Forms Competition

[Taomonkey]

watched the ISKA Forms Competition this afternoon on the duce,
Question to you wu shu guys,
Is that typical?
So much screaming for no reason, it looken more like a dum major baton twirling championship to me,
So whats the purpose of it, is ther any combat application, I cant see any

[Sum Sing Wong]

I have seen some of the ISKA, and I think they suck badly. What you are seeing most of the time is a bunch of carp they mix up to win a 20 dollar peice of plastic, or in some cases money. What I always see is too many kias, too many toothpick staffs, and too many sloppy tech. I beat if you ask one of the younger competitors what the meaning behind the move he/she just perfomed they would be clueless.

[norther practitioner]

yeah, those kias get to me too. I competed a month and a half ago in an open tourney here in Denver. Wow, the judges sucked, there were a whole bunch of kids just screaming all over the place. I was told I was scored lower for having too silent of a form, and the fact that the judges admitting to not knowing what they were looking at (that wasn't frustrating). Anywho, they are loud, and the forms or kata get pretty boring after a while. I also don't get why they score twirling staffs so **** high at these things. I got beat in the weapons forms by a guy who twirled his staff like a baton the whole first 75-80% of the form, one of the other guys from his school started freakin' when he completed a twirling pass behind the back (which wasn't clean). He all looks at me and says good luck, assuming that I wouldn't have a chance in the world of beating that (which I didn't, but thats just the judging). The end of the form consisted of yelling and pokes and swipes to some more twirling to the finish. I did a broadsword form, got some funny looks.

[GLW]

ISKA is the KARATE Circuit.

The judges are NOT trained in what to look for in Chinese Styles...they actually will ask about belt levels.

Try http://www.uswushuunion.com/

this site has the Chinese Martial Arts rules used by most of the major CMA only events in the US.

ISKA must be an acquired taste...I haven't acquired it. The bad thing is that Li Peiyun was actually pretty good when he got here from China...he has modified what he does so he can win in these circuits and in doing so, really messed up his technique.

The folks who compete in Chinese styles in those competitions typically do not do that well in the CMA only events....which may have something to do with why they do not compete there. It sure can't be the prize money because the amount of money barely covers expenses for travel in most cases.

[Budokan]

When you have judges who are unqualified you have to impress them some other way. Hence the lame suits, the spindle bos, the blonde mullets, the Britney Spears music in the background, the spangled obis, and the ridiculously loud kiais that don't even come at any kind of focus point within the kata itself. (The screams that pass for kiais in these dance competitions have more in tune with the screams of an 80-year old man trying to pass a kidney stone than traditional martial arts....)

Yes, it's embarassing to watch if you know anything at all about MA. But, fortunately for these dance performers who compete in these competitions, the judges DON'T know anything about MA.

The saddest part of all this is if a MA goes on stage and actually does a tradional MA kata, correctly, he will not be rewarded by the judges for his performance.

The disturbingly effiminate competitor dressed in the spangled gi with his flaming nunchuckus will always win over tradition in these tournaments.

[nospam]

After watching some ISKA competition...it made me puke!

nospam.
:cool:

[Confucius26]

Same here in an International Karate Championship two weeks ago.

It's all about shouting, bo flying, acrobatics and purple kimonos with yellow spots!

A friend of mine (who is in the organization) ask me to compete!

I said no way man, i'm doing kung fu not figure skating or gymnastics!


I saw something like that in a kung fu competition.

There were traditionnal kung fu players but there were these wushu guys and girls who didn't fit at all with their acrobatic jumps. They look like beheaded chickens to me! ;)
No offense here, i surely can't do these flying things!

Well...if it's what people wants to see!

[GLW]

CMA Only events that are run well have the following:

Divisions that separate Internal from External.

Divisions in internal that separate Taijiquan from Bagua from Hsing Yi from other.

Separation of short and long weapons...they are different.

Separation in External by northern and southern - they are different.

weapons division by type and class.

Separation of Classical Wushu from Contemporary Wushu...the judging is different.

Judges who actually KNOW the rules and head judges who know how to apply the rules and coach the judges to get consistent and accurate scores.

ISKA does not meet even the simplest requirement of a good CMA event...and these requirements should apply to Karate and other arts as well.

Therefore, it confuses me why ANYONE would pay money or attend such an event.

[shaolinboxer]

You witnessed the purpose and value of it.