THE SHIAI

Believe it or not, I was around when the first karate tournament was held on American soil.  The year was 1963 and the tournament was conducted in Chicago by a Mr. John Keehan (who would later become known as “Count Dante”, but that’s another story) of the United States Karate Association.  To say that it was…uh, a bit disorganized would be an understatement and to say that it was a bloodbath would be a very serious understatement – rather like saying that Gettysburg was “kind of rough.”  Rules were still being developed and tested and it would be many years before any kind of standardization would come about.

On the other hand, the Japanese had been conducting national tournaments since the mid-1950’s.  They used standardized rules and had developed highly effective programs for training and certifying judges and referees.

Tournaments in the U.S. caught on like wildfire.  The problem was that each one utilized a different set of rules and the officials weren’t formally trained –let alone certified – in any way, shape, or form.  If you wore a black belt, you were a judge.  Period.

But all of that is kindling for another of my ramblings later on.  I just wanted to give you an idea of how popular tournaments became in America as well as Japan.  However, the “old way” of viewing tournaments – a device employed in Japan – was and still is very different from how Americans typically look at tournaments.

Americans love competition.  Period.  We are unquestionably the most competitive people on the face of the earth.  Like Gen. George Patton said in his famous speech to the 7th Cavalry Division, “Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser.”  Very true.  And we haven’t changed one iota since those words were spoken back in 1943.

The problem is not so much in our enthusiasm for competition, but how we can use it constructively.  The Japanese see their karate tournaments very differently.

The word for “tournament” in Japanese is shiai (and in Chinese, shi-he).  It is comprised of two radicals.  The first is “shi”, which means “to test.”  The second radical, “ai”, is the same “ai” that is found in the name of the martial art of aikido.  It means “join, together.”  Thus, the term shiai refers to a testing of both participants.  They test themselves against each other, each one seeing how his or her skills stack up to someone else of about the same skill level.

This is considerably different from thinking of winning or losing, of getting a trophy or a medal, of becoming a “champion.”  Rather, it is a very personal thing; it’s an opportunity to find out where our strengths – and more importantly, our weaknesses – lie.  Those weaknesses can often be found in places where we’d prefer not to look.  They’re not limited to our physical techniques; we may find that we have to face our own fears (of losing, of “looking bad”, or being embarrassed), and other mental and emotional weaknesses such as anger.  And for many people, that’s just too much.  They can’t do it.

I’ve heard lots of excuses over the years.  “I don’t believe in tournaments,” one karateka says.  “They’re not the real thing and that’s what I train for.”   Other use equally lame excuses such as “I’m too dangerous and I might hurt somebody” (Bruce Lee used that one), and “I don’t need to prove anything to anybody.”  The list is almost endless.

However, I think that it’s a good idea for all martial arts enthusiasts – those whose chosen disciplines allow for competition – to compete at least a couple of times…for the experience, if nothing else.  How can you make statements about tournaments if you’ve never participated in one?  More importantly, though, I think we can all gain something by altering our view of tournament competition and looking more closely at the Japanese model.  The shiai.  Testing ourselves.

Love,
Sifu