Hey, I was wondering what was out there in terms of continuous, semi-contact ameteur competitions. I've done some AAU karate tournaments in the past, but I HATE point break sparring. The referee stopping the fight every 15 seconds only to declare "Not enough!" is so very obnoxious. I don't feel as though I'm ready for ameteur full contact competition, so I'd like to try and find something.... in between. For the general record: I live in Southwest Michigan, am 19 years old (20 in another month), and have about 3-4 for years of training (primarily in karate/above-the-waist kickboxing, some BJJ/MMA, some miscellaneous gongfu/wushu).
If you check out your local tounament circut, I'm sure you'll find one that offers contineous sparring. Many of the larger ones do have that sparring category available. Yeah, the stop and go in point sparring is a pain, and its bad enough when you have judges that can't even make the right call in those events......imagine you'd have to be sharp when it comes to judging/refereeing a contineous match.
bump? Anyone else, please? I was wondering potentially about TKD and San Shou tournaments. I think amateur San Shou is fought full contact, but it seems less brutal than other ameteur fight sports (with all the pads and whatnot).
I'm from around the A2 area in Michigan, and I would like to know the answer to his question as well.....
Mighty: I would suggest Sanshou, by the way you describes the sport you are looking for, i think the best is Sanshou for you.
Our system has put on Continuous sparring tournament (OP Central Western Ohio if you're interested pm me your e-mail and I can let you know if we put one on), and I find judging continous fighting much easier. We don't count up strikes though, we just have 2 rounds (possible third) and the judges pick who they thought one the round. It's usually much easier to see who's dominating the fight than to call points
