Karate vs Taekwondo: “You just have to play by their rules”

The recent Southern Region Taekwondo Championship has seen Karate athletes from East Gate Karate Academy competing with Taekwondo athletes from various taekwondo clubs in Port Moresby as well as Kerema and a lone female fighter from New Ireland Province in different weight categories play-offs for bronze, silver and gold medal.

East Gate Karate Academy participated because of an invitation from Southern Taekwondo Association.

“You just have to play by their rules”, explained East Gate Karate Founder and Sensei Julius Piku in an interview with Sports Tok Magazine at his Dojo, Savannah Heights, POM (in karate, dojo means a hall or place for training in various arts of self-defense and sensei means teacher).

“For every Martial Arts competition, the rules of play detect the kind of competition. So, we just have to understand their rules and play by it, not by Karate rules but we have to adapt,” added Sensei Julius Piku.

Although the Karateka (karateka means students or practitioner of karate) did not have much time learning taekwondo rules, they gave their best in the collaborated competition.

“We never had any Taekwondo sessions, but just one training of about an hour or so the weekend prior to the competition”, said Sensei Piku.

Sensei Piku explained that if there isn’t any Karate Competition, Taekwondo is the closest that they can compete in for experience purposes.

“I sent them in because the style or ways of playing Karate in the Pacific Games is point contact and to do with speed. The faster and smarter you are, you score points. Taekwondo is the same,” explained Sensei Piku.

It was a lesson learnt for the Karate students as first-timers in such competitions as they tried to adapt in the fighting arena because Taekwondo and Karate are two different martial arts sports that differ by rules and techniques that are used to score points in a match.

“It was my first time to fight in Taekwondo '', said Faustina Mark Bokas-blue belt karateka.

More so, speaking of her experience as a first timer participant in the Taekwondo Championship she added that she finds it challenging fighting in that tournament as compared to her Karate background.