Full contact tournaments?

[Joel Simmons]

Alohas all,

Just wondering if there are any type of "full-contact" karate tournaments out there. I realize that this term is a rather loose one, however, I think you guys know what I mean. Anything more than just TKD-style points tourneys?

FYI - I don't really pay attention to tourneys, however, a recent argument with a friend involved w/ NHB stuff has inspired (??maybe that's the wrong word) me to look into this sort of stuff.

[Bustillo, A.]

Full-contact karate tournaments.

Among others, Seidokan, Sabaki Challenge,the Shidokan.

[Tatsu]

What's up bruh'? Yeah there are full-contact tourneys out there. The AAU and USKA have "Traditional" full-contact tournaments. Clean straight punches to the head and face, as well as sweeps are allowed. I heard that there are some tourneys that are now allowing leg kicks. I also heard of a tourny in Lousiana that allowed hard contact and the use of Bogu (protective) gear.

There are some modern kickboxing format tourneys as Sensei Bustillo mentioned, but you gotta be a well trained athlete for these. The Shidokan is probably the closest of those he mentioned to a real full-contact format. Depending upon the round even throws and submissions (groundfighting) is allowed.

There's also a full-contact tournament with stand-up and groundfighting allowed called "Tushka Itishke" here in Texas. Both Traditional and MMAs guys have entered and won. Well, I guess all of the winners were basically Mixed Martial Artists.

Check the net under "full-contact karate" and other keywords. I'm sure you'll find quite a few. Mahalo!!!

[Joel Simmons]

Alohas,

Thanks for the replies. I didn't know that there were that many around.

The bogu gear you mention is something that I experienced once. I used to study shobayashi shorin-ryu a few years back, and had the opportunity to spar wearing bogu gear. Its definitely a rush knowing that its pretty much everything goes.

Do you guys think that with this whole fad of MMA tourneys and the like, that traditional MA are starting to re-orient themselves towards a more...hmmm...hands-on or 'real time' experience of what the arts could possibly capable of? As in, our position is being challenged by these newer arts, so perhaps we should focus on applying our techniques in a NHB-esque environment?

It would be interesting to know if there are any other traditional martial arts (Japanese or Chinese or whatever) that are creating or competing in competitions that are focused more towards full contact and the like.

[Bustillo, A.]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tatsu
[B] There are some modern kickboxing format tourneys as Sensei Bustillo mentioned...


[AB]
I listed Seidokan, Shidokan and the event hosted by Enshin karate, the SabaKi Challenge.

They wouldn't fall under the category of kickboxing...it would be more like modern karate.

[vadrip]

You can call it modern karate, but all those full contact karate styles took techniques from muay thai and boxing. It's just that they didn't really allow the clinching of muay thai, but a main thing is that they also fight from a basic boxer and kickboxer stance rather than some weird animal stance. Leg kicks have been used since Kyukoshinkai started doing the first full contact karate events in the 70s, in fact they are the style that did the muay thai vs karate challenges and then took the muay techniques and some boxing and later came up with full contact karate tourneys. Every style of full contact karate is traceable back to Kyukoshinkai.