Is it wrong to compete?

[BiNKy]

I am not sure why but I always loved competition. Last year I was on the wrestling team and now I've been looking to start boxing. Some people in my kung fu class seem to look down upon competition in martial arts. I can see why a martial artist might oppose point sparring since it can mislead a practitioner into practicing techniques that are not street smart. I haven't been able to understand why some people oppose wrestling/boxing competition. My love of competition does not stem from ego. Competition gives me a realistic view of my skills and gives me an idea of how much improvement I make. I also gain confidence when I realize that I have winning potential. I've been training in kung fu for four years and I've also been training in a street fighting/ jeet kune do class for one year. Recently I've decided that I would like to start training for competition in something like boxing/kickboxing. The instructors in the street fighting/ jeet kune do class fully encouraged me and even called around to help me find a school. It seems that some members of my kung fu class frown upon competition although no one has out right told me why. There may be many reasons that competition could be frowned upon but given my circumstance I fail to see any. I try not to be bias because I feel that if some people look down upon competition then there might be a good reason for not competing and perhaps I simply haven't heard it or understood it. This board seems to draw at least 10 different opinions on any topic so please tell me why you feel that competition is beneficial or harmful for a martial artist such as myself.

[Mr. Nemo]

It is beneficial for all the reasons you stated, it is only harmful if you let it go to your head. To answer your question, no, it is not wrong to compete.

I think many kung fu types frown on competition either because A: they're the "take kung fu for character development, not for fighting" types or B: they're afraid you'll lose and it will somehow reflect badly on their art. Neither objection should stop you from competing if you want to.

[don bohrer]

Confidence and one more reason to train. Not all of us train to rip off someones head just because they drank the last beer. So it's important to have a reason to train when we are not pre occupied with the self preservation aspecs of the arts.

[anerlich]

Competition might be wrong for some. It sounds like it's right for you.

[GLW]

For Chinese Martial Art stylists from my experience:

Forms competitors:

For those who have gone to NASKA and Karate type events:

They look down on forms competition because they are forced into "Soft Style" division where they have Taijiquan, Long fist, Hung Gar, and all other Chinese Styles combined - because they are soft styles (Personally, I never saw anything SOFT about Hung Gar or Long Fist).

Then, to add insult to injury, the judges probably have NEVER seen Chinese styles

Then...they make all of the weapons go into one division...and so you can only do ONE...of each barehand and weapon....then pay your money to get screwed besides.

For those who have done Chinese Martial Arts events...they do not like competition because:

(1) the judges may not be qualified
(2) the judges MAY be qualified and they hit reality
(3) the rules may be not to their liking
(4) if they say competition is bad, they never have to find out if they suck or not.

and a few other reasons.

For fighting...if they want to go full out:

The point sparring is not worth the time...the rules often promote stupid unrealistic techniques that would get you killed.

For full contact, you HAVE to know the rules...and train for them...NHB is NOT really NHB...but you have to train for what you will do...and they often do not.

For light contact...many want to be doing full contact but are afraid to go toe to toe with the big dogs...so they go light contact and then complain when they get disqualified and told to go to the full contact arena if they want to do tha stuff....then they leave and badmouth competition because they are bad sports.

Then...many just simply do not like the negative side of folks that competition can bring out.....

[mysteri]

everything posted above is true and some of the stuff i've encountered myself when competing. of course, there's always gonna be people who criticize things. but then again, there's a lot of good to come out of competing. i've met many other martial artists from many other styles who have a love and respect for all the arts. it's a gathering of those who love the arts and want to test their mettle against others. now granted, rules and officials may be stupid, but unless someone is goin to help improve it noone really has right to complain. the best thing i've pulled out of competing is friendships and self-assessment. there's a level where we THINK we are and a level where we TRULY are. sometimes its higher or lower than what we expect. i've had times where it was surprisingly higher and devastatingly lower in both forms and fighting. and personally, i love the exhibitions and the air of competition, its exciting! and its one thing that persoanlly drives me year after year to want to train harder. its a great way to expose yourself/art to the general public and a good place to fight other styles in a somewhat controlled atmosphere. otherwise, a lot of people would be lookin for streetfights and such to assess their skill level b/c EVERY martial artists should somehow constantly assess this, IMHO. jus my 2 cents.

[grogan]

I'm going with that the competition side can help you with your spacings and being able to read people in what they do, if you can switch your mind set from competition punches to more devastating blows aimed at the vulnerable areas I think that should take you closer to excellence.

[premier]

Yes. Competing is the second worst sin after masturbation and dancing.


premier

[Jimbo]

There is nothing wrong with competing in and of itself. Not everybody wants to nor has to, but that depends on your own goals. I have competed on and off in various MA events since 1979 in fighting and forms, and with varying degrees of both success and failure, ranging from FAJKO traditional Japanese karate tournaments, to AAU TKD, Open Karate, and all-Chinese tournaments in Taiwan and U.S. Overall it's been a very positive learning experience.

Some people who don't want to compete are simply not interested. Just like not everybody who enjoys a little weekend softball game wants to go out for the high school baseball team. They take the art for their own reasons and more power to them. A great many in this category are excellent fighters who can defend themselves very well and are confident in their abilities and their goals.
But, there are also those who won't compete because they're afraid of "looking bad" in front of others. They're afraid they will lose face and find out they aren't as good as they or others may think they are. This type of person is also often easily critical of other people who do compete, OR, they like to talk about how they'd do this and that if they competed; but when it comes time to put up or shut up, they disappear, or say, "I'm really a nonviolent person, and I think it's wrong to hurt other people. I don't have to prove anything to myself." Then sometimes if you press the issue the real truth surfaces a bit: "I wouldn't be comfortable with the negative energy of a competitive environment." (this is an actual quote I heard).

You see, it's very easy (some say fun) to sit up safely in the stands and judge or make fun of people who are competing and taking a little risk in front of others. But it takes a bit more to give it a try and put yourself in that position. You won't know how well you can do if you don't give yourself a chance, and if you do poorly you'll know what to work on next time.

One point already mentioned in a previous post is, if you do compete, to not develop a big ego. Just take it for what it is, taking your martial arts into a sporting environment and use it as a learning experience.

Jim

[NorthernMantis]

I love to go to tournaments since I get to meet new people and see other styles.

I only go to the Chinese tourneys since I saw NASKA on ESPN I get the chills whenever I hear a of a non kung fu tournament...

...blonde mullets,karate practitioners doing modern wu shu,the screaming THE SCREAMING!!,the nearly perfect scores like 9.8 and 9.9,etc..

[CrushingFist]

actually, a lot of those NASKA events are quite well dominated by chinese styles now.

Two former beijing team members are the top man and woman of naska, and they compete with karate guys. So it's not the same as it used to be where nobody saw kung fua nd judged it like karate, they're starting to judge it a little more correct. And personally from what i;ve seen, a lot of the judges at the tournaments i've been to, bite anyways...the southern style ones only know how to judge southern characteristics, and the northern, often times, only the northern style characteristics, so you get all southern judges in a hand form ring, well GEE< guess whos gonna win? someone from the southern style.

But on th eother hand, sometimes u end up with fair judges and just get beat, or beat someone else so it's cool, i encourage ppl to compete, it helps them get over a mental block they sometimes have, and gets them used to preforming which they might have to do later on at a demo.

[Mr. Nemo]

Premier is correct. If you compete too much, you can eventually go blind.

[JasBourne]

Masturbation is NOT a sin. Dancing, however, is an E-ticket straight to hell.

-Sister Mary Jas

[BiNKy]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I will start looking for some good competition environments. Hard contact is what Im craving I do alot of forms and like them but Im not interested in form competitions. Perhaps Ill be able to find something to fit my taste.

[shaolinboxer]

Competition is excellent for developing your fighting spirit and testing you techniques, condition, and willpower.

The downside to competition is that victory can be used to justify many things that may not be true. Also, for some people is cause a cycle of dissatifaction.

You have to know if and when to quit.

Good luck out there!