KO Knockouts HL - shotokan

Many people are quick to dismiss the sports side of karate as nothing more than a game of tag and while I agree that if your whole training is centered on just scoring points with no contact it will not be of much use to you in a real fight and self defence.

But when you have athletes who train in karate-do the martial art who also enter shobu ippon competitions to test their skills against each other within the rules of the competition that is a totally different animal to the people that only ever train to score a point with no contact, as can be seen by the videos below.

The skill set of duelling in shobu ippon type competitions isn't a bad one to have as another feather in your hat, as long as these skills are one part of your overall martial arts training.

Not forgetting that this is an amateur competition so there are no cash payments for participation.

The majority of the male and female athletes participating would be training part time a few days a week while holding down a full time job.

It's not compulsory to enter competitions but in my opinion it takes a lot of heart and intestinal fortitude to do so.

Not to mention the adrenalin rush and the ticking of the nervous system when its your turn to go on the mat not knowing what's to come.

Also the gloves are only (10mm 3/8") thick, they are worn to prevent cuts and don't really provide any type of dampening effect of the strikes, the sting of the strikes are pretty close to bare knuckle effects.

Even though their is contact the majority of the contestants show great control in execution of their technique which is a credit to their skill level and the spirit which is in karate-do competition.

I take my hat of to these great athletes who are willing to put their body and skills on the line for everyone to see because they love the art of karate-do.

Here are some fantastic shotokan karate-do amateur highlights from shobu ippon competition.

No.3 also has Tae Kwon Do athletes in compettion.

KO Knockouts 1


KO Knockouts 2


KO Knockouts 3


kumite shotokan