> New Version of our Tournament Software

Quick Notes

> IOC makes final vote to include Rugby & Gold in 2016.
> We have teamed up with the great Joe Lewis to bring you a monthly blog with fighting tips and insights - check back in a couple of days!
> Support our Karate Ad Campaign - Buy a Karate Athlete T shirt

Karate Advertising Campaign Launched

We have recently launched a huge worldwide advertising campaign to promote Karate. OK, so we lost the Olympic bid for 2016. We should still strive to promote our sport so that this doesn't happen again. If nothing else our campaign should increase the popularity and visibility of our sport, fill dojos and attract sponsors.

If you wish to support the costly campaign, please buy a T shirt!

If you want to download one of our animated ads click on it below:

OLYMPIC Final VOTE - Rugby & Golf, not Karate for 2016
By Julian Forbes

First off, despite crushing feelings of disappointment, I would like to take a second to congratulate the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for winning the bid to host the Olympic Games in 2016, as well as the respective organizations for Rugby and Golf for achieving inclusion. Regardless of our disappointment we respect other's passions for their sports and we are happy for them. Wish it was us instead though.... :-) So, OK... Golf and Rugby are in for 2016, Karate is not. The same question crops up: "So what now?" Lets first examine the reasons why our beloved sport didn't get included.

Please note that the following is my personal opinion, for what its worth, based on conversations with many officials, watching the proceedings over the years, and yes, common sense...

1. IOC President Jacques Rogge, who was just re-elected for a second term, has in the last 7-8 years that he has served, increased the IOC's cash reserves from $100 million to $400 million. He has to his credit spread the wealth by increasing financial aid to National Olympic organizations around the globe. Truly remarkable and we commend him for these achievements. However... these seem to have come at the expense of the very Olympic ideals that are generating the income. The latest vote makes it clearer than I could ever have hoped for. Why were Rugby and Golf voted in instead of Karate? Karate undeniably has a more global representation and certainly is more accessible to even the poorest communities around the world. So why vote in sports that in one case has a very small global footprint (Rugby), and another is only available to those with a certain financial security? Easy answer here folks... SPONSORS! Both sports have big sponsors. That equates to even more revenue for the IOC. Never mind that only a relatively small number of people globally practice these sports - rugby less than golf. So here we have a business decision, not what's best for the greater number of athletes out there.

2. IOC President Jacques Rogge was on the Belgium national Rugby team and urged the 14 person IOC Executive Board to vote for the two winning sports. Despite his self-removal from the October 9th vote, his work had been done back in August when the Executive Board followed his wishes. This is, to say the least, far from a democratic decision. The IOC has refused to comment on these issues despite repeated attempts from us here at Karate Athlete.

Those were the two primary IOC reasons... but there were others from our end:

3. The most important issue our sport has with respect to getting IOC support is as noted above, lack of big sponsor support. The biggest reason for this is lack of media coverage... and the most import factor causing the media to shy away is that quite frankly, the way our competition is structured its incredibly boring to watch!!!! I find it boring and I know what's going on!!! Imagine you're a middle aged trucker sitting at home with a beer flipping through the channels... you come across sport Karate and see two guys facing each other hopping in place.... then they suddenly come together at once (after playing a bit of "you can't touch me"), the fight is stopped, some Japanese mumbo jumbo is grunted and lights go on on an electronic scoreboard again, labeled with Japanese. Sure, the truck driver could reach for his handy Berlitz guide to Japanese while the fight resumes and the two fighters continue where they left off... or... he could flip the channel and watch a Formula 1 race through the dramatic setting of the streets of Monaco! I know which one I'd be watching!!! So do the media and the sponsors.

"Ah, but Golf is boring!" you say. Not to golfers, but more importantly, its easy to follow and has pretty scenery! The same truck driver can merrily follow the "action". THIS IS CRUCIAL!!! If you can't follow what's going on, you cannot get "into" viewing it. You just won't develop the interest to continue watching. Simple stuff - common sense.

What's the Solution? Make changes to our sport that make it more exciting to watch and easier to follow for the general public! (Again, common sense....)

4. The number of federations that have been found to be mishandling funds and just outright corrupt and unlawful around the world in Karate is astounding. We're supposed to adhere to this higher code of ethics as Martial Artists, and yet what we see instead are egos and greed ruling. No, Karate is not alone here, but we're trying to get into the Olympics so we should be beyond reproach. What's the answer here? I don't know. I wish I had an answer. The obvious one is to give the athletes a bigger hand in management but that is not always practical as many athletes lack management skills preferring to concentrate on training and health expertise instead.

5. The lack of unity amongst organizations and styles. Persistent letters to the IOC from disenchanted or rivaling organizations does not help our overall look to IOC eyes. While I wholeheartedly encourage debate, particularly if there are legitimate issues, I feel that we should keep that debate internal, i.e. not complain to the IOC about our own leaders. Better to vote in new leadership if that's what everyone agrees is needed. There have been a number of cases when extreme measures where called for such as the recent take over by the USOC of the USA NKF. This was a result of a number of individuals exposing improprieties before the USOC. But still... this was still handled domestically.

6. Finally, money... Many of the other sports, Taekwondo springs to mind, got into the Olympic Games it is rumored through the expenditure of sizable sums of cash. Back when Taekwondo first was included for the Seoul Games, the rumor was that they had spent over $1 million getting it in. Where that million went exactly is up for debate. That was back in 1988 when a million went a lot further than today. I am not advocating illicit payments to IOC voters! But money can be invested into promoting our sport. I'm doing it. Why can't everyone else who has the means? Put up a billboard in your city promoting Karate, pay for a TV commercial in your area, support others who promote the sport, sponsor local events... whatever! But if you are really passionate about getting into the Olympics, and you have a successful business or personal wealth, I urge you to become active! You don't have to support my campaigns, but support something!

Conclusions:

I've been discussing ways of reformatting our tournament rules in order to make them easier to follow and more exciting to watch with a number of experts. Additionally there is a forum above which you can sound in on your views.

It is my intention to come up with a new format and stage a series of international tournaments staged around the world in the hope of attracting media and sponsors and most of all the general population as spectators. These tournaments will serve as testing grounds for new technologies and new systems as well as innovative formats to the old tournament style. I don't think I want to completely change everything, but just enough to meet the spectator interest demands.

If you are, or work for, a large sponsor-type organization, we will need loads of sponsors to make this work, so do get in touch with us if you are interested in becoming a sponsor.

Lastly, keep in mind that the IOC has changed its regulations governing how and when they vote for new sports. A major change in our sport could warrant an early special vote.