One More Round
GM Joe Corley
TM
It's Time to Give a Crap…Again! 2014 BRINGS WITH IT NEW RESOLUTIONS AND REVELATIONS. The personal resolution is simple: get into competitive shape been the “lost art” in our tournaments for nearly three decades. again. I’m using Jeff Smith as my role model. As my number two mentor, Stephen Covey, said, “you The revelation is not so simple. Looking at the condition must be effective with people and efficient with things.” The of tournament point-karate gives me pause. people are our competitors, and we must find a way to be And, pardon the clichés that follow, but they seem consistently effective with our competitors. appropriate at this moment in time. They say, “If you are not We have, in these past three decades, become way too part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” Many of efficient with running the matches, getting the tournament our experienced vets can help with the solution, I believe. over in time and so forth—efficiently, all of which are Until the beginning of this millennium, I had categorized important, but we have not kept the standards for points as people into three groups: high as we could have/should have. 1. People that make things happen Let’s quit calling points for techniques that are clearly not 2. People that watch things happen techniques that “would have incapacitated an opponent had 3. People that wonder what happened. it not been controlled.” Pretty simple if you care and will hold Looking around at our country’s declining culture these the line. past 10+ years, I found myself adding a 4th category: people For reference, please see how Terry Creamer has that don’t give a crap what happens. handled our PKA Extreme Warrior So, fast forward to my version $5,000.00 Winner-Takes-All matches at of the solution: Look around and TheBattleNation.com and the way the appreciate and admire the tremendous competitors step up. talent that we have in the martial arts, Back to the clichés: Bad things and that we have had in the martial arts happen when good people do nothing. for the past five decades. The Battle of It is time for the good people to give a Atlanta turns 46 this year, and I have crap again. Just like watching other things always been so impressed with the going bad in society, it is not enough to growing talent in our ranks. wring our hands and just say, “it's out-of Then look around and realize that control.” wrestlers disguised as martial artists now Volunteer your wisdom. are receiving the rewards our athletes Volunteer your time. should have received this whole time. Encourage the new generation to Then ponder where all of our previous understand the responsibility to train for stars came from: the world of karate tournaments. the present and the future. Solution: reorganize and restructure the base so that the Use your reputation. Lead by example. next group of stars can come from this same base of karate Do it for the sport. For the Good of the athletes. tournaments. Raise the bar. Be proactive. Lend a hand to raise Do it for yourself. it. In my humble opinion, today’s phenomenal athletes will Do it for our legacy. do whatever we require of them. GM Joe Corley was a fierce competitor in the early days of American Karate and is a So the bar-raising will start with the enforcement of the respected instructor, broadcaster and promoter who helped the sport of kickboxing rules, including the definition of a “point.” Commensurate acheive world wide recognition. His annual Battle of Atlanta tournament is one of with the enforcement of the rules must be the sincere interest the largest and most prestigious competitions in sport karate. He can be reached at by officials in improving their abilities to officiate. This has www.atlextremewarrior.com.
Wrestlers disguised as martial artists are receiving the rewards our athletes should have received this whole time.
22
OFFICIAL KARATE 2014 ANNUAL