"TRAIN FOR REALITY"
BY
MASTER RON HONEYCUTT

Grandmaster Shaffer:


   Your recent article on point tournaments in contrast to ICA Jams is right on target. My wife stated, after reading your review of the tournament, that she could have sworn I had written it. She has heard those same views from our family of competitors on the way home from many tournaments.


   The video camera will be going back and forth between the seats, as each person reviews their matches. Comments like “how could anyone call that a point?” or “a blind man could have seen that point”, or … the best one … “the move they called there wouldn’t have hurt a fly!” That is the comment that worries me the most.


   Usually about 30 minutes after the angry comments are finished, the regrets begin. “I probably made an ass of myself,” “I’m pretty embarrassed about walking away angry”, etc. But it’s pretty much a long, negative, trip home.


IN CONTRAST:

   On the drive back from an ICA Jam the mood is always upbeat. Everyone is satisfied to have done their best. The comments are always positive. “Master ____ really impressed me with that take down,” “I had never met Master ___ before, but he knows his stuff,” “That technique that Master ___ taught is one of the best I’ve ever seen,” “his way of performing the technique is similar to ours, but his is more practical.” There are no negative comments. They are talking about new faces, new friends, new techniques and new ways of looking at our sport.


   Your articles remind me why I quit competing in point karate years ago.


   As a rookie police officer, I had the misconception that point karate would work on the street. I was educated real fast that deadly point karate just pisses people off in a real fight. The first little tap we call a point did not mean squat and there was no one there to stop them from hitting me back … and no one insisted that they be fair, either. I learned their intent was to hurt me by any means possible. The only rule was “there ain’t no rules”.


   I did a 100% turnaround in the way I trained and taught. You strive to survive, not win.


   When I returned to point karate, I could not separate the two views. Little flip points did not make sense to me anymore. I was getting thrown out of more tournaments than I was allowed to compete in. After getting hit with a powder puff punch, I just had to show my opponent what a real punch was. I just couldn’t stop myself. So, again, I quit point karate and competed in full contact for several years. It was more realistic to me and more what I felt karate was all about.


   I believe that point karate, in its present form, is creating a false sense of security in our young competitors. This false belief could easily get them hurt or killed on the street.


   I dedicate about 30% of my dojo’s training to sport karate and 70% to realistic fighting techniques. There are some techniques so weak I will not allow my students to use them, even knowing they would score more points if they did.


   It is ironic that when accolades are being handed out, they are always in how well our students compete in play (point) karate. It is more important for a student to survive a street fight than to win 100 pieces of plastic (but they have their place too … on the living room shelf).


   This is why our Cross Training Alliance is so important. It is beyond my understanding why so much emphasis is placed on play fighting and why so little is placed on why we are training in the first place … to be able to defend ourselves.




Train for reality … ICA strong.