Competition - Sangaku Karate Group

Sangaku Karate Group

Karate Info

Competition

Kinds of Competition

ESKA National Competition

Kinds of competition

This section starts with an idea: Competition is a fun and necessary part of a student's progression through the ranks of Karate, this idea however can mean many things to many people and this article will try to give some different perspectives.

The first thing most people will imagine when the word competition is used is the kind of blood-bath seen on 'karate kid', 'kickboxer' or 'best of the best' type movies, this however is not what this article refers to! We have annual competitions where students compete for trophies and these will be discussed at a later point in this article, firstly the word competition needs to be investigated.

There are several forms of competition that we will consider here: healthy/unhealthy; private/public; sport/budo.

Healthy / Unhealthy
Competition should be undertaken to improve your self, compete against others in a class by trying to do a better kata than them or try to best them in kumite (pre-arranged or freestyle). This kind of competition should serve to give you goals that you can pursue in lessons which should be tangible and attainable (don't expect to be better than a 4th dan if you have only just reached brown belt etc - but you can try to keep up with them!). The aim of this competition should never be to put the other person down or to brag about your achievements, nor should you try to 'win at all costs' and this includes: Cheating; Inflicting injury on an opponent or Losing sight of the rules/etiquette.

Private / Public
Setting yourself goals to be as good or better than someone else using the 'healthy' method described above would constitute private competition, the alternative is a formal competition where trophies and titles are available.

Sport / Budo
Competing in public can be done for two reasons - trophies/titles or personal development. Competing purely to win trophies and titles 'Sport' can become an unhealthy form of competition as students start to lose sight of the 'way' of Karate. The opposite of this is described here as 'Budo' where competing is done for personal progression and development - testing your own skills against an opponent and learning from them.

ESKA National Competition

So, going from the above descriptions it is necessary for students to 'compete' during lessons and also at public competitions - providing that it is healthy competition and the budo aspect is retained! Our group attends our National competition in October each year where about 100-150 students compete in various categories for trophies, titles, development, skills testing and development of friendly rivalries with the other groups present.

We follow WUKO (World Union of Kickboxing Organisations) rules and our officials are qualified in one of four areas:

Arbitrator
Referee
Judge
Table Official

Our paramount concern is to ensure the safety of the competitors and that all students can enjoy the day. Every student attempting to take their shodan (1st dan) should compete at the Nationals as a 'pressure test' before their grading to get used to nerves and the feeling of performing high level kumite in front of an audience.

We would like to have reports from competitors here, so if you took part and would like to write about it - please email us.

The list of categories for the Nationals is as follows:

No	Description	Details
1	Childrens Kata, 10th-7th kyu inclusive	All under 16s are in these three events
2	Childrens Kata, 6th-2nd kyu inclusive
3	Childrens kata, 1st kyu and above
4	Junior Grades Kata	All students of 16 years and over are in these three events. Mixed event for junior grades and split for brown belts and above.
5	Mens Kata, 3rd kyu and above
6	Ladies Kata, 3rd kyu and above
7	Team Kata	This event is for all ages and all grades in teams of 3.
8	Peewee Kumite, up to and including 8 years old	All children under 12 are in these two events, regardless of grade.
9	Peewee Kumite, 9 to 11 years inclusive
10	Childrens Kumite, 10th-5th kyu inclusive, 12-15 years	All students from 12 to 15 inclusive are in these two events
11	Childrens Kumite, 4th kyu and above, 12-15 years
12	Ladies Kumite, 10th - 5th Kyu inclusive, 16 years and above	All Mens and Ladies events are here.
13	Ladies Kumite, 4th Kyu and above, 16 years and above
14	Mens Kumite, 10th - 5th Kyu inclusive, 16 years and above
15	Mens Kumite, 4th Kyu and above, 16 years and above
16	Team Kumite, 16 years and above	Sorry - no childrens teams.