Karate originated as a self defence system in several places in the East. However, like all sport karate is developed into and system that develop people. In the 1950s the Japan Department of Education saw the value of karate and formally organised karate and formed the JKA. Some styles preferred not to join the formal JKA and still persist as Goju etc. From then it rapidly spread all over the world. The educational value was pursued by the Department of Education in Japan and the Japan Karate Association was established. This value was also used by monasteries to develop their students. It is this link that is used by antagonists to accuse karate of a sinister background. Karate is a technical sport like golf and requires repetitive, intense and focussed training. The value of traditional karate lies in its element of scholarship. Students train and improve convincing themselves that effort pays off. They learn to invest in activities that develop them and enjoy it. Golf is a good example. The more you train the better you play and the more fun it is.
A second important element is that of focussing on self rather than on other people. Motivation only has two types: ego driven motivation and task driven motivation. Because the scholarship element is prominent in karate, the focus is on task driven motivation. Ego driven motivation only plays a role in competition. A good mixture of task driven and ego driven motivation is 90/10. Therefore we nurture the scholastic element of a training syllabus and belt gradings as a reward for success.
Competition is way of testing abilities. In the JKA competitions are rated very high for the same reason as golfers play in competitions every Saturday. It is fun to go out of your comfort zone and test your skills. Competitions for lower graded karateka are shaped by the rules to put the emphasis on technique development rather than tactical skills. This focuses on personall development rather than beating an opponent. This should keep the focus on task driven motivation rather than ego driven motivation.
Free State JKA vision
Free State JKA under leadership of Kovsie karate club (dojo) developed a system of balancing the education and competitive sides of karate. This policy focuses on personal development per se. As long as we all acknowledge that we are not perfect we agree that we need to develop. Leaders, including instructors, administrative staff and supporters are included in the aim to develop personally. Our focus in competition is to develop technique and tactical skills to the extend that we are competitive in the national and international arena. We deliberately reject using tactics to cheat on an opponent or skills to intimidate an opponent. In other words we train to develop the opponent as well.