Tokyo 2020 New Event Highlight: Karate
Tokyo will host over three hundred events in thirty three different sports at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, and as always there are some notable changes to the list of events. One of the most intriguing changes to Tokyo 2020’s itinerary has to be the addition of karate.
The martial art of karate is a well known fighting style that can be seen in many different fascists of modern day life. From hobbyists, to professional fighters, to the big screen, karate doesn’t only have a firm place in east Asian society, but in western pop culture as well. With such a global intrigue for the sport, especially locally, it is easy to see why it was one of the events chosen to be included. Here is a look at some details for the event at Tokyo 2020, along with a quick history lesson and the Olympic karate rules.
Karate At Tokyo 2020
The International Olympic Committee selects twenty five “core” sports that are mandatory events in Olympic competitions. Some of these decisions are based on tradition, such as track and field. Others are based more on global popularity like football. The core sports selected are ones that the IOC believes best represent the values of the Olympics and ultimately forms the identity. However, as the Olympics have continued to develop throughout the years, there has been a little more freedom handed over to the host nations. The host organizing committee does have the ability to add some sports that they believe will help bolster local interest. For Tokyo 2020, they have added a total of eight additional sports to the core list.
The karate competitions will take place August 6th to August 8th. It will be held out of the nationally renowned venue Nippon Budokan, located in in the heart of Tokyo. Karate at the Tokyo Summer Olympics will be broken down into two main categories. The two forms of competition will be the kumite and kata. The kumite is sparring event, while the kata is a judged exhibition of technique and skill. A grand total of eight medals will be up for grabs at Tokyo 2020, six being in the kumite and two being in the kata.
Heading into the event, there are some heavy favourites with the host nation of Japan being at the top of the list. At the World Karate Championships, created in 1970 and first held in Tokyo, the Japanese national team tops the medal chart with 188 total medals, followed by France with 162 medals. Spain, Italy and Britain have also been historically strong at worlds and should be seen as having the potential to take home some hardware at Tokyo 2020.
A Brief History Of Karate
You may have become familiar with karate through pop culture movies, or had a teacher who would bring his sick martial art skills into the classroom for some apparent reason. You possibly were told that karate was created in Japan as some form of self defence, which teaches discipline and other intangibles. While the latter may be true, karate was not actually first created in Japan, but was rather adopted by the Japanese from the Okinawan people. It was originally developed from the fighting style of te, first practiced by the Ryukyuen, the indigenous people of Okinawa. In the late 14th century, many Chinese would immigrate to the island, influencing te with mainland Chinese martial arts.
It would take a couple hundred years before the martial art was truly popularized in main land Japan. In the late 19th, early 20th century, many schools of karate would pop up in Japan. It was around this time the martial art’s kanji characters were changed. This was done so during a very unsteady time between China and Japan, with many military campaigns in the region. Renaming karate would make Japanese people more inclined to learn the martial art, having it disassociated with other Asian countries. As Japan became more militaristic leading up to World War Two, karate became much more intertwined with the education system. Clubs would be formed in universities across the country and thus the younger generation began falling in love with the sport. Since then karate has had a significant role in Japan, as both a means for physical exercise and mental training.
Karate would become popularized in western pop culture through various means. The first exposure of the martial art was to military members who were stationed in Okinawa. It wasn’t however until the media, in the later half of the 20th century got a hold of the fighting style that it became known on a much more global level. With such notable movies like The Karate Kid, men and women would become intrigued by this fascinating martial skill. Today it is one of the most recognizable martial arts, with high levels of children being enrolled in classes. There are popular advocates of karate in mainstream media such as former UFC champ George St.Pierre.
Olympic Competition Format
Karate competitions are generally categorized in two different forms, the Kata and the legendary Kumite. With such competitions already in place, like the Karate World Championships, the Olympics will draw from sources such as these to create their own format. The World Karate Federation will most likely also play an active role in the organization of the sport heading into Tokyo 2020. Here is a breakdown of both the events that will be featured in the Tokyo Olympics in two years time.
Kumite
The Kumite is the sparring portion of karate competitions and is the more physical of the two events. Kumite translates into English as, grappling hands. It is a point based fighting system that stops in action each time points are scored. It is much more similar to taekwondo or fencing, then say boxing or MMA. A single blow can score up to three points depending on the location of where the strike is landed and the technique used. Here is a list of how points are awarded:
1 Point- A single point is awarded if a successful punch, either open or closed fist, is landed on an opponents torso, head, neck, back or belly.
2 Points- Two points are awarded for a successful kick to the back, torso, belly or side of an opponent.
3 Points- Three points are awarded for a successful kick to the neck or the head. Three points can also be awarded for delivering any technical blow to an opponent that has fallen.
The match is won once a fighter has eight more points than their opposition. There is a time limit of three minutes as well, to ensure that the matches don’t go on for too long. If it results in a tie after the time limit, three judges will make a decision on the outcome of the match.
The Olympics plans to go with three different weight classes for both the male and female divisions. For men there will be the 67kg division, the 75kg division and the +75kg division. For women there will be the 55kg division, the 61kg division and the +61kg division. Of course contestants can be under the weight and don’t need to meet a specific minimum, except in the two highest divisions for both genders.
Kata
The other karate event to be featured in Tokyo 2020 will be the kata, which is a demonstration of ones techniques. There will be only two medals given out in this competition format. One for the male kata performances, and the other for the female kata performances. The techniques are judged on speed, execution and power of the moves. A competitor does not perform alone, but rather in a similar style of the kumite. One competitor wears blue, the other red and take turns performing their karate moves. The five judges then each raise either a blue or red flag determining the winner. Some details on the competition are still undecided, such as if the Olympics will continue this traditional flag voting system, or move to a point based judging format. Right now it also appears that there will only be an event for individual kata performances and no team events. There is also concern over the karate styles that will actually be allowed to be performed as the Karate World Championships limits the styles. The Olympics will most likely follow this format, but there is still time for this to change.
With the Tokyo Olympics coming up quickly, in under two years time, it will be interesting to see who comes in as the favourite for the debut of Olympic karate. With these additional sports added to the list of events, it’s hard not to be excited to see them on the worlds biggest stage for the first time. International karate events will serve as a glimpse into who can possibly become Olympic champions and take home medals. Until then we will just have to wait and see how things unfold.
If you wish to reach me, you can contract me at shotarohmoore@hotmail.com
