Apologies for the long ramble, it's just Alex's post got me thinking and I've obviously got too much time on my hands at present
OK, despite my attempt at "being reasonable" on facebook even I'll admit that this is a fairly shonky performance from someone who purports to be a 4th Dan shotokan and a 7th Dan Grand Master DKI (that's so almost an anagram
)
This does raise an old but often discussed point however, with the advent of youtube and the like we are given the opportunity to see many people in action that we'd probably never hear of otherwise. Some are excellent, some are just good, some are just average bog standard karate-ka (who do seem to take a panning on occasions for just being average) and some are truly bad.
We see a mix of karate demonstrated from top notch archive footage of some of the greats, some top named karate-ka demonstrating (often) second rate "beginners" karate, some ideas from people we've never heard of but who are obviously at least thinking about moving their karate on and much (like the gentleman above) as promotional material from people who are either trying to delude their audience or are just genuinely deluded themselves (this won't improve with time as those comming through these schools have no reason to know any different
).
Now I'm not having a pop at anyone here but, speaking as one of the very many totally average karate-ka out there (and I don't see anything wrong with that), we need to avoid the trap of just sitting back and pointing the finger (I know how easy that is as I've been through that phase, and probably will again at some point
) without taking a good cold hard look in the mirror. I find that video is a great tool for this and (whilst I have been accused in the past of being overly self critical) it is often disappointing that the man (or woman) that we see on the screen is often not the same one we see in our heads whilst training. Why you would then feel the need to put this up for public consumption is another matter altogether:
The point that I seem to be taking a long time to get around to is rather than just bemoaning the fact that these people are out there and how shocking they are what do WE as "serious" karate-ka actually intend to do about it.
We can't really blame the general public for their lack of thought on the subject, although it's hard sometimes, I recently had a contact from a gentleman who wanted to get his 3 year old into a "martial art", I did tell him very politely that I wouldn't be able to help him (I suspect what he really wants is "tumble tots" with a uniform). Why should they think any different when the "Micky mouse" version of martial arts is well promoted and sold, particularly as a kiddies activity where you can pay someone else to teach your kids all the things you should be teaching them your self (self confidence, respect, good manners, discipline etc. plus the idea that with the media spectre of "bullying" being constantly thrust down our throats if little Tarquin knows how to thump someone he'll be immune to it).
However mention promotion in "serious" karate and more often than not you'll get the "that's not the way we do it" response and many who do go down that path, rather than being supported and cheered on by the karate community for spreading the word, are vilified for having "sold out" as obviously they are more interested in making money than teaching good karate (I've never really understood why one is considered exclusive from the other
).
There are a number of very good people who promote themselves commercially to those of us who are already in karate and we are perfectly fine with that, we have the knowledge to judge them on their ability or will try them on reputation and everybody accepts that. We seem to take (and when I say that I mean "we" generally rather than "we" specifically) completely the opposite view at the grass routes level of every day karate.
This, to me, would seem to be what organisational karate ought to be about, promoting what we do to the world at large (or supporting those who do) and educating people about the difference, but even as a member of the karate world who is keeping a look out I can't say it's something I've ever seen and as a member of the general public I'd have no idea at all.
I'll stop moaning now and (knowing we are only a small group at this stage) leave with the question again what are WE going to do about it? (and if I had all the answers I'd have put them down