Which martial art would you put in the olympics?

joepenguin

With many arts looking for olympic recognition what one would you include if it was up to you? And if you could modify the rules slightly what would you change? Eg point allocation, legal throws throws/strikes etc.

I've included sportaccord approved games which the ioc give some recognition to due to their history, participation etc but feel free to name any you want.

Ju Jutsu
Kendo
Kickboxing
Mauy thai
Sambo
Sumo
Wu shu.

Aikido is recognised but not in the poll as its not competitive but can still be a choice in "other". Boxing, wrestling and tkd are also recognised but are in the olympics anyway.

So that is a list of realistic options but feel free to make random suggestions like ice slope bjj for the 2014 winter games!!!!

smacl

I'd vote for san shou on a lei tei (raised platform). Reasons being that continuous sparring plus throws make it highly entertaining to watch, regardless of whether you've done it or not. The platform works well as an alternative to the ring, as seen on many game shows. After that, maybe some form of stick fighting, or knock down karate, again thinking of the viewer.

Anything too point based, where the viewer either has to know the sport inside out, or relies on the ref to figure out who won, doesn't make great watching. We already have enough varieties of wrestling and point based sparring in the games. Maybe replace greco-roman with BJJ?

Charlie3dan

I voted for jiu jitsu. I think it would lend itself well to Olympic matches and it's a sport I'd like to watch. I would put low time limits for matches so it favours agressive fighters. That's probably going against the philosophy of jiu jitsu but that's the cost of being in the olympics.

I like the idea of something like Capoeira getting in but I think it might do more damage to Capoeira than good.

Niall Keane

Sanshou / Sanda, but I would wouldn't I, still I think as smacl states it can be enjoyed by anyone, kick, punch, landing on top throw, gets you one point, clean throw and sending opponent off platform gets you 2 points. Win on points or KO. Simple, no ickytrickytwisty 4.5 points insiders only techniques. Dymanic in that 3-5 seconds exist in the clinch to apply a throw. No endless struggling for position. And no tap outs, bar a KO a bout lasts as long as it says on the tin.
It is practiced in 87 countries officially, and has made the Olymipc pre-qual. Along with it being pumped into the tvs of the households of 200,000,000 people in China every week, I think when China really opens up in the next decade and with their addiction to gambling it will be the next obvious step, although perhaps modified somewhat as is begining to happen in some comps, with 15 seconds of ground work allowed and points being given for tap outs rather than outright victory.

Killme00

Currently there is Boxing, TKD, Wrestling and Judo. I dont see them allowing another Pyjama sport. Lets face it BJJ isnt a great spectator sport for anyone who doesnt train.

I think Shanshou presents a middle ground between all the sports and also makes for decent viewing when performed at a high level. It would also get a decent TV viewership particularly in China and with money being such a big factor in the Olympics it may be streets ahead of all other possibilities. Im not sure why it wasnt a demo sport at the Beijing Olympics, perhaps one of the Shanshou guys here could shed some light? It may (im guessing) be something to do with governing bodies.

Unpossible

I think either MMA or possibly Muai Thai or San Shuo are the only ones that could be put in. Wrestling and Judo are already in so convincing people that BJJ is different will be hard, likewise with trying to get Karate in. I also can't see an art that doesn't have fights get in. That said with TKD and Boxing already in it would make it difficult for Muai Thai or San Shuo to get in too, but it would still be easier than for Karate or BJJ.

Still I think MMA would be a great addition to the olympics, course they would need some kind of recognised world association.

tysonslovechild

anyone not agree wi belly boxing lol, ah no though id have to say sambo, what a sport to watch, it basically is mma, strikes, grappling and the lot.

Sid_Justice

Put jiu-jitsu on ice and put it in the winter olympics

tysonslovechild

nooooooooooo sid, this is one sport that shud b in the olympics aswell. i still think belly boxin will catch on

Dyr

joepenguin wrote: »

Aikido is recognised but not in the poll as its not competitive

There is a competitive style of aikido though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTt8YwPaPCY

Currently there is Boxing, TKD, Wrestling and Judo.

You left out fencing, archery, javelin and the shooting disciplines :pac:

joepenguin

Bambi wrote: »

There is a competitive style of aikido though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTt8YwPaPCY

You left out fencing, archery, javelin and the shooting disciplines :pac:

Ah here :P they are clearly catered for in the other section!!!

Thats shodokan / tomiki aikido and the thing is its not part of the international aikido federation which is what has ioc recognition. A bit like wkf, its the wkf and not "karate" as such that has the recognition. At least thats my understanding of it.
I'm not sure what to make of Tomiki, I feel the competition rule set does it a huge injuctice and should somehow be changed.

da-bres

no gi jiu jitsu would be awesome

corkma

I remember reading a while back that tkd wasnt as popular as hoped and the ioc are really unhappy with it. people were suggesting replacing it with some form of kickboxing or sanshou

Sid_Justice

Seriously, have thick seal skin gis (actually a synthetic alternative) and have jiujitsu in the winter Olympics. it's so slippery there will be no boring stand up (no judo, wrestling). real technical guard passing and stuff.

yomchi

corkma wrote: »

I remember reading a while back that tkd wasnt as popular as hoped and the ioc are really unhappy with it. people were suggesting replacing it with some form of kickboxing or sanshou

That's correct, TKD was on a short list of arts to be reviewed after the Athens Olympics in 2004. The final of the heavy weight mens section however restored the faith in the sport as spectator friendly. The WTF also changed their rules to make the sport more combative, reducing the ring size and issuing warnings for not engaging. WTF can be a top class sport to watch but it did become stale for a while.

Kickboxing however has recently received GAIF recognition which is the organisation that the IOC fish from for sports. Unfortunately from what I know the kickboxing being pushed is the semi contact stop/start point fighting, which in my opinion isn't as good as the light contact format, but that's life.

joepenguin

yomchi wrote: »

Unfortunately from what I know the kickboxing being pushed is the semi contact stop/start point fighting, which in my opinion isn't as good as the light contact format, but that's life.

Cant see them choosing light over semi or full. If it was me Id have it in this order:

1. full
2. semi
3. light

Point fighting can be fantastic to watch but a lot of the stuff that goes on like falling over yourself when on the defensive and questionable scores take away from it.

Full contact is probably a better representation of what kickboxing really is but then again the ioc dont seem to take that into account when including martial arts.

Peetrik

Muay Thai would be the obvious option for me.

Full contact
Constant action & very spec friendly
No gi - ie not just another pj sport
Proven to generate enough interest to support itself as its own profession

Only downside would be that since it has to be an amature sport, none of the thais who have been training since nippers would be able to compete... then again that might be an upside as other countrys might win medals then

Sid_Justice

One of the considerations for a sport to be included in the Olympics games is whether it's a truly international sport or not. Although this does lead to a chicken and egg scenario.

If some kind of submission grappling was included in the games, it's hard to imagine the Brazilians not winning every category. Perhaps an American might win a medal somewhere, perhaps more likely in the female division. Brazil could actually top the medal charts if they won 30+ medals in the different weight classes for men and women. Perhaps they may limit the entry to each weight class to one per country, that might slightly improve the chances of Americans,Japanese and Europeans getting medals.

While I'm not personally interested in seeing martial arts like light/semi contact kickboxing in the games, I don't think such an event would be dominated by a particular country. If Thai was introduced, how many medal winners would be Thai? Perhaps a dutch might win a few.

On the other hand, martial arts, generally speaking, are very easy to run as competitions relative to other sports. All you need is a giant room and some mats.

Barry.Oglesby

Muay Thai or Kendo. What could be better than watching two people beat each other up with big sticks?

Dyr

Kendo would definitely be a good sport, not sure the kendo federations would want to be in the olympics, its a curse as well as a blessing. The japanese might totally dominate though.

deegs

Kendo has one foot in to test the water, it may or may not make it fully to the olympics but safe to say the divide is straight down the middle of the kendo community!