Isn’t Shotokan Karate Supposed to be a Non-Contact Sport? Yes. And Errors Happen Sometimes, Some Places.
Generally, if you punch your opponent through the back wall in a Shotokan Karate Tournament, it is considered poor form.
And it’s also likely to result in a reduction in the number of folks willing to spar with you.
After all, if you look like a cubist portrait by Picasso (nose on the far right side of your face, cheekbone located up by your forehead), it’s hard to go to work the next day. And I’ve seen practitioners expelled from competition for punching an opponent.
Still, in some places, and some times, Shotokan Sparring was pretty rough.
Then everybody went to the hospital for post-game discussions! Read A Precise History of Shotokan Karate, by Harry Cook. And note that my personal experiences in ordering from the Dragon-Tsunami Website have been amazingly good, although that’s not a guarantee, of course.
Just for entertainment, I’ll point out that if somebody does bleed during Shotokan Training or Tournament today, that means that something has gone wrong, and attention is paid to reducing that sort of incident in the future.
In a boxing gym, of course, if blood makes an appearance, that simply means it’s Wednesday.
Which is one reason you should never, never, never underestimate a boxer. While he doesn’t know how to bow properly, or how to tie an obi, or how to kick very well, he has focused on job one: giving you the opportunity to take a nap, when coup-contra-coup impact causes a circuit breaker in your brain to shut things down for a rest. His fist doesn’t need to travel very far, because when a boxer is in range, the distance between his fist and your chin is very short, and probably much shorter than your reaction time.
That doesn’t mean a boxer will always win against a Shotokan Karate Exponent. On the other hand, if one is a professional and one is an amateur, that’s how the smart money bets.
p.s. I know this is obvious, but I have to say it: don’t box a boxer, because you’ll lose. Don’t wrestle a wrestler. You know? Don’t start your fight with the Judo Guy by trying to throw him. These things fall in the category of obvious errors. Now, how will you know if someone is a boxer, wrestler, or judoka? Well, that’s the trick, isn’t it?
