art style? What style would you like to try but have felt intimidated to walk into the local club? What steps are you taking to make sure you don’t become part of the rivalry? Are some rivalries warranted?

Add your voice and be part of the discussion. Use the comment section below.