I saw some kumite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Dan grading in shotokan. But they were fighting like kids. There were not like the fighting in championships. Is that mean there training is bad or something like that.
What do you mean when you say fighting like kids? There are kids at my school who fight awesome! Some of the kids are better than some of the adults. And what championships are you comparing them to? And even high degree fighters are not usually going to look like champion class fighters. What specifically was bad about the fighting? You post needs some clarification to answer properly.
Kids mean non martial artist kids may be younger than 5 years old. Championships mean some tournaments like JKA. In those videos they were doing some attacks slowly but both of them couldn't perform at least few blocks well. But I have seen superb kunite in jka.
Maybe post a link to the clips you've seen, a picture paints a thousand words ( literately at that) Which would help give some thrust to the discussion perhaps.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV86GO0FZXA"]Dan Kumite - Dan Testing - YouTube[/ame] [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb7WULIwx08"]IKD Shotokan Black Belt Test (Nidan/Sandan), Kumite, Charleswood vs Winnipeg Budokai May 2012 - YouTube[/ame] I have posted links of 2 videos. Look at them In the second video its a test of 2nd degree (nidan) black belt test. Also I have videos of 4th Dan and 8th Dan grading test kumite videos. Now I'm going to post a video of 8th Dan test.
You're right, it doesn't look great, but not horrible. i come from a sport where people actually punch others in the face so.... Also note that it didn't look like full contact. Probably light sparring.
Was the first video choreographed? It looked really weird, especially the takedowns - there was no attempt to resist them at all. Lots of punches to a couple of inches shy of the face, which is always funny. Second video was horrible. Black belts? Really?
That one looks more like it is from Uechi Ryu at a guess. Unless I'm very much mistaken, they don't practice points/light contact sparring kumite like some of the more mainstream styles and clubs tend to do. If anything, I do believe this is actually a pre-arranged form they're following through. This one is a bit on the weak side IMO. But first you have to take into account that the person grading is probably already exhausted from whatever they've done before. Secondly, this is more of a reflection on the club and the students than on all forms of kumite as a whole or even just jiyu/shiai kumite. Compare what they're doing to the higher level comp stuff you see: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wM2YZfFy_o"]Karate Men's Kumite -75kg. AGHAYEV vs BUSA. World Combat Games 2013 - YouTube[/ame] Saying "please" never hurts, you know .
Ah, I thought so. Tiredness is no excuse for the second video though. I don't care if they've been doing kumite for a month straight, that was awful. The video you posted was crazy! Boing! Boing! Twitch! Run away! Obviously miles better than the other videos, but man... what a crazy sport! Reminded me of the boxing kangaroo sylvester the cat mistakes for a mouse in the old warner brothers cartoons
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4VUuXriZO8&app=desktop"]Yahara Sensei's 8th Dan Test - YouTube[/ame] This video is kagawa sensei's 8th Dan test. Onece he goes off balance and fell down. Also attacks to a black belter in present arranged techniques.
That's Mikio Yahara. And quite honestly given his career and achievements in karate I'd give him an 8th dan without testing at all. Off balance or not Mikio Yahara would tear you a new one.
madhushanka - please post proper links in the thread by going to youtube and copying the address there - that way they will embed.
In my experience the kumite is always done at the end of a Dan grading when the student has already been taken to the point of exhaustion by the kihon and kata tests.
I felt both videos were pretty good. The first video showed "taking turns", which often happens in sparring people you know. The second video was point sparring with one side more aggressive. The reason I like the videos is because I believe I can learn from anyone. Even a white belt can teach me things. For sparring at testing, safety first, but beyond that I like to see ultra conservative as if their life was in danger. Then from this extreme respect for the situation, I want to see explosive, decisive action (zero to 100%) in an instant with a superior attitude (fighting spirit). With aspirations like this, nearly all sparring falls short. Be willing to learn from anyone. Keep an open mind.
I strongly disagree with your comments on this. Can you tell me what level you are in martial arts as this guy is one of the greats, a true legend.
As great as he is, people make mistakes. It was his own mechanics that led breaking the balance between his hip and his spine. He demonstrated the correct spinning footwork for a spinning back fist, but he was executing a spinning hammer fist. When using a spinning back fist, you can pivot in place (feet stay in same place). When using a spinning hammer fist, your foot must come around so that it stays a little ahead of your fist (to keep your hips open). What I saw was the spinning hammer fist technique used with the spinning back fist footwork, this caused his leg to swing around unexpectedly... unbalancing. IMHO.
OK Rebel, fair point, he is probably that pumped up and adrenalin pumping too that mistakes can happen. No body is perfect. Still can't say that he is not up to the standard though?
Yeah, it wasn't good at all. It's always worth remembering that maybe they might be better usually, but that was still bad. Haha, I'd forgotten about him! I never thought about it like that. I have to say I'm not a fan of the type of kumite they do, the training messes my ankles up badly and the attack pattern and pulled punches and kicks always felt false to me. That said though, these guys really make it an entire art form in their own right and it does look pretty spectacular. That was my experience as well.
