Kumite is not like a box of chocolates

Many people say that kumite is like a chess game, but it's much more like poker

I was in a tournament against a great guy called Dipesh recently. He beat me, but to be honest, I felt that I beat myself. There was a moment when he stepped back, and although I knew it was risky, I tried for a hook kick. I’m not very good at hook kicks, and there was no advantage to using that kick over a front or round kick, but I thought I’d try one out anyway. Dipesh turned out to be faster than I gave him credit for, and he leapt in and punched me in the side before the kick reached him, scoring an ippon.

The way we were fighting (cautiously, at long distance), a full point was a lot to catch up, and I eventually lost by a half point.

That point for me, sums up all the weaknesses in my kumite, and it reminds me why I’m also so bad at poker.

Poker is partly a game of chance, but mostly it’s a game where knowing how to handle the cards in front of you is really crucial. Once you’ve analysed your cards, you have to select the most appropriate plan and stick with it. To be good at poker requires a lot of discipline. My trouble is, although I usually form the right strategy, I’m always aggressive. I get impatient, I take wild risks, and I try to bluff too often. As a result, people often disregard my bluffs, and beat me, even though on paper, they shouldn’t.

When I fight, I try to have a game plan for each competitor. But too often, my desire to take control of the fight means that I’m rash, and overly aggressive to my detriment. I realise that because I’m fairly slow, and not the best counter-attacker, but I have a good reach and an excellent front kick, it’s usually in my interests to attack instead of defend. However, if I ALWAYS attack, I become predictable, and even competitors who are not natural counter attackers can develop and use that skill against me.

However, returning to the poker analogy, if you play it safe, and only ever bet on the good hands, you’ll have far fewer opportunities to get winning hands, and your opponents will be able to read your play. Sometimes you have to keep playing with just a 2 and an 8 in your hand! Just occasionally, they’re the times when you draw a full house!

By the same token, in a fight, if you never take any risks, and you only ever fight strictly by the book, you’re never going to surprise my opponent, so you’ll have less opportunities to win.

So, Forrest Gump might have been right, life may well be like a box of chocolates, but kumite is like a game of poker – you should be disciplined and  mostly go with the sure things, but once in a while, take a calculated risk, just to keep your opponent off-balance.