tokyo 2020 olympics

Kiyuna wins Japan's 1st karate gold medal

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Good for him. He looked sharp and fierce. Also props to Okinawa - they've been through a lot these past 100 years.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Glad this half dance, half kabuki nonsense is being dropped from the Olympics. Would be OK as a cultural show at a high end hotel but not a sport.

-14 ( +5 / -19 )

Glad this half dance, half kabuki nonsense is being dropped from the Olympics. Would be OK as a cultural show at a high end hotel but not a sport.

I'm sure you wouldnt want to go toe-to-toe with Kiyuna though, lol!

Good for him.

11 ( +14 / -3 )

Incredible performance of an Okinawan cultural asset, his physical and mental strength is very obvious, amazing. The article should mention that he’s holding a photo of his mother who died two years ago aged 57.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Kipling,

You could equate a kata to a gymnastics’ floor exercise, aquatics’ synchronized swimming and diving, ice dancing and figure skating.

I’m no fan of subjective sports, they do play a useful role in highlighting individual skills.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Glad this half dance, half kabuki nonsense is being dropped from the Olympics. Would be OK as a cultural show at a high end hotel but not a sport.

You are spot on. Even the other one with judges at the corner of the ring most hits went uncalled and most depended on one side calling for a review before points were awarded begging the question what the judges at the 4 corners in ckear view of the fight were doing. Any sport with dubious scoring has no place in the olympics.

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

@Yk93

thanks for the info, was gonna ask.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

This karate shows kata and kumite only alone. It looks very funny! This karate was not a sport a long time ago. This karate is a weapon to kill, very different from judo or sport katate. There were games without wearing protectors a long time ago. Players died quickly every game as they always aimed at weak points of body. The kata and kumite are techniques to kill. That's why they play alone as sport. No fighting.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I really think the way karate is handled is so wrong.

Climbing is really good though, just need a better scoring system.

-8 ( +0 / -8 )

It is mentioned in the photo caption.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This man is a not only a champion but, honoring his greatest fan and probably greatest inspiration as he has, he shows a heart that few would have the courage to reveal. This seems quite characteristic of the people of Okinawa I have met.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

NIPPON!!!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Nippon Budokan, the spiritual home of Japanese martial arts.

Karate is OKINAWAN, and Okinawa is the "spiritual home" of karate! Please stop assimilating Okinawan culture with Japanese!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

With advances in AI , I would love to see AI takes over judging for Sports with scoring by human judges.

With humans there will always be bias and controversial decisions. Just watched the rhythmic gymnastics and the judging was atrocious. In the Group all round qualification -Rotation 1, the host was the only team that the ball rolled out of the routine floor space into the building and again in the Rotation 2 , the loop rolled into the building again yet they were only substracted -0.3 pts as penalties in both ocassions and ended up qualifying for the finals at the expense of other teams.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I love this picture of the champion. I really hope he had approval for bringing up a picture of his mother. If he did, there was likely an interview process of the purpose of the picture and this would kill any argument of honoring fallen heroes at medal ceremonies. Yes this is aimed at heading off China.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The Kumite leaves me cold, but this Kata stuff is great. It's not only what you see, but the inner spirit and understanding that is expressed. Congratulations to Sanchez for winning the female gold on Thursday. She was really good.

The Spanish guy who took silver, Damian Quintero, was brilliantly sharp to my untutored eye, and could easily have been awarded gold. Very well done to both of them.

Kiyuna obviously did something better though to further impress the judges, and his win will stimulate the young people in Okinawa to renewed enthusiasm. A really well-deserved medal!

As an outsider, my opinion will count for little, but I hope they keep Kata in the Olympics.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

YubaruToday  01:06 pm JST

Nippon Budokan, the spiritual home of Japanese martial arts.

Karate is OKINAWAN, and Okinawa is the "spiritual home" of karate! Please stop assimilating Okinawan culture with Japanese!

While Karate is indeed Okinawan in origin, it has been established and recognized as one of Japan's traditional arts since the 1800s when the Okinawan Master Funakoshi Gichin demonstrated the art before Emperor Meiji. So it's a little late to be complaing about assimilation.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

While Karate is indeed Okinawan in origin, it has been established and recognized as one of Japan's traditional arts since the 1800s when the Okinawan Master Funakoshi Gichin demonstrated the art before Emperor Meiji. So it's a little late to be complaing about assimilation.

No, I disagree! Give credit to where it is due! Japan only included it, because it was, and still, subjugates the Okinawan people, and does not see it and it's people, as a separate culture within Japan.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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