Why is karate tournaments based on a point system?

I see alot of videos and even when I used to compete in those traditional associations of karate (my dojo attented jka hosted tournaments)


the fighters are more concerned with making contact and look like they are scared to get hit


rather than beating the other fighter by ko or unanimous


decision by the judges?|||There are still KO%26#039;s, even in point karate.





You have to realize that more than 80% of the competitors are children in these tournaments.





The real answer is based on old Japanese/Okinawan tradition.





The saying went that whoever struck first was the winner because the damage of the single blow would incapacitate the opponent.





So that was adopted for %26quot;competition%26quot;, to see who could strike first.





James|||You are asking a lot in %26quot;one question%26quot;...





If you could ask just one, it would make it easier to get the answer you want...





But here is my stab at it...





Most (but not all) competitions are point based. Look at the Olympics as an example. Or most sports on your tv, today... soccer, baseball, darts, etc. Point systems are the easiest (and usually, fairest) way to judge something. As the first poster mentioned, even MMA and boxing matches use points. It doesn%26#039;t always end in a KO. Nor is it always easy to say who was better just on a feeling... boxing is a great example of this. Some of those guys just wont fall down. Even if they should.. ha ha.





I agree with you that many competitors do not treat it as a real fight. The change on focus is unfortunate. It shouldn%26#039;t be just about getting the point. And in fact, the WKF rule book includes criteria for the point needing to be %26quot;realistic%26quot;... check it out if you do not believe me. But if the judges give the %26quot;fighters%26quot; points for crappy technique, well, it is the judges%26#039; fault. There should be a little more allowance for judging a tie if no decent points are made - like if the one fighter just has %26quot;bad%26quot; offensive techniques (so he cant score)but he has good defense (so his opponent doesnt score). IMHO, that would help the sport.|||To make it more safe for people to have a contest, they developed points. Boxing is the same way with points for every round if there is no knock out. Grappling tournaments are the same way with points for things such as takedowns, dominant positions, escapes, etc., whether wrestling or BJJ. Even MMA has points by round just in case there is not a submission or knock out. This does make contest less realistic, but from the perspective of the fighters a wins a win. In MMA they call it lay and pray when one fighter gets ahead and just lays on the other person holding on until the fight ends so they can win by points. In karate tournaments if someone is just looking to hold on to the lead, they might just dance around to avoid getting hit so they%26#039;ll win by a point decision. Not as exciting, but understandable under any contest with a point system.