Kumite
Encyclopedia
Sparring
Sparring is a form of training common to many martial arts. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively 'free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to make injuries unlikely...
, and is one of the three main sections of karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
training, along with kata and kihon
Kihon
is a Japanese term meaning "basics" or "fundamentals." The term is used to refer to the basic techniques that are taught and practiced as the foundation of most Japanese martial arts....
. Kumite is the part of karate in which you train against an adversary, using the techniques learned from the kihon and kata.
Kumite can be used to develop a particular technique or a skill
Skill
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...
(e.g. effectively judging and adjusting your distance from your opponent) or it can be done in competition
Competition
Competition is a contest between individuals, groups, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or a location of resources. It arises whenever two and only two strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For...
.
Gohon Kumite and Jiyu Kumite
Since the word "kumite" refers to forms of sparring, it covers a vast range of activities. In traditional Shotokan karateKarate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
, the first type of kumite for beginners is gohon kumite. The defender steps back each time, blocking
Blocking techniques
In martial arts, blocking is the act of stopping or deflecting an opponent's attack for the purpose of preventing injurious contact with the body. A block usually consists of placing a limb across the line of the attack.- Examples in specific arts :...
the attacks and performing a counterattack
Counterattack
A counterattack is a tactic used in response against an attack. The term originates in military strategy. The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy in attack and the specific objectives are usually to regain lost ground or to destroy attacking enemy units.It is...
after the last block. This activity looks nothing like the jiyu kumite (or "free sparring") practiced by more advanced practitioners, which is far closer to how karate would look if used in a real fight, especially because it is not choreographed. Karate and other forms of martial arts have various other types of kumite (e.g. 3-step, 1-step, semi-free, etc.) which span this large range in
Types of Kumite
- Ippon kumite - one step sparring, typically used for self defense drills
- Sanbon kumite - three step sparring, typically used to develop speed, strength, and technique
- Kiso kumite - structured sparring drawn from a kata
- Jiyu kumite - free sparring
Delivering strikes
Many schools feel it is important that karateka "pull their punches". Karate training is designed to give its practitioners the ability to deliver devastating power through techniques like punchesPunch (strike)
A punch is a striking blow with the fist. It is the most commonly used attack in hand to hand combat. It is used in some martial arts and combat sports, most notably boxing where it is the only type of technique allowed...
and kick
Kick
In combat sports and hand-to-hand combat, a kick is a physical strike using the foot, leg, or knee . This type of attack is used frequently, especially in stand-up fighting...
s. Often the aim of training is that each single strike should be enough to subdue the opponent. However, this clearly would make it difficult to train due to the possibility of injury. Many beginners, while sparring, will be instructed to develop control and accuracy first, then speed and power later. In doing this, it may seem like the student is pulling his punches, when actually, he is developing technique first. For injury purposes, certain targets are discouraged, like strikes to the knee and face contact for low ranks. Many schools prohibit strikes to the groin, while others allow it completely. Some schools might limit contact to light contact all around, while others may employ power usage based on rank.
Glove
A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each...
s and feet gear up to full head and even chest guards such as with Tae Kwon Do). Even in full contact karate, punches are often "pulled" to some slight extent in training to minimize the occurrence of injuries that would interrupt practice for the participating students, but usually that will depend on rank, age, gender and school. Nevertheless, it is believed by many that practicing either type of sparring allows the martial artist to develop both control and experience in delivering powerful strikes against an opponent. However, many practitioners of full contact karate believe that full contact/full force strikes and kicks should be employed as much as possible because they believe that "pulling" the strikes can have a negative effect on the striking power of the karate practitioner.
However, a few more traditional clubs that never use protective gear for sparring (except groin and mouth guards that protect against accidental injuries) argue that a karateka will not be able to make their most powerful strike when sparring in the dojo
Dojo
A is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...
(against a friend whom they no doubt do not want to injure) even if this opponent is wearing protective clothing. Therefore, the karateka will still be using some level of control, as is obviously necessary, and cannot truly capture the spirit of one lethal strike whilst sparring. Except for a life or death self-defense situation, the spirit and power of the single lethal strike can only be achieved when a karateka does not have to avoid injuring their training partner. The traditionalists therefore argue that there is no benefit to sparring with more forceful strikes.
Competition
In some forms of competition kumite, punchingPunch (strike)
A punch is a striking blow with the fist. It is the most commonly used attack in hand to hand combat. It is used in some martial arts and combat sports, most notably boxing where it is the only type of technique allowed...
("tsuki") and kick
Kick
In combat sports and hand-to-hand combat, a kick is a physical strike using the foot, leg, or knee . This type of attack is used frequently, especially in stand-up fighting...
ing ("geri") techniques are allowed at the head
Human head
In human anatomy, the head is the upper portion of the human body. It supports the face and is maintained by the skull, which itself encloses the brain.-Cultural importance:...
("jodan") and abdomen
Abdomen
In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...
("chudan"). In some tournaments, groin strike
Groin attack
A groin attack is an attempt to cause pain to the groin area of one's opponent. The technique can be quickly debilitating, due to the large number of sensitive nerve endings in the penis and testicles of males, as well as the highly innervated vulva of females. A sufficiently powerful blow may...
s are allowed as are face contact with advanced ranks. One example of a scoring
Score (game)
In games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties...
system is that the first competitor to take eight points in three minutes wins the bout.
Kumite is an essential part of karate training, and free sparring is often experienced as exciting, because both opponents have to react and adapt to each other very quickly.
In tournaments Kumite often takes place inside of a 'ringed' area similar to that of a boxing ring. If a karateka steps out of the ring, they are given a warning. If they step out of the ring two times, the other person gains a point. Many international tournaments use a "point sparring" form of kumite that requires control ('pulling punches') and therefore warnings can be dealt for excessive force on techniques to the head, or sensitive areas. Full contact is permitted to the torso area of the body only. Some tournament rules allow for light contact to the head, whereas other rules do not allow this.
Kumite also includes a series of 'guidelines' that if followed correctly, result in a clean and safe fight. These are some of those guidelines:
- A karateka must remain in some form of proper fighting stance and in the Kamae-Te position (hands up, ready to fight position)
- A karateka must be aware of all obstacles around him/her
- A karateka must never deliberately endanger themselves by turning their back to their opponent
- A practiced and well trained karateka must concentrate on stance and footwork
For the last point about stance and footwork: it is often taught that a karateka who wishes to be fast and agile while competing in Kumite should always be 'pulsing.' Pulsing is where the karateka remains almost bouncing on the 'balls' of their feet to maintain minimal frictional contact with the ground, allowing them to move quickly.
Another aspect of Kumite which is often seen in international tournaments, as well as many local competitions is what is referred to as "Clashing." Clashing is where both opponents throw techniques against each other at the same time, often resulting in both getting hit with the techniques. This creates a problem for referees as they are unable to make out which technique was quick, on target and recoiled - all the things that constitute a clean technique that is scored. Because of clashing, most modern day Karateka's are taught to practice kumite in a 'one for one' situation where one attacks, then the other attacks and so on. However due to the speed of these techniques, and the speed of the footwork of each Karateka, to the casual observer it may appear that they are still clashing when in fact they are not. When opponents are considered to be clashing, the head referee should declare "aiuchi" (eye oochee) which means "simultaneous slaying". When a winner is decided, the referee will announce "no kachi (No-ka-chee)" which means "winner".
The tournament rules of full contact or "knockdown" styles of karate often don't award any points for controlled techniques delivered to the opponent. In fact, they usually don't award points for full-force techniques delivered to the opponent either. Instead, points are only awarded for knocking, sweeping, or throwing your opponent to the floor. Kyokushinkai and its "offshoot" karate organizations are the styles usually known to promote knockdown tournament rules. They believe this type of tournament competition is closer to "real life" personal combat, although still in a tournament setting with rules.
Criticisms against point sparring or tournament sparring are many and widespread. The most obvious is the quickness vs. skill argument whereas the tournament fighter learns how to shoot in quickly and deliver an unimpressive strike that gains him or her a point. This is seen mainly in Olympic style fighting such as with Tae Kwon Do. The other criticism is the face contact, which allows for disqualification if the opponent's face is discolored. This is a rather dubious requirement as it is oftentimes difficult to gauge the true intensity of the attack. Last, tournament or point sparring is seen as sport and sport alone. Traditionalists may dismiss it as "useless", but modern dojos often band with other dojos to form organizations that utilize a tournament circuit as a way to promote their dojos.
Points
Most high school karate associations use the following point scheme:- 1 point: hitting the adversary's abdomen or head with your fists.
- 2 points: kicking the adversary's abdomen.
- 3 points: kicking the adversary's head.
International competition under the World Karate Federation
World Karate Federation
The World Karate Federation, or WKF, was formed in 1990 from former WUKO members and is the largest international governing body of sport karate with over 130 member countries. It is the only karate organization recognised by the International Olympic Committee and has more than ten million members...
also includes the following point scoring:
- 2 points: punching or kicking the adversary's back.
- 3 points: for a sweep/takedown with a follow up technique such as a stomp or a punch. 1
1: Any sweep/takedown that is not followed up with a technique may be ruled to be a dangerous technique that can result in a warning against the instigator of that sweep/takedown.
Popular culture
- Kumite is the name of the freestyle fighting tournament, portrayed in the 1988 Jean-Claude Van DammeJean-Claude Van DammeJean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...
movie BloodsportBloodsport (film)Bloodsport is a 1988 American martial arts film directed by Newt Arnold and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb and Leah Ayres. The film is based on the claimed adventures of Frank Dux, and was followed by three sequels Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite , Bloodsport III and Bloodsport 4: The...
, based on the claims of Frank DuxFrank DuxFrank W. Dux is an American martial artist and fight choreographer. Dux established his own school of Ninjutsu in 1975, called "Dux Ryu Ninjutsu".He was the inspiration for the 1988 film Bloodsport starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.-Martial arts career:...
. - The Kumite was referenced extensively in the Boondocks episode Attack of the Psycho Kong Fu Killer Wolf Bitch. Everytime the word "Kumite" was uttered by any of the characters, a yelling noise (such as "hoo-ah!", "woo-tah!", "hi-ya!") would be subsequently heard.