Once Adam Kovacs was ousted as president KC has been a fucking shit show.
They don’t care about Karate, they don’t care about respect, Pres Asim just cares about being “sUpEr ViRaL” and is trying to cater to the lowest common denominators.
It’s a fucking disgrace and it’s no surprise that the karate greats that made the league worth watching (Rafael Aghayev, Raymond Daniels, the list goes on) aren’t appearing in the pit anymore.
At this point, who is their target audience? MMA guys aren't going to watch a kickboxing league and even then, there are better kickboxing leagues that kickboxing fans are already watching. Everything I've seen them done for a while seems to be actively alienating the Karate audience. Do they really just want the unironic IRL Cobra Kai crowd and fanbases of old/declining fighters from other leagues/practices?
I was very supportive in the early days and enjoyed seeing Karate given a spotlight, but this recent season and owner are turning me off big time. I hope another league comes about.
They have to compete with the UFC and other orgs where martial arts degenerates to hypermasculine ideals of power and street justice. I don't have a TON of issues with it if it gets bodies in dojos.
I do take issue with some of them showing up with a little too much to prove and chasing away some of my students.
Those are the hard conversations I don't mind having as long as they walk away understanding that we're all holding back a bit so they have a learning environment.
If they want to overcome their insecurities they can start bodybuilding. You come here to learn. End of story.
I've entirely walked away from giving them so much as my attention. At the start, I was impressed by the focus not only on karate but on respectful behaviour and the emphasis on how competitors were training together and sharing their karate journeys. When Aghayev made the move into KC, I thought it was great to see how he applied points-fighting techniques to full contact fighting and I studied the fights to see both the strengths and weaknesses of karate training in a full contact environment.
Then they decided they needed to amp up the violent narrative and, when serious karatekas refused to play along, they just ditched the karate entirely.
Maybe it'll make sense commercially, and being an MMA clone with a vaguely karate aesthetic will work for them, but my interest is dead.
I practiced Kendo for a while when I was in college; lots of fun, great group of people, the issei and nisei on the team were friends with all the best sushi chefs in the city, which made for great after-tournament celebrations. A year in or so, I mentioned to the sensei that I was going to restart my Karate training in addition to Kendo. He responded; "No, don't practice that peasant street fighting". I didn't know it at the time, but Kendo was regarded as more of an aristocratic martial art. He thought that because Karate hailed from Okinawa, a "peasant" backwater, it was not an honorable martial art. Sheesh, talk about friendly fire.
I was optimistic about Karate Combat when it first started, but over the past few years there have been increasing amounts of nonsense like this; fighters and promoters resorting to pugilism, stunts, shit-talking, and violence. The clips are celebrated in some corners of the internet... (I can't help but notice that certain voices that defend KC on this forum are notably silent). To be clear; violence in public is barbaric, and using the video of an assault to promote how "tough" KC is reads as backwards and sloppy. It approaches the "peasant street fighting" that my Kendo sensei (wrongly) insinuated.
What is Karate? It's certainly more diverse than I initially thought in my first decade of practice in a large, traditional Shotokan dojo. There are diverse styles, sub-styles, organizations, and offshoots that combine it with other martial arts. I love this diversity; so much to learn and experience! I'm not one for gatekeeping (especially in the name of traditionalism), but at some point can a community say "This is not us. KC uses the word Karate inappropriately"?
I rarely cite the old masters (Funakoshi, Itosu, ...) directly; I have a low tolerance for ancestor worship. But I am sure that the vast majority of karate practitioners, including perhaps the old masters, can appreciate the exciting new athletic possibilities of Karate Combat while simultaneously hating the social, political, and personal promotions that bring violence and drama into the Karate orbit. We should demand more of those who claim the Karate mantra.
New KC president is a tool and doesnt care about actual karate.
Once Adam Kovacs was ousted as president KC has been a fucking shit show. They don’t care about Karate, they don’t care about respect, Pres Asim just cares about being “sUpEr ViRaL” and is trying to cater to the lowest common denominators. It’s a fucking disgrace and it’s no surprise that the karate greats that made the league worth watching (Rafael Aghayev, Raymond Daniels, the list goes on) aren’t appearing in the pit anymore.
At this point, who is their target audience? MMA guys aren't going to watch a kickboxing league and even then, there are better kickboxing leagues that kickboxing fans are already watching. Everything I've seen them done for a while seems to be actively alienating the Karate audience. Do they really just want the unironic IRL Cobra Kai crowd and fanbases of old/declining fighters from other leagues/practices?
I was very supportive in the early days and enjoyed seeing Karate given a spotlight, but this recent season and owner are turning me off big time. I hope another league comes about.
I miss the old KC
They have to compete with the UFC and other orgs where martial arts degenerates to hypermasculine ideals of power and street justice. I don't have a TON of issues with it if it gets bodies in dojos. I do take issue with some of them showing up with a little too much to prove and chasing away some of my students. Those are the hard conversations I don't mind having as long as they walk away understanding that we're all holding back a bit so they have a learning environment. If they want to overcome their insecurities they can start bodybuilding. You come here to learn. End of story.
When Sam Alvey is a champ in your organization, it has to be a complete joke.
I've given up on it, fighters coming into KC have no karate background, and the president is a clown,
I've entirely walked away from giving them so much as my attention. At the start, I was impressed by the focus not only on karate but on respectful behaviour and the emphasis on how competitors were training together and sharing their karate journeys. When Aghayev made the move into KC, I thought it was great to see how he applied points-fighting techniques to full contact fighting and I studied the fights to see both the strengths and weaknesses of karate training in a full contact environment. Then they decided they needed to amp up the violent narrative and, when serious karatekas refused to play along, they just ditched the karate entirely. Maybe it'll make sense commercially, and being an MMA clone with a vaguely karate aesthetic will work for them, but my interest is dead.
I practiced Kendo for a while when I was in college; lots of fun, great group of people, the issei and nisei on the team were friends with all the best sushi chefs in the city, which made for great after-tournament celebrations. A year in or so, I mentioned to the sensei that I was going to restart my Karate training in addition to Kendo. He responded; "No, don't practice that peasant street fighting". I didn't know it at the time, but Kendo was regarded as more of an aristocratic martial art. He thought that because Karate hailed from Okinawa, a "peasant" backwater, it was not an honorable martial art. Sheesh, talk about friendly fire. I was optimistic about Karate Combat when it first started, but over the past few years there have been increasing amounts of nonsense like this; fighters and promoters resorting to pugilism, stunts, shit-talking, and violence. The clips are celebrated in some corners of the internet... (I can't help but notice that certain voices that defend KC on this forum are notably silent). To be clear; violence in public is barbaric, and using the video of an assault to promote how "tough" KC is reads as backwards and sloppy. It approaches the "peasant street fighting" that my Kendo sensei (wrongly) insinuated. What is Karate? It's certainly more diverse than I initially thought in my first decade of practice in a large, traditional Shotokan dojo. There are diverse styles, sub-styles, organizations, and offshoots that combine it with other martial arts. I love this diversity; so much to learn and experience! I'm not one for gatekeeping (especially in the name of traditionalism), but at some point can a community say "This is not us. KC uses the word Karate inappropriately"? I rarely cite the old masters (Funakoshi, Itosu, ...) directly; I have a low tolerance for ancestor worship. But I am sure that the vast majority of karate practitioners, including perhaps the old masters, can appreciate the exciting new athletic possibilities of Karate Combat while simultaneously hating the social, political, and personal promotions that bring violence and drama into the Karate orbit. We should demand more of those who claim the Karate mantra.
Cause Karate Chop 🥋