A few weeks ago I won free tickets to the world Karate Championship in Sendagaya. Before you start to wonder, it was nothing like this:
It was more like this:
I wasn't able to take that many pictures, because they didn't allow pictures to be taken at the tournament. I took some, but the glow of the overhead light blurred out the fighters.
Karate is Japan's most recognized martial art, although it originated in Okinawa with many roots from China.
There are different styles to Karate, the main focus in this tournament was Kyokushin.
In this tournament, there were more Scandinavians than there were Japanese.
In tournament Karate, there are no strikes to the face allowed, and all strikes are aimed at the body.
Kyokushin has a signature move, which is a wheel kick, a front roll in air with the heel sticking out, very effective in power, but in my opinion, is very avoidable.
Most often times when you see someone pulling off a move of any martial art, people in America think, "that was some cool Karate man" "what a ninja".
It was a good experience to see an art of the martial variety that defines a culture and to witness tradition in that standard.
Dolph Lundgren was there going for his fourth Dan (rank) black belt, and I left just before he went on :(
Many people in America think Karate whenever they hear Japan, and yell out kiai's (ya and hiyaa) and I'll bet most of you out there did too... you racists LOL XD
I, among many other martial artists, consider that ignorant, and wish for that to change in the future years, martial arts is not all about combat, it's all about self-discovery and knowledge, like I said earlier.
If combat were to come into fruition, it's not about letting anger go, or pure hatred towards an opponent (if it is you're doomed for a black heart), but it's mainly about saying "Hey, I'm good, you're good, let's put it to the test." Almost every time after a bout, the opponents hug, it shows that they respect one another.
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