Post by schlager7 on May 25, 2012 11:35:00 GMT -6
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Olympic Glory? Many in Kendo Say No Thanks
NY Times
By DANIEL KRIEGER
Published: May 23, 2012
NEW YORK — At the 1964 Summer Games, Japan had the double pleasure of strutting its postwar rebirth on the world stage and inaugurating its very own judo as an Olympic sport.
Kendo, judo’s lesser-known sibling, was featured as a demonstration sport in Tokyo; both martial arts had been banned by Allied administrators for a few years after World War II because of their “militaristic” elements.
Six years later, the International Kendo Federation, known as F.I.K., was formed with 17 member nations, and the first World Kendo Championships were held at the Budokan arena, which had been built for the Tokyo Games. Now with 54 member federations, the sport will be on display at the 15th World Kendo Championships, starting Friday in Novara, Italy.
For many sports, the ultimate goal would be to go one step further and make it onto the Olympic schedule. But not in the case of kendo. Many in the sport’s global community are set against that, saying it would spell the end of kendo as they know it.
Kendo, which means “way of the sword,” is a Japanese martial art that uses a bamboo sword and involves rigorous training geared toward developing both combat technique and character by instilling virtues like courage, honor and etiquette.
If kendo were a straightforward contest like table tennis or archery, making it conform to International Olympic Committee standards would not be difficult. The sport, however, has a highly subjective scoring system that values form and execution as much as the result.
Unlike Olympic fencing, which keeps score with electronic sensors that light up when the target is hit, a game-winning perfect strike in kendo, known as ippon, cannot be measured electronically; instead, it is a judgment call made by at least two out of the three referees.
The ingredients of that perfection are so nebulous that referees are notorious for bad calls. Nevertheless, for many kendoka, a referee’s call is preferable to the flash of a light; for them, the technology would degrade the beauty of victory.
A judo victory also used to be determined solely by ippon, a “perfect throw.” But now, following I.O.C. intervention, judo competitors can score points in a variety of ways that along with the introduction of weight classes and other changes, compromise its essence, some purists say.
“For kendo to become an Olympic sport, it would have to be simplified considerably,” said Alexander Bennett, editor in chief of the Kendo World Journal and an associate professor of Japanese studies at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan. “The really important part of scoring is the process of initiating the attack, identifying a target, striking that target with correct posture and full spirit and then showing continued physical and mental alertness.”
If the scoring were simplified, Bennett said, kendo would lose “its aesthetic value, and as a result, its value as a means for personal cultivation, replaced by a winning-at-all-costs mentality, which is pretty much what is considered to have happened to Olympic judo.”
Ichiro Murakami, president of the All United States Kendo Federation and vice president of the F.I.K., said he agreed with Bennett, but added that he would entertain the idea of Olympic kendo “if it could be done in the same way they’re doing it at the world championships.”
The farthest the F.I.K. is willing to go with the Olympic movement is membership in Sport Accord, an organization that promotes cooperation among sports federations and works with the I.O.C. Two years ago, kendo was one of 13 sports featured at Sport Accord’s first Combat Games in Beijing.
“Although there was initial opposition to participating in anything that had the smell of the Olympics about it,” said Bennett, who had a hand in the event, “it was pretty quickly realized that in fact this would be very beneficial for getting the world to understand what kendo was about.” And there was another, more pressing reason: “It serves to help Japan maintain its proprietorship over kendo,” he said.
In 2001, a splinter group called the World Kumdo Association — kumdo is the Korean counterpart of kendo — was established in South Korea and declared its Olympic aspirations, along with its willingness to make extreme modifications, like use of electronic armor. Because of South Korea’s success in getting tae kwon do into the Olympics in 2000 — beating karate, the Japanese variant — the F.I.K. saw the World Kumdo Association as a threat to its status as kendo’s governing body.
The F.I.K. is affiliated with the Korea Kumdo Association, which also strongly advocates kumdo as an Olympic sport. However, according to Seung-ho Shin, the Korea Kumdo Association’s director of international affairs, its suggested changes would be less drastic, like having five referees to improve the calls and adding weight classes.
For now, however, neither kendo nor kumdo will take any official steps toward joining the Olympic roster. Emmanuelle Moreau, an I.O.C. spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that to set the wheels in motion, the first step would be applying to become a “recognized sport” by the I.O.C., which the International Kendo Federation has not done.
In addition to greater exposure, Olympic inclusion would bring much- needed financial help to kendoists, who can pay as much as $70 for a bamboo sword and thousands of dollars for top-quality armor.
The financial need is the reason Taro Ariga, who represented Canada in seven world championships and now runs a dojo, or school, in Irvine, California, supports pushing for a spot in the Olympics. Growing up in Brazil, he was well aware of how costly kendo could be.
“I had a friend in Argentina who wanted to go to the world championship so badly that he sold his car to pay for his trip because the federation wouldn’t,” he said. “If kendo becomes an Olympic sport, I’m sure there would be more financial support from the government or sponsors who could make it more available to the general public.”
Though even purists concede that more exposure and money would benefit kendo in the long run, the sacrifice to its integrity remains a deal-breaker to many. As a compromise, Ariga advocates a solution — two kendos.
One would be the Olympic sport, which the I.O.C. could adapt to increase viewer appeal. The other, traditional kendo, would preserve the martial art in its purest form. The proposal has not caught on, however.
“Kendo is not a sport, it’s a martial art,” said Daniel Ebihara, who has taught in New York since 1958 and coaches the Venezuelan national team. “It’s not about how to win. How to be is more important.”
Getting points and winning medals and becoming a champion are hardly the aims, Ebihara said, yet he sees kendo going in that direction. For him, victory entails something else. “In kendo, the prime opponent is yourself.”
“If ippon is perfectly executed, the other side will bow to you and smile.”
Olympic Glory? Many in Kendo Say No Thanks
NY Times
By DANIEL KRIEGER
Published: May 23, 2012
NEW YORK — At the 1964 Summer Games, Japan had the double pleasure of strutting its postwar rebirth on the world stage and inaugurating its very own judo as an Olympic sport.
Kendo, judo’s lesser-known sibling, was featured as a demonstration sport in Tokyo; both martial arts had been banned by Allied administrators for a few years after World War II because of their “militaristic” elements.
Six years later, the International Kendo Federation, known as F.I.K., was formed with 17 member nations, and the first World Kendo Championships were held at the Budokan arena, which had been built for the Tokyo Games. Now with 54 member federations, the sport will be on display at the 15th World Kendo Championships, starting Friday in Novara, Italy.
For many sports, the ultimate goal would be to go one step further and make it onto the Olympic schedule. But not in the case of kendo. Many in the sport’s global community are set against that, saying it would spell the end of kendo as they know it.
Kendo, which means “way of the sword,” is a Japanese martial art that uses a bamboo sword and involves rigorous training geared toward developing both combat technique and character by instilling virtues like courage, honor and etiquette.
If kendo were a straightforward contest like table tennis or archery, making it conform to International Olympic Committee standards would not be difficult. The sport, however, has a highly subjective scoring system that values form and execution as much as the result.
Unlike Olympic fencing, which keeps score with electronic sensors that light up when the target is hit, a game-winning perfect strike in kendo, known as ippon, cannot be measured electronically; instead, it is a judgment call made by at least two out of the three referees.
The ingredients of that perfection are so nebulous that referees are notorious for bad calls. Nevertheless, for many kendoka, a referee’s call is preferable to the flash of a light; for them, the technology would degrade the beauty of victory.
A judo victory also used to be determined solely by ippon, a “perfect throw.” But now, following I.O.C. intervention, judo competitors can score points in a variety of ways that along with the introduction of weight classes and other changes, compromise its essence, some purists say.
“For kendo to become an Olympic sport, it would have to be simplified considerably,” said Alexander Bennett, editor in chief of the Kendo World Journal and an associate professor of Japanese studies at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan. “The really important part of scoring is the process of initiating the attack, identifying a target, striking that target with correct posture and full spirit and then showing continued physical and mental alertness.”
If the scoring were simplified, Bennett said, kendo would lose “its aesthetic value, and as a result, its value as a means for personal cultivation, replaced by a winning-at-all-costs mentality, which is pretty much what is considered to have happened to Olympic judo.”
Ichiro Murakami, president of the All United States Kendo Federation and vice president of the F.I.K., said he agreed with Bennett, but added that he would entertain the idea of Olympic kendo “if it could be done in the same way they’re doing it at the world championships.”
The farthest the F.I.K. is willing to go with the Olympic movement is membership in Sport Accord, an organization that promotes cooperation among sports federations and works with the I.O.C. Two years ago, kendo was one of 13 sports featured at Sport Accord’s first Combat Games in Beijing.
“Although there was initial opposition to participating in anything that had the smell of the Olympics about it,” said Bennett, who had a hand in the event, “it was pretty quickly realized that in fact this would be very beneficial for getting the world to understand what kendo was about.” And there was another, more pressing reason: “It serves to help Japan maintain its proprietorship over kendo,” he said.
In 2001, a splinter group called the World Kumdo Association — kumdo is the Korean counterpart of kendo — was established in South Korea and declared its Olympic aspirations, along with its willingness to make extreme modifications, like use of electronic armor. Because of South Korea’s success in getting tae kwon do into the Olympics in 2000 — beating karate, the Japanese variant — the F.I.K. saw the World Kumdo Association as a threat to its status as kendo’s governing body.
The F.I.K. is affiliated with the Korea Kumdo Association, which also strongly advocates kumdo as an Olympic sport. However, according to Seung-ho Shin, the Korea Kumdo Association’s director of international affairs, its suggested changes would be less drastic, like having five referees to improve the calls and adding weight classes.
For now, however, neither kendo nor kumdo will take any official steps toward joining the Olympic roster. Emmanuelle Moreau, an I.O.C. spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that to set the wheels in motion, the first step would be applying to become a “recognized sport” by the I.O.C., which the International Kendo Federation has not done.
In addition to greater exposure, Olympic inclusion would bring much- needed financial help to kendoists, who can pay as much as $70 for a bamboo sword and thousands of dollars for top-quality armor.
The financial need is the reason Taro Ariga, who represented Canada in seven world championships and now runs a dojo, or school, in Irvine, California, supports pushing for a spot in the Olympics. Growing up in Brazil, he was well aware of how costly kendo could be.
“I had a friend in Argentina who wanted to go to the world championship so badly that he sold his car to pay for his trip because the federation wouldn’t,” he said. “If kendo becomes an Olympic sport, I’m sure there would be more financial support from the government or sponsors who could make it more available to the general public.”
Though even purists concede that more exposure and money would benefit kendo in the long run, the sacrifice to its integrity remains a deal-breaker to many. As a compromise, Ariga advocates a solution — two kendos.
One would be the Olympic sport, which the I.O.C. could adapt to increase viewer appeal. The other, traditional kendo, would preserve the martial art in its purest form. The proposal has not caught on, however.
“Kendo is not a sport, it’s a martial art,” said Daniel Ebihara, who has taught in New York since 1958 and coaches the Venezuelan national team. “It’s not about how to win. How to be is more important.”
Getting points and winning medals and becoming a champion are hardly the aims, Ebihara said, yet he sees kendo going in that direction. For him, victory entails something else. “In kendo, the prime opponent is yourself.”
“If ippon is perfectly executed, the other side will bow to you and smile.”