WHAT RULES?

"The title is "Explosive Uechi-ryu" and the moderator is Arthur Rabesa. Art will be exploring the power contained in Uechi-ryu that is not appreciated by the average practitioner. Make no mistake - this forum is for the serious martial artist and I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone who really wants to tap his or her explosive power potential.

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Art Rabesa
Posts: 806
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 9:25 pm

WHAT RULES?

Post by Art Rabesa »

Way back in the dark age when tournaments were just beginning, rules were still kind of foggy. We went along from one outing to another not really sure what we could or couldn't do. What took place at one tournament usually made for a new rule. For instance. "Okay -- so we ought to have a rule about kicking to the groin. That fighter Saturday is never going to get his voice back to normal. Oh yeah -- and another thing--- let's go over the head contact. Maybe we can allow only slight contact. You know what? Lets make a rule about staying in the fighting area. Some fighters are running out of the fighting area to avoid being hit. That ain't right". Fighting do's and don'ts were done on the fly. Sometimes a new rule would pop up right before you stepped in to fight. The "slight head contact" rule never really made any sense. After fighters were going down from "slight contact", that rule was omitted. Some perfected the "Flop" technique. They would simply spin and fall down without actually being hit in the head. There were some that perfected this move very well. Some judges couldn't tell the flop from the real contact. This made fighting the "Flopper" very difficult. I met a flopper in a Hartford tournament once. He was real cute with his Oscar winning flopping. Before I knew it, I was down two points without touching his head. Back then, it took three points to win the match. The referee gave the signal to begin. I knew damn well what this dancer was about to do. I closed the distance and let my right hand slam to his head. He went down and did not move. After the judges made their ruling to disqualify me, I turned to them and said, "Now, that's contact"! I'm sure this was discussed at the next referee's meeting. The tournament rules finally got ironed out as time went by. With the introduction of safety gear, the injuries were being kept down as well. Gone are the days when red cross crews were running all over tending to fighters. I'm all for the safety of the participants, but I missed the early years somewhat. Karate schools now have all the newest protective gear. This is a good thing. Tough to operate a school when everyone is getting hammered -----Happy Trails---Art
Art Rabesa
Art Rabesa
Posts: 806
Joined: Fri May 23, 2008 9:25 pm

Re: WHAT RULES?

Post by Art Rabesa »

This actually should be in my "Along The Way" topic. I think I was a brown belt when I was disqualified for the head contact of the "Flopper". That was around 1965. In the infant stages of karate tournaments. No one really knew what was going on back then. Later, at a Kansas tournament, fighters were dropping like flies. No rules at all at that outing. It was tough going back then. At times you had to win six or seven fights just to make the finals. Your toughest fights always took place in the elimination matches. At times, you were so busted up by the time you had to fight for the championship, you had to go to plan B. Plan B was to figure out how to fight with that busted foot or hand. You changed your normal stance and regular techniques. You used other ways to fight. All those hours working other strikes and techniques had better pay off. If you came through it all with the championship, it took all the pain away. Don't have time for the pain right now. I'll deal with it later. You live with ice packs on the injury, or injuries for awhile. When you can walk again without much difficulty, you get back in the dojo. There's another tournament this weekend to get ready for. ------Happy Trails-----Art
Art Rabesa
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