To me, it is evident: karate.
I have practised it for more than two decades. I know it is a very popular sport worldwide. Karate is trendy stuff as well. Just think of all those movies. By the way, Bruce Lee was a kung-fu master, whereas Chuck Norris was a karate champ. Yes, some karate devotees call it more than a sport, a martial art, a philosophical path in life, or whatever. I know this firsthand. Still, contemporary karate is also a sport.
According to the World Karate Federation (WKF), one of the most influential karate organizations globally, around 100 million people practice karate as of 2024.
Those practising it come from all age groups and skill levels.
For example, only 20 million people around the world practice judo, though it has been a respected Olympic sport since the 1964 Tokyo Games.
Back in the 1990s, Japan launched a promotional campaign: Karate to the Olympics! It didn’t really produce much outcome. Well, in Tokyo 2020 (actually, 2021), karate was part of the Summer Olympics simply because the Games were held in Japan.
The reason why karate, such a popular sport, is yet to be a part of the Olympic family is simple. Unlike judo, there are too many different styles and schools, from full-contact to something that I call ‘ballet.’
There are four main styles in karate: Shotokan, Shito-ryu, Vado-ryu, and Goju-ryu. We’re also talking about Keyokshinkai and its multiple variations and offsprings. My karate style, Konno juku (Konno’s school), is a descendant of a comparatively big karate school in Japan, Jyoshinmon Shorin-ryu.
I can go forever with that. All these karate visioners and practitioners can’t agree on a united approach to the rules and style.
This is why karate is out of the Olympic sports and, I suspect, will continue to be.
What should be the next new Olympic sport?
To make sure that I would not suggest something that actually will be a new sport in Los Angeles 2028, I decided to check it out.
Can anyone really suggest that “Flag Football” should be an Olympic sport? Because it will be, in 2028. I’m sure that Dean, our illustrious American co-blogger, must be delighted, even though, as he wrote in our last blog, he doesn’t have any interest in sport whatsoever. I bet he has no idea.
I consider myself an avid sports fan, but I have to confess that I had never heard of “Flag Football”. It is a version of American football that has no bodily contact, but instead, the participants must grab an opponent’s flag, which is sticking outside the backside of their shorts. An Olympic sport?????? And why, FFS, do the Americans call a sport which is predominantly played with the hand, football???? It bothers me, but doesn’t answer the title.
Among my various suggestions, I give you Midget Tossing, and MAGA-Bashing. Those might get me in shedloads of trouble so here is my alternative offering.
I am going forward a couple of weeks after Los Angeles 2028, to the Paralympics. I give you: “Changing the duvet cover in a wheelchair”. It is almost impossible to perfect. I know this, because of a lovely chap called Paul, whom I have only known for a few months, who told me so.
He lost a leg a few years back, and says this remains his biggest obstacle. What better than to introduce this struggle of Olympian proportions to the games itself? Frankly, it beats Flag Football any day of the week.
Submitted for your consideration…
With the Olympics being held in France this time, France and the IOC both get to nominate the next new competitions in the Games. Clearly, a French themed event should grace the next Olympic stage. Therefore, I nominate The Trumpie Trebuchet.
The rules are simple:
- A five-meter high wall is placed two-hundred meters away and a target Crooked Joe face is painted on it.
- Each Nation can launch Trumpie Trebuchet at the target three times.
- Will Trumpie stick or bounce?
- If Trumpie sticks, you’re penalized one half the distance to the target (after all somebody’s gotta get up there and scrape his ass off).
- If your Trumpie bounces, the distance from the bootie marks to the center of the target is measured and that’s the Nation’s entry.
- The second closest booty mark wins the gold metal as the first was obviously rigged.
Distance to the target is measured in hands, but not those giant equestrian measurement hands. We are not measuring a 14-hand stallion here! The Trumpie hand measures 4.2 cm.
Care and feeding of the Trumpie while in the team’s possession is the responsibility of each national team. Teams are required to provide the Trumpie three Big Macs and five Diet Cokes at all times. Bullhorn optional.
We wish to thank the IOC for their consideration.