I
have mixed feelings about what karate tournaments bring to the stage in karate
studies.
First
to be perfectly clear I never went to a tournament expecting to win
anything Nor, did anyone ever really
come to watch me. I was competing to learn more about myself, later to test
myself against some of the best people in the country.
In
fact most students rarely compete, and few black belts remain in competition
for anytime.
I
did have a few wins, but that was never the purpose behind my competing.
The
trophies that one garners soon just gather dust in the corner, and decades
later are discarded without any thought.
If
you compete long enough you discover that those champions soon depart (each for
their own reason). They do not stick around. O some open schools and train
students who then compete.
Most
of my competition (maybe 20 tournaments a year) occurred between 1979 and 1984.
Then I moved on to more important matter to me.
I
recently thought of strong regional fighters, in the old region 10, who competed almost constantly back then in
kumite. They were Bob Nenow, James
Martin and Sam Shockley.
I
moved out of Pennsylvania back in 1985, and recently decided to do an internet
search for them. I found one photo of Bob Nenow, one of James Martin and none
of Sam Shockley. Nor did I find any
mention of their accomplishments on the internet except in Bob’s obituary. They
were real and had many unique experiences at tournaments, however what they are
seems lost in time, perhaps except in memories such as mine.
I
can’t imagine how many wins they had between themselves. There were lot’s that
I watched, nor were they the only strong kumite competitors back then, just the
ones I choose to research.
But
it makes a point at how transitory wins can be.
I
think it safe to say all that one really does obtain is what you want for yourself.
Bob Nenow fights
Charles Murray in 1978.
James Martin
And f\or Sam Shockley I can find no reference. Here is
a personal remberence of Sam from my experiences. https://isshin-concentration.blogspot.com/2021/12/sam-shockley.html
Little is the lasting impact of karate tournament participation
discussed.
1 comment:
Tom Lewis
I remember Sam Shockley well, he was a student of Master Conde in the Baltimore area and saw him a lot at those tournaments. He was the announcer at one of my full contact fights at the Salisbury University. I also was the center judge in many of his fights. Sensei.
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