Originally Posted by
Wood Dragon
... why no full contact sparring in, say, Wing Chun (or Isshin-ryu)? What's the underlying rationale behind the decision not to?
There might be a couple of different explanations for why hard contact free sparring was not emphasized in different schools.
In the case of Japanese karate-do, the arts were new to Japan and were made to conform to Japanese educational standards in a very short time period. The emphasis was on kata and physical education. This is because modern karate as first taught/developed by Itosu was restructured for elementary and middle school students in Okinawa. The first karate enthusiasts in Japan were university students and the idea of karate as moral and physical education prevailed. Funakoshi may have been limited (by his employers, his teachers or perhaps his own conscience) in what he was allowed to teach. There was little respect for Ryukyu culture at the time and karate was soon "Nipponified" to make it more acceptable to educated Japanese. The war isolated the various clubs from Okinawan sources and in its aftermath many styles and ryu developed separate identities from what may have been considered a single art form. In other words, karate in the first half of the 20th century may have developed into its modern form, but was also stunted in its growth. Kumite was developed and patterned after kendo and Kodokan judo training methods but the emphasis never returned to all-out fighting skills. If it was ever intended to exist in the modern conception of karate-do. Chosin Chibana has been considered by some to be the greatest karateka of the 20th century. He reportedly felt that kata training was the essence and entirety of karate. Some of his students refuse to allow jiyu kumite within their schools, although they do allow practice of bunkai.
Kyokushinkai is another story. Mas Oyama was a professional wrestler, among other things.
In TCMA there is a sad lack of emphasis on free sparring although many schools allow hard contact during technical drills. I suppose the reason for this is that it is not advisable to allow your students to hurt each other or form rivalries. It is better to encourage them to learn their free-fighting skills on the street or in arranged matches with other schools.
Last edited by jdhowland; 06-08-2008 at 12:02 PM.
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