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Thread: Tokyo Olympics

  1. #76
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    Who the **** chases a pumpkin?

    Indeed, Dgb76, it seems like it was more an issue of the NGB getting way too full of itself and basically ****ting in their own nest. It's one thing to have a sport that an audience can't follow. But it's a terminal thing not to give the IOC face when they are ultimately the ones that sign off on your sport. That's just foolish, but I can totally imagine how an NGB could get its head that far up its own ass. It's sad for the athletes.
    Gene Ching
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  2. #77
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    I was as upset as any of us to hear Wrestling was out, but after reading this article (skip down to the 2nd post for the Wrestling info, I'm surprised it stayed in so long. It wasn't about the sport itself. It was about the international governing body overseeing the sport. After working with some NGBs, I completely understand how this could happen.
    Yeah, like I said in my last post. We now have over a decade to get our house in order. They fired across our bow, now we need to come correct or step off. It's no secret that I'm hoping for the former.

  3. #78
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    I was as upset as any of us to hear Wrestling was out, but after reading this article (skip down to the 2nd post for the Wrestling info, I'm surprised it stayed in so long. It wasn't about the sport itself. It was about the international governing body overseeing the sport. After working with some NGBs, I completely understand how this could happen.
    While I understand why people are bored and confused by wrestling, I have to disagree with you, Gene. It's not wrestling's job to change in order to be considered a core sport. Personally, I never found it boring and I liked the rules as they were. It's also not wrestling's job to explain itself to people who haven't bothered to figure it out on their own given the massive resources available to all. I have issue with modernizing something simply to create wider appeal to people who are unwilling or unable to grasp it as it is. To me, wrestling's real problem is promotional, for sure, but it can be promoted as is. I'm getting tired of all this "it's a fast paced world now" bullshit. We gonna start giving MLB pitchers a time clock like in basketball now too because people find it boring to wait so long between pitches? Should TKD remove the gear in order to see more KO's? You see where I'm going with this, right? The fact that the IOC would leave wrestling, regardless of it's rule set, out of the core group is simply ridiculous. This is about money, not core sports. They would rather have something like downhill combat skateboarding or watch a woman wrap herself around a pole because more knuckledraggers would tune in, plain and simple. To disguise this as a spanking is crazy. It was a concerted effort to push out one sport to bring in another sport with a better draw. Nothing more, nothing less. All that other stuff is straw man bullshit!

  4. #79
    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonzbane76 View Post
    from what I read on your article it seems like someone dropped the ball on the wrestling side of the negotiations, of course it could be on both. I don't really like them changing rules per say, but it's not a bad thing for them to enact the takedown 2 point rule. I think it would add a bit more excitement. someone messed up for sure.
    Nah... It's about the money Lebowski! More people like baseball than wrestling, that's all. More fans = more money. Squash never had a real chance IMO. If it had been between baseball and squash, I believe that more of the wrestling votes would have went to baseball. The Olympics is a for profit venture now. It shouldn't be, that goes directly against the spirit of the games, but that's the world we live in now. Nice huh.



    BTW. I like the shooting. My grandmother competed, not in the olympics, just nationally. So I was exposed to that at quite a young age.
    Last edited by Syn7; 09-10-2013 at 04:22 PM.

  5. #80
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    hey now....im totally down with downhill combat skateboarding AND girls wrapping themselves around poles.....
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  6. #81
    Quote Originally Posted by Lucas View Post
    hey now....im totally down with downhill combat skateboarding AND girls wrapping themselves around poles.....
    Yeah, for sure, but not in exchange for wrestling. Take out rhythmic gymnastics or something. There is more than enough gymnastics represented at the games. And they should be, but we can live without ribbon dancing.

  7. #82
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    no ribbon dancing? what will the world come to?

    i agree with you though.

    is ribbon dancing really an olympic event?
    For whoso comes amongst many shall one day find that no one man is by so far the mightiest of all.

  8. #83
    Quote Originally Posted by Lucas View Post
    no ribbon dancing? what will the world come to?

    i agree with you though.

    is ribbon dancing really an olympic event?
    Yeah, it really is. Youtube rhythmic gymnastics and tell me that isn't ribbon dancing!

    It's not that I have a problem with rhythmic gymnastics. It's a very difficult thing to do. But gymnastics has a ton of events, I chose to pick on that one cause it's an easier target and to be honest, I like the rest. I could say the same thing about swimming. Drop synchronized and a few of the forty thousand events they have. It's just insulting that so many sports are over represented and now they thought about removing a TRUE core olympic sport and replace it with stuff that is relatively new.

    I don't care about discus, but I would never even consider taking it out. The reasons should be rather obvious IMO.

  9. #84
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    Rhythmic gymnastics rock. It's one of my fav non-combat events.

    Quote Originally Posted by Syn7 View Post
    While I understand why people are bored and confused by wrestling, I have to disagree with you, Gene. It's not wrestling's job to change in order to be considered a core sport. Personally, I never found it boring and I liked the rules as they were. It's also not wrestling's job to explain itself to people who haven't bothered to figure it out on their own given the massive resources available to all. I have issue with modernizing something simply to create wider appeal to people who are unwilling or unable to grasp it as it is. To me, wrestling's real problem is promotional, for sure, but it can be promoted as is.
    I don't think that's quite the problem addressed in the article. Keeping an audience is surely an important factor (and TKD might be updating itself to increase audience appeal with new sexier uniforms for females) but that's a challenge all sports face. Keep in mind, I'm a former NCAA fencer and saw some radical changes in the sport to 'increase audience appeal' including the reversal of how the sport was scored (fencing used to be scored by points lost not points won which was confusing as the loser had the higher score) and the electrification of saber. But as I read that article, it's more about the NGB of Wrestling being ****y idiots. They weren't participating in IOC events and were flippant about necessary paperwork. With dozens of international sports bending over backwards to get Olympic acceptance and all of the others struggling to maintain status, that's not an intelligent approach. Clearly, it was the fault of the NGB, In order to be Olympic, a sport must toe the line to the IOC. They failed to do so and a blatantly brash way and got ejected.
    Gene Ching
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  10. #85
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    I don't think that's quite the problem addressed in the article. Keeping an audience is surely an important factor (and TKD might be updating itself to increase audience appeal with new sexier uniforms for females) but that's a challenge all sports face. Keep in mind, I'm a former NCAA fencer and saw some radical changes in the sport to 'increase audience appeal' including the reversal of how the sport was scored (fencing used to be scored by points lost not points won which was confusing as the loser had the higher score) and the electrification of saber. But as I read that article, it's more about the NGB of Wrestling being ****y idiots. They weren't participating in IOC events and were flippant about necessary paperwork. With dozens of international sports bending over backwards to get Olympic acceptance and all of the others struggling to maintain status, that's not an intelligent approach. Clearly, it was the fault of the NGB, In order to be Olympic, a sport must toe the line to the IOC. They failed to do so and a blatantly brash way and got ejected.
    I hear you, and like I said, we now have ten years to get our house in order. But I still think it comes down to money. It's kinda like saying the US invaded Iraq cause saddam was a bad guy. Sure, that may be a good reason for some, but it clearly was not the main motivation. I feel that is a fair parallel for this scenario. If wrestling was the top earner, we all know they would have been on their doorstep with paperwork in hand. Know what I mean?

    Wrestling is a core olympic sport, no matter what happens. That's just that.

  11. #86
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    im not watching Olympics until they introduce naked oiled pankration and armored race in full hoplite armor.

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  12. #87
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    Karate in 2020?

    I'm sure you all answered the opening question correctly.

    Karate’s long fight to make the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

    Krista Rogers 21 hours ago



    Question: Which of the following is not an official Olympic medal sport? Is it A) Judo, B) Taekwondo, or C) Karate? If you guessed C) Karate, then you answered correctly.

    It may come as a surprise to you that karate is not an official Olympic sport, despite its widespread popularity throughout the world. In fact, karate has been rejected by the International Olympic Committee on three separate occasions. However, the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics have created a new movement for official adoption, along with a new strategy.

    Judo made its Olympic debut in the 1964 Tokyo games, having been featured in all but one Olympics up to the present. Taekwondo made its grand entrance during the 2000 Sydney games. So why is karate – far older than established Olympic events such as table tennis, water polo, and volleyball – not among them?

    There are actually a multitude of reasons, including the fact that there are so many different styles of karate, each one having different lineages, focuses, philosophies, and number of forms. It’s near impossible to pick just one to use for official purposes at the Olympics — it would be like proclaiming that one style more “correct” than the others. However, karate is already an official sport in the Asian Games, which are held every four years and are billed as the second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympics. So perhaps all hope is not lost…

    Enter Kyokushin (極真; literally: “the ultimate truth”), a style of full contact karate that was founded in 1964 by the Korean-Japanese martial artist Masutatsu Oyama/Choi Young-Eui. There are estimated to be over 12,000,000 practitioners of Kyokushin karate spread out over 120 countries around the world, with over 230 organizations in Japan alone. Due to its strong emphasis on hard techniques (a martial arts term that refers to the priority given to countering force with force), Kyokushin has often been seen as actual combat fighting rather than a sport, a view which has hindered its progress towards inclusion in the Olympics.

    ▼Kyokushin’s emphasis on contact sparring


    Tokyo’s winning bid to host the 2020 Games has sparked renewed efforts to include karate as an Olympic sport for the first time ever in the country of its origin. However, this time, the endeavor will aim to promote both a traditional style of karate with softer techniques (in which the force of the opponent is deflected while exerting minimal force), as well as the hard-technique Kyokushin style. The two styles will try to advance together in the hopes of making the Olympic cut. If their joint effort succeeds, they will become two separate Olympic disciplines, similar to how both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling are included on the official roster.

    Furthermore, if both of the styles make the cut this time around, there may be negative consequences for taekwondo, the Korean martial art with an emphasis on powerful kicking. Taekwondo has already suffered from poor TV ratings during past Olympics, and with its similarities to Kyokushin karate, there has already been talk of dropping it from the Games altogether.

    ▼A video in which a Kyokushin karate fighter goes head to head with a taekwondo martial artist


    This writer is by no means an expert in the various disciplines of martial arts, let alone karate, so if you have any reflections about the possible inclusion of karate in future Olympics, please feel free to share your insights with the rest of us in the comments section below.
    Gene Ching
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  13. #88
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    Karate in 2020?

    That would certainly be a slap in the face to wushu promoters. But maybe they need a slap in the face.

    IOC passes votes on bidding, sports and TV channel
    By STEPHEN WILSON, AP Sports Writer
    Updated 7:01 pm, Monday, December 8, 2014


    IOC President Thomas Bach delivers a speech at the start of the 127 th International Olympic Committee session in Monaco, Monday, Dec. 8, 2014. The IOC has approved plans for a more flexible sports program, a move that could lead to the inclusion of baseball and softball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The International Olympic Committee voted in favor of the revised system on the opening morning of a special two-day session to adopt President Thomas Bach’s 40-point

    MONACO (AP) — Thomas Bach never thought it would be this easy.

    In rapid fashion and without a single vote against or even an abstention, the International Olympic Committee on Monday overwhelmingly approved its president's 40-point reform package — the biggest shake-up of the organization in decades.

    "Even in my wildest dreams I would not have expected this," Bach said after the delegates unanimously backed his plans for a more affordable bidding system, creation of an Olympic television channel and a more flexible sports program. "That it would go this way was a very, very positive surprise."

    Bach moved decisively since his election in September 2013 to put his stamp on the presidency and rally support for his "Olympic Agenda 2020" reforms, marking the most sweeping changes since the Salt Lake City bid scandal in 1999.

    A vote scheduled to take place over 1 ½ days was wrapped up in just one day. The only thing that didn't pass unanimously was a suggestion for a coffee break

    "I hope in 20 years I can look back to this day with satisfaction and happiness and maybe a little bit of relief," Bach said.

    Among other measures approved was the rewording of the IOC's non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation — a move that followed the controversy over Russia's law against gay "propaganda" ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

    The IOC abolished the cap of 28 sports for the Summer Games to move to an "events-based" system that would allow new competitions to come in, while keeping to about 10,500 athletes and 310 medal events.

    Host cities will also be allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more additional events for their games.

    The new rules clear the way for Tokyo organizers to request that baseball and softball be included in the 2020 Games. Both sports, dropped after the 2008 Beijing Games, are highly popular in Japan.

    "Today, there is excitement circulating around the baseball and softball world and there is great hope that our athletes will now have a real opportunity ... to play for their country, aiming to win an Olympic gold medal," said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.

    Other sports like squash and karate are also hopeful of joining the Tokyo program. In addition, new disciplines and events within existing sports could also be considered. Some events may need to be dropped to make room for new ones.

    "This is a major breakthrough," senior Canadian member **** Pound said. "We were at a dead-end situation with 28 sports. This provides the flexibility we need."

    The new bidding process, meanwhile, is aimed at making the system cheaper and more flexible to attract future candidates — including the option of holding events outside the host city or country.

    The votes came at a time when many countries have been scared off by the costs of hosting the Olympics, including the reported $51 billion associated with the Sochi Games. Several cities withdrew from the bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, leaving only Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the running.

    The new system makes the process more of an "invitation" and allows prospective candidates to discuss their plans in advance with the IOC to tailor games to their own needs.

    In the most radical change, the reforms open the door to possible joint bids by cities, neighboring countries or regions.

    Bach said joint bids or events held in different countries would be allowed only "in exceptional cases."

    The IOC backed the launch of a digital TV channel — possibly as early as next year — to promote Olympic sports between the games and engage with young viewers. The channel will feature material from the IOC's archives, transmit some international sports competitions and offer a promotional platform for bid cities.

    The IOC said the channel — to be run by the Madrid-based Olympic Broadcasting Services — will cost $600 million to operate over the first seven years, with the goal of breaking even in the first decade.

    The new Principle 6 clause says the Olympics should be free of discrimination "of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."

    Former Olympic diving gold medalist Greg Louganis said the new wording removes all doubt about the interpretation of the clause.

    " Today's move will make it clear about open hearts and open minds in the spirit of the Olympic Games," he said.
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  14. #89
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    Ninja council for 2020

    If ninjitsu made the Olympics....if only.


    Former Tourism Agency chief Hiroshi Mizohata (first row, right) joins governors and mayors from Mie, Shiga and Kanagawa prefectures in dressing up as ninja Sunday to announce the launch of the Ninja Council to promote tourism to Japan. | AFP-JIJI
    National

    Ninja Council is formed to kick up tourism
    AFP-JIJI, Kyodo
    Mar 9, 2015

    Officials are enlisting one of Japan’s best-known historical figures — the ninja — to encourage tourism.

    Governors and mayors from prefectures around the country traded their usual bland suits for ninja costumes Sunday to announce the launch of the Ninja Council.

    The council sees local authorities forming alliances with tourism agencies to thrust the ninja — usually known for their ability to become nearly invisible — into the spotlight.

    The council will gather and provide information on its website about the feudal-era martial arts masters and assassins and about tourist destinations, organizers said.

    It will also respond to inquiries from home and abroad, and is scheduled to host events to boost the popularity of the dark warriors.

    Ninja are a “subject that always comes up whenever we go abroad to promote tourism,” said Hiroshi Mizohata, former head of the Japan Tourism Agency, which is part of the transport ministry.

    The not-so-stealthy move comes as villages, towns and cities turn to tourism as a promising driver of economic growth ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

    “Through ninja, we want to revive our communities,” said Mie Gov. Eikei Suzuki, which is known as the home of the Iga school of ninjutsu.
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  15. #90
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    oh whatev...

    If it comes down to Karate, Wushu or Ninjitsu, you know where my alliance lies.

    Wushu Bids Again for Olympic Inclusion
    EL Borromeo | Mar 07, 2015 07:43 AM EST


    Wushu is a Chinese martial art regularly featured at Asian-wide sports events. (Photo : pl.wikipedia.org)

    The International Wushu Federation recently announced its plans to bid again for Wushu’s inclusion in the Olympics.

    In a Jakarta Post report, Anthony Goh, the federation's executive vice president said that they "have to undertake another bidding process."

    Goh further emphasized the need to expand the reach of the Chinese martial art. Wushu has been a regular feature during Asian multi-sports events such as the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games.
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    Meanwhile, Wushu enthusiasts and advocates are eyeing on the increased participation of Africans and Americans once the bid is approved. According to them, joining this sport could aid their chances, as they have previously missed out to the combat sort like wrestling.

    According to Goh, Wushu will be featured in the upcoming All-African Games in August. It will also land a spot at the 2019 Pan American Games where athletes from over 41 countries in the North, Central and South America will participate.

    "We need to develop regions where Wushu is less developed. We have to feature more often in multi-international games, like the African Games and the Pan American Games," he remarked.

    Wushu was among the eight sports vying for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics. However, it failed to make it on the shortlist of three chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

    However, after the IOC overhauled a number of rules in a December meeting which allows sports to have an easier way of having an Olympic spot, Wushu advocates still see a future for the martial art to be included in the future editions of the international games.

    Meanwhile, Wushu is also expected to be included in the 2020 Games of Tokyo line-up.

    poor photo choice...
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