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Karate is a martial art that originated in Okinawa with its history being able to be traced back to the 1300s. Brought to mainland Japan in the early 20th century, it has become one of the world’s most popular martial arts and has developed several different styles including Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, Kyokushinkai and Wado-Ryu.
Karate, unlike Japanese Judo is primarily a striking art and involves the use of punches, kicks, knee and elbow strikes and various other striking techniques. Some forms of karate may also include a small amount of throws, joint locks and grappling, though it is as an exciting striking art that Karate is known.
Karate is practiced all around the world by people young and old. Some famous people to have achieved Karate black belts include James Caan, Sean Connery, Forest Whitaker, Bear Grylls and Elvis Presley. Practitioners of Karate are known as Karateka and for those that want to compete, Karate has a big sporting element known as Kumite, with the being the world’s largest organisation overseeing the sporting side of the martial art. The WKF hosts competitions across the world and is the only Karate governing body recognised by the International Olympic Committee.
The object of Karate is to defeat your opponent by utilising punches, kicks and throws to score points. At the end of a Karate kumite, the competitor with the most points is declared the winner (or before the end if they reach and eight point lead over their opponent). As well as being a combative physical activity, Karate is highly skilled and tactical, and all competitors are required to have a high level of skill, experience, speed and dexterity to be successful in Karate competition.
Competitors are placed into categories according to their weight and maybe their age in the case of junior competitions. All competitors in Karate kumite competitions are required to wear a traditional Karate suit known as a gi and this should be plain and without stripes or embroidery. Instead of wearing the belt colour that signifies their rank, one contestant wears a red belt and the other a blue belt to help distinguish them. Other prescribed pieces of equipment are:
Groin guards can be worn but are not mandatory.
Scoring in Karate competitions is relatively simple. Scoring is limited to the following areas of the opponent's body:
A score is awarded when one fighter performs a technique that conforms to the following criteria and the blow lands on a relevant scoring area of their opponent’s body:
Fighters can score one, two or three points for attacking techniques:
Ippon (three points) is awarded for:
Waza-ari (two points) is awarded for:
Yuko (one point) is awarded for:
A Karate match can be won in a number of ways:
If the amount of points are equal at the end, then the referee and the three judges consult and decide a winner between them.
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