What does competition do for you?

[warriorwoman]

This might sound like a naive question, but I'm curious to hear from those of you who are training in competitive martial arts and those who actually compete. Aside from the obvious (trophys/acclaim, etc.), what do you get out of competition?
janet dtantirojanarat
www.warriorwoman.org

[Bear]

I get several things out of competition:
1). I get practice outside the dojo.
2). Camaraderie within the dojo as much as outside.
3). Makes a good day (fighting, eating, friends, and sleeping, what could be better? :D )
4). Fulfills my competitive drive.

[Jeff Burger]

Benefits of full contact competition
Motivation to train harder
Confidence
Helps to deal with fear
The closest thing to realism and stay legal
Keeps the arts growing
Excitment / entertainment
Sportsmanship
Comradery

To name a few

Jeff

[warriorwoman]

Jeff-
You specified "full contact" as opposed to competition in general. Do you feel that the benefits for the two are different?
janet dtantirojanarat
www.warriorwoman.org

[SevenStar]

competition - I love it. period. I don't even keep my trophies - my parents have them at their house.

Have you played Street Fighter II and beaten it with Ryu? there is a sentence about him in his ending that describes me perfectly:

"To him, winning is nothing....the fight is everything"

As for full contact, the benefits are VERY different from point fighting. For one, point fighting establishes bad habits. Check out the thread on competition - I'll post the link - I think we stated numerous reasons in that thread.

[SevenStar]

http://www.budoseek.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2041

[Jeff Burger]

W.W.
Yes the benefits are different.

Non full contact (sparring, kata) can..
Motivate you to train harder
Help you confidence but I dont feel it deep or true
It does help to deal with fear but not as good as full contact
It is not very realistic
It may keep the sport growing but I feel most sporty stuff hurts martial arts as a whole
It can be exciting and entertaining
It can build sportsamanship and comradery
Motivation to train harder


The non full contact (sparring, kata....)
Is a good stepping stone.
Most dont past that and thats ok with me, but they need to realize how and where it limits them.
I dont expect everyone to do full contact. I dont expect kids to go full on hitting though than can grapple, and I dont expect anyone over 40 to go full contact and though they can grapple they may need to play safer.

Im not knocking the old guys out there, some guys are tuff into there 50 and 60s. But in general until I get to know the person I start cutting some slack at 40.

Jeff

[fightgrrl]

What I get from competition...

#1 personal challenge...almost spiritual...after 4-5 years in Martial Arts...I want to know - am I actually GOOD at this?? What if I am not?? (and why can't I get a full contact fight?) Lately it's been -How many of these things could I be good at?

My first competition was incredibly nerve racking...I did OK, since then I have only come in second once on the local circuit for weapons...
The most recent tournament was pretty cool, but I really messed up my weapon form-my personal favorite, and really aced my hand form-which I pretty much dislike, I think there was a redemption isuue there. I won in both divisions. I think the biggest stress there was that I had won the Adult weapons division the last 2 years in a row(at each rank) and was stressing over a 3rd year sweep in my favorite division.
This past weekend I did my first grappling tournament and placed fourth in my division. I was definitely much less stressed out than at the previous tournament, since I had never grappled before and was injured. I had way more fun than at the previous tournament, since I was really just checking out the scene at the biggest possible venue. I suppose that future grappling will be more stressful since I now have a mark to match or beat...

well, there's still full contact kickboxing and all of those variations...

#2 confidence/personal strength...comes from the above category and from just taking the step to try...



#3(or maybe this is actually #1)
is my school any good? Since my school is mixed martial arts, I don't expect to be the best at anything, but since I have consistently done well with weapon and hand forms and did really pretty great at first time grappling I have a great validation scale for my MA education.
We were talking about competition today and since we don't focus on any one thing, we concluded that placing at any competition is a major victory for us...if we grapple a couple days a month and are still contenders against people who only grapple there must be something really valid about our system. The woman who won my gi division was saying she only had like 22 gi practices... I only had my judo gi for a week!
Same with Karate or Kung Fu or Muay Thai...I had not even walked through my hand form once in over a month and really BUSTED OUT my form at the tournament to win...that's major for someone who actually wants to fight...especially in a competition where one person in the division(advanced) only competed in hand forms. Sadly, I had put a lot of time in to the bo form and I really did a personal WORST despite the win...that also gives me something to work on for myself...oh yeah, my school is definitely, really GOOD!


#4 trophies/glory...yeah, you can get your picture in the paper and be on TV and get cool trophies and such...but it doesn't really reach ME in the same way. and its not like I am a movie star...


Sioux

[Jeff Burger]

Toot Toot (thats me blowing my horn a bit)

Fightgrrl and I are from the same school.

We do a mix program...Karate, Wushu, Grappling, Kick Boxing, Tai Chi.
Ill admitt I do feel a certain amount of validation that we are a good school from competition results (though its only one measuring stick)

We dont do alot of time wasting crap I see alot of other schools do.
And as far as fighting (kickboxing or grappling) my guys (and gals) are ALIVE. No ranks, no rank requirements. We have basics and then we teach as the topic comes up in practice.

No association...no association fees and B.S....ahhh autonomy.

Principles over technique all day everyday.
And I try to force people to think...no cookie cutter, connect the dots techniques.
Some greta stuff has come up from people who didnt realize they were not supposed to do something.

We do tournaments or demos we have alot of different stuff going on karate, Grappling, CMA, Muay Thai, weapons (Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and maybe a little fencing).

And our trophy rate is almost always 90% or better and I buck people up for competition.
I have had a few students who did real well in beginner a few times so I give them a honorary rank based on competition Example Ill give a intermediate rank belt to a student who does well in competition...say a green belt. They stay that rank until the have earned their way up and out of it.

Adults ranks are based totally on competition. And if they never fight full contact (grappling or kickboxing) black belts are only honarary.

And I personally dont care what color belt the wear.
If your an adult at my school you are either a newby, a beginner, a intermediate, a advanced or black belt.
You go to your first competition you put on a beginner color (yellow or orange)...take your pick I dont care.
You get up to intermediate you wear and intermideate color...take your pick I dont care.
You get up to advanced and you like brown...put it on I dont care...females tend to like purple...put it on I dont care.

Im sure the martial arts gods are rolling over in their graves at my bastardization of rank.
Then again maybe I fixed the problem.


Jeff

[black-gi]

what compitition does for me is let me know how I've been trainning, what I need to work on and I'm just a competitive person, I don'r prefer full-contact because most the fighters have ego peoblems, I like it but prefer tournaments because if you go to tourny's from a white belt you grow up as martial artists with the same people who continue to go as well and you make friends out of them and possible trainning partners as well as visiting there school to do some new trainning.

Jason Bryant
Tracy Karate
Calgary Alberta Canada

[RobNyc]

Anyone here disagrees with competition or doens't like it?
I'm sure styles like Bujinkan and other strictly combat styles say they do not do competitions because of some reason.

[wab25]

I don't like competition in Martial Arts. There are always rules. The rules are there to protect people. However, everyone starts to learn to use the rules to win instead of technique. Watch Pride or UFC. When UFC started, you had to fight, you had to use technique. Now you can use the rules to win, and most fights now turn on the rules instead on the martial arts skill.

I do however, like sparring/randori where the goal is to explore. Not to get a trophy. ( everyone says they don't care about the trophy, yet most of them still use the rules to win ) When you can spar and just try things, you start to learn what you are good at. You are not afraid of losing, so you try more things. As a result, you start to improve those techniques that are "just for kata" to the point that you can use them on a fully resisting opponent. I just recently started sparring with some kung fu guys. Nobody is worried about who wins or loses. They are learning to keep their balance, keep their space, and work out of a clinch. I am learning how not to close distance ;) ( though I occasionally get lucky ) The point is that nobody worries about ego or winning or losing. We just try to see what we can make work. Everyone finds there own places that need more work. This kind of thing I find very valuable.

But, at last, I have to actually enter a competition. (it is a requirement for black belt, to enter a tournament. Its not like I am trying to get a BB, but enough of the instructors that I respect and my sensei keep telling me that it is time for me to get it, so what the heck...) It will be a kata competition. They will pick 3 or 4 techniques, we will practice for a few weeks, and then I will go to the competition and show what I know. I guess the good part, is the few weeks of focusig on just 3 or 4 techniques. I think the competition part is just a formality, and I will treat it as such.

[RA Miller]

Competition is not what I do, not what I train for. Everything that makes competition possible is detrimental to surviving an ambush...

But I like competing. I like playing. I like rolling with skilled athletes and testing MY skill at THEIR game.

I don't, and have never, liked the atmosphere that surrounds a big competition. I don't like the fact that some fat PoS is watching me for entertainment. I don't like the feel of the youngsters that have their identity wrapped around a win or a loss. I don't like the swaggering egos or psuedo warriors. I despise the people that will leave the tournament as a 'champion' and then teach some poor schmuck how to get killed in a 'knife defense seminar'.

But even when I hated it, I did it. Because, in the end MA is training to do scary and unpleasant things. If you find competeing scary or unpleasant, that is reason enough to do it, IMO.

Rory

[Tribalweapon]

I like to compete because of the change of pace. It is one thing to spar the same people in class over and over, but when you go to compete you usually end up fighting someone you have never seen and don't know what to expect.

[wab25]

or...... you could go find some people who do a completely different form of Martial Arts and spar with them. It doesn't always have to be competition. When winning is the goal, not much learning goes on. When learning is the goal however, things are a lot different.

[tkdcanada]

I think you can still learn lots from competing....even when winning is the goal. When I compete, of course I always want to win, but whether I win or lose, I ALWAYS learn something. I have taken something away from every competition I've done. The goal of winning just adds another dimension to it. The learning stops when your mind closes to the possibility of learning, not because you want to win.

[Tribalweapon]

I would try that but the only schools in the area are either TKD or some form of karate. I took TKD for 3 years and am currently taking Shotokan. Though I have not been in class long enough to get a chance to spar anyone I have fought people who took Shotokan at tournaments and didn't find it too much different from fighting a TKD fighter IMO.

[Runar Bjaaland]

Hi everyone,

I agree with the above quote quote. I and my kids find competition brings back a focus to train at dojo.

Cheers
Runar Bjaaland :bow:

[Runar Bjaaland]

[I think you can still learn lots from competing....even when winning is the goal. When I compete, of course I always want to win, but whether I win or lose, I ALWAYS learn something. I have taken something away from every competition I've done. The goal of winning just adds another dimension to it. The learning stops when your mind closes to the possibility of learning, not because you want to win.
__________________
Michleine Cloutier

]Hi everyone,

I agree with the above quote quote. I and my kids find competition brings back a focus to train at dojo.

Cheers
Runar Bjaaland :bow:

[Jerusalem]

Im sure the martial arts gods are rolling over in their graves at my bastardization of rank.
Then again maybe I fixed the problem.
Jeff

As far as I understood it, rank was something someone made up to keep track of where thier students should line up. Westerners put all the emphesis on them. So I think you're in the clear.

As far as competition: I like the fact that you can find any type of competition that fits your fancy. Thus, you can find a group of like-minded people that are interested in the same things. It allows you to break up the routine of training with your friends at your own school. It doesn't matter, you will eventually learn the moves of everyone you train with regularly so you end up getting less from the experience.

[TonyU]

What's competion do for me?
Absolutely nothing. Don't like it. Have done it. Was good at it, but I dislike it.

[jakmak52]

This might sound like a naive question, but I'm curious to hear from those of you who are training in competitive martial arts and those who actually compete. Aside from the obvious (trophys/acclaim, etc.), what do you get out of competition?
janet dtantirojanarat
www.warriorwoman.org

It impresses my wife and I get to reunite with all my martial arts compadres. :wink2:

[Urufu Kun]

Hey ya'll.

I have never entered a martial arts competition, I think it would be cool but my dojo does not participate in them. I guess it takes away from the art because your there to win, and that can over power the intent to have fun. But I still think it would be awsome.

Daniel.

[jjaje]

Daniel,

Welcome to Budoseek.net and thank you for participating in the competition folder.

Please remember to sign every post with a real and full first and last name.

To make it easy so you don't forget, you can set it as part of your signature with the user cp button above.

[Chrono]

I've only done one tournament, but what I loved most about it is all the people I met. The other thing was that I got was that I got a bit closer to the guys I went with. It also made me realize how bad I was at sparring.

[tkdcanada]

It's an adrenaline rush, pure and simple :D

[Akuma]

-A chance to test your skills outside your own dojang with like peers
-Character building: It takes courage to compete
-Fun! (If you like getting hit, and hitting others)
-Builds camradirie with class mates/peers
-Fosters good will within the MA community
-Good learning experience for what works and what just looks pretty :)

[jakmak52]

Here's an amatuer mpeg of the US Open in 1999, please be patient, it's a 26 meg download :eek:

US Open 1999 -Orlando, Florida -Executive Men's Kata Division (http://escapetophotography.com/NVEExport.mpg)

[Erik]

Competition keeps you honest. There's no deluding oneself if s/he finds out that what s/he's doing is not producing results.

[Iron Monkey]

I must say I get alot out of competition. I never even think about being on top when I do compete. My sifu always tell me work hard to be my best win or lose it is a lesson in martial arts. If I win I win big deal to me I will keep on training harder and if I loss I will keep training harder. There was a time I would think that wining is everything but I was wrong.

[Aefibird]

I like competitions becuase they give me a chance to meet other martial artists and to test my skills against them.

I think that competitions can also boost confidence and can show a person what they need to work on.

It also gives me an opportunity to represent my instructors and to try and make a good 'show' for them to prove that their hard work is not in vain.


Plus, you get to win lots of 'bling', which is a good thing, right?? :wink2: :D :laugh:

[kwan kune]

-A chance to test your skills outside your own dojang with like peers
-Character building: It takes courage to compete
-Fun! (If you like getting hit, and hitting others)
-Builds camradirie with class mates/peers
-Fosters good will within the MA community
-Good learning experience for what works and what just looks pretty :)

i ditto all of this
plus it gives me a double drive to train

[Crooked-Eyed-Joe]

I'm sorry for resurecting a dead thread, but I had my first Tournie today, and I see several benifets.

1) Points out weaknesses. While sparring in the Dojo also does this, sparring with the same people gets repetitive. You know their style, and it gets stale.

2) Competition, it brings out your competitive spirit.

3) It's a good time.

[thejimbo]

There is no better training than full contact competition, assuming you don't get severely injured. Without that you will never really know how good you are.

[Black Fox]

learn/teaches:
how to train for other competitions.

self-control.

how to out think/fight an opponent you do not know or do not know well, for they go to other schools - a very important aspect in that they do not 'think'/'feel' exactly like the partners in your school you train with regularly and the presure usualy runs on 'high'.

it may serve with the right orientation for excellent training format in the art you practice itself and it can develop character.

good entertaining social event for people who do the same thing.

[KungFu Girl]

I usually compete in 3-4 tournaments a year, typically doing forms (classical and contemporary wushu) rather than sparring. I used to think that I *had* to go there to win and I would build up all of this anxiety over it. But then I realized that the most fun came from catching up with MA friends from other schools, seeing their improvements since the last time we got together, observing a variety of different forms and determining which ones I might be interested in learning someday, and (of course) getting up there to do my thing with a big smile on my face.

I certainly don't live for competitions, but when there is a tournament coming up, it gives me a goal to work towards, which spices things up a little. When I'm actually at the tournament, I realize how well I know my form (am I off balance or forgetful because I'm nervous?) and it helps me to improve later. And on the occasion that I am well prepared and do a great job, it is AMAZING to hear people cheering for me - especially because there are typically very few women competing.

I always hope that perhaps I am inspiring just one little girl to chase her dreams....or maybe a new student will sign up because they were impressed! Well, I may need a few more years of training before I inspire anyone (haha), but I think that is a wonderful reason to perform in public. I guess it is just ironic that the last thing I care about now is the medal. :t2: