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OLYMPIC VOTE - Rugby, Golf, not Karate
By Julian Forbes
August 2009
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By now most of you have heard the sad news: The IOC voted Golf and Rugby in for possible 2016 inclusion, instead of Karate...
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"So what now?" This is by far the most common question I have received over the last week since the news was announced. "Is that it? Is it over? Will karate ever get into the Olympic Games?"... other questions raised.
Many have questioned the obvious: "How can Karate, a sport that transcends race, social backgrounds and can be practiced by even the most financially challenged families... an art that promotes respect, honor and non violence... be outbid by a sport that can, for the most part, only be played by those of the higher economic echelon, or another sport which is very popular in only small pockets of the world?
Doesn't seem to make sense does it? The WKF alone claims a membership of over 65 million participants. So why? How?
As insane as it seems, we haven't really helped ourselves. Look at it from the IOC's perspective:
1. Over the last ten years they have seen numerous groups claim the right to be the definitive global organization for karate. These groups have slandered each other mercilessly in letters to the IOC.
2. Over the last ten years, various National Karate Federations have been found to be corruptly run - the USA NKF is still under the USOC governance for this reason. But the U.S. is only one of many federations around the world that have been found to be acting "inappropriately" (to say the least).
3. Without naming names, the group that should be fighting for us in the IOC arena has been comfortable with going to a few meetings, and inviting the odd IOC member that expressed interest to attend an event. They have not aggressively sought to promote the sport of karate globally in a major way, nor have they sought innovative ways to attract more media attention which is a huge factor in IOC decision making it would seem. How many TV commercials have you seen promoting a traditional Karate event?
4. Media Attention - BMX biking and Snowboarding made it into the Games in what seemed like a nano second. Why? First off, their federations were not battling and they had their act together. Secondly, they had money and sponsors. And lastly, they had a media machine promoting their sports on TV and creating cult heroes out of their athletes. The sports became insanely trendy!
Please note the order there....
Without media coverage and "hype", a Hollywood term for building something up, few would have heard about snowboarding or BMX and they would have remained in the shadows.
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Olympic Documents and Follow up Report
A couple of things to add to the article on the left:
Mr. Yerolimpos, General Secretary of the WKF sent out the following letter following WKF President Espinos' brief "explanation" which can be downloaded above. He attached 2 additional documents, one a letter from the Squash Federation to its members regarding the voting event (remember Squash was one of the 7 proposed sports), and an article written by Mr. Hula, editor of AroundTheRings.com.
> Yerolimpos Letter (pdf)
> Squash Federation Letter (pdf)
> Around the Rings Article (link)
Mr. Yerolimpos makes it pretty clear that the WKF has few, if any, intentions to fight for an early inclusion, but is rather content with the IOC Executive Board's recommendation of Golf and Rugby and will try for a 2020 slot. To his credit, Mr. Yerolimpos at least took the time to find material to forward his members that was more illuminating than Mr. Espinos' note. The question of why the squash federation could find the time to write a detailed and informative analysis of the events that crushed many a young athlete's dreams while our karate federation found it unnecessary to make the effort, remains. Clearly one is taking it all a bit more seriously than the other.
In the Around the Rings article, Mr. Hula makes an excellent point: Neither Golf nor Rugby have been confirmed. This occurs in October after IOC members hear the two "recommended" sports' presentations. The bottom line is that while Golf and Rugby obviously have an advantage due to the obvious support from IOC President Jacques Rogge, this time it won't be just 14 people in a room voting that can be more easily swayed, but rather a much larger number that will hopefully give us a statistical edge over politics.
Karate could still get voted in for 2016 in October by a majority vote!
I recommend that everyone write to their national Olympic Committees immediately requesting that they vote for Karate in October!!
Lastly, I'm providing you all with the official IOC study on all 7 sports which includes the WKF's official presentation.
While I'm the first to slam critics that critique for attention without justification, I think the presentation is clearly less than solid. It claims that Karate is simple and exciting to follow on TV... In marketing it is sometimes best not to draw attention to flawed areas. I don't think anyone can argue that our current rules are easy for outsiders to follow. The presentation also states that they have chosen to limit the number of sanctioned equipment manufacturers to 5. To anyone but the WKF leaders, this is doing the athletes a disservice by reducing the competition for equipment development and improvements. The IOC is not totally blind and would question the real motives behind this strange policy.
Also sad to notice was the lack of a Kata program in the proposal except to mention it for possible future inclusion.
Here's a thought for those with the authority to speak to the IOC on Karate's behalf: Given the battle to keep the number of Olympic sports under 28, why not push for an umbrella Martial Arts sport which would encompass Karate, Judo, Taekwondo, Jiu Jitsu and others, much like they have for "Aquatics" or "Alpine Skiing"?
> IOC Report (August 2009) Detailed Report on the 7 Short-Listed International Federations (PDF Download)
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But their federations undoubtedly sat down with marketing execs and merchandisers and figured out ways to create cool and trendy events with loads of merchandising to promote their sports. As a footnote here... a few years ago a USOC official suggested that I speak to the heads of those two federations to get their input on how they got in so quickly.
So what now? What can we do?
Fortunately the IOC changed the voting system about a year or two ago.
You used to have to wait 4 years for another vote. Now you can request another vote based on developments in the sport that may have relevance and warrant a new vote. Cool...
So what do we have to do now? What can we do?
The three most damaging factors keeping us out of the Olympics are our battling organizations, corrupt federations, and lack of media attention. The first two require people in their own areas/countries to stand up for justice and fair governance. Not much I can do about these I'm afraid.
The last point is however something we, and yes I, (Karate Athlete) can do something about. Media coverage and overall general popular following.
Without it we will have a hard time getting in unless someone is prepared to start shoveling millions of dollars under the table in the direction of a few well placed IOC officials as it is rumored another similar martial art (with a far smaller following) did in order to achieve IOC inclusion...
First it is important to understand why a sport as globally popular as karate gets such poor media coverage. Why don't thousands of people from the general public flock to our competitions as spectators and hoot and holler as they do at say a UFC championship? Simple... too many rules that are impossible for a non practitioner to follow. This makes it boring to watch. In the case of the UFC example, its brutally simple! Elbow to the face = pain and blood! Any beer-soaked Neanderthal can not only follow, that but also appreciate its simplicity!
Take Golf... player hits ball... player follows ball... player hits ball again... player follows ball... player eventually hits ball into hole. Brain-numbingly simple... Anyone can turn on a TV and within moments follow the "action". Not so with Karate. For one thing the Japanese terms automatically exclude the general public.
The terminology is but one aspect of the complex rules which make our sport hard for an outsider to follow and thus enjoy. While I would like to find ways of maintaining the Japanese foundations which after all make karate one of the most enchanting arts, I would also like to find ways for the general public to be able to enjoy what we do, and in so doing, make our sport more trendy and media friendly.
The WKF has just sent out a letter of explanation which really doesn't explain much at all and unfortunately promises even less for the future. You can Download it here: WKF Letter (PDF)
You can also download the IOC's exact vote breakdown leading to their decision: IOC Vote Breakdown (PDF)
I would like to make very clear at this point that there are some within the WKF that are very committed, and do their best to further the advance towards Karate's Olympic inclusion. They are however, not those making the decisions at the moment.
A handful of you know my plans... what I hope to do in the future... What I can tell the rest of you at this point is that I have begun to ask top athletes, coaches and officials for their input on this problem: How can we alter the rules of competition karate in order to make it more viewer friendly? In the days to come I will open a forum in our forums section here where everyone can voice an opinion.
We can do this!!! I'm doing all I can to generate the funds to do all of this through the sales of Karate Athlete gis and merchandise.
I vow to work on the media appeal. You, regardless of your origins, location or age, need to work on generating harmony and honesty amongst your local organizations. The are no "bad styles", but more often than not, there are bad or ignorant leaders. After all, honor and respect are in the forefront of our beliefs in our art... its about time people started practicing what they preach.
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