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The motto of the Olympics is "Stronger, Higher, Faster" - a call to all humans to be the best they can be. What better sport than martial arts to embody the original spirit of the Olympic games!

Dan Raymond,

Thank you. I agree. Martial Arts is a great way for people to be the best they can be and is a big part of the Olympics.

Martial arts already exist as sports within the Olympic framework. This relationship to martial arts developed over many years. Such sports as Wrestling and Fencing gained inclusion during the first Olympic Games in Athens 1896. Archery entered as the third sport since Paris 1900. Pentathlon became the fourth sport related to martial activity in 1912. Boxing became the fifth sport to enter the games on a permanent basis in Antwerp 1920. Judo became the sixth sport and entered Tokyo in 1964. Taekwondo became the seventh sport during Sydney in 2000. These dates are those in which each sport became a permanent part of the Olympic Games.

Other martial arts are recognized by the IOC, but have yet to be included in the games. Such sports are Karate and Wushu are recognized and subject to standards of the IOC. These other martial arts have yet to be included in the Olympics, though many advocate for their inclusion. As time passes, these sports may gain an honored and rightful place in the Olympic Games.

There are many pros and cons as Caroline Chen-Wately points out in her article �Should Martial Arts be in the Olympics?� Martial arts exist across multiple human dimensions; such as physical, psychological, spiritual, social, combative, and sport. The inclusion of these arts in the Olympic framework does not diminish their existence in these other areas. Many individuals attempt to define martial arts as either �this� or �that.� When in reality they are more than the sum of their parts. Martial arts developed to fulfill a number of human needs. At least one of the Olympic Games and the martial arts stated goals run parallel to each other.

The Olympic Charter states one reason for the Olympic Games on page eleven; �The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.� Such a statement sounds similar to the Confucian idea of the �Superior Man.� If we practice and train in the martial arts, we already attempt to develop our own self as well as interact in a peaceful manner. According to The Doctrine of the Mean, �In Archery we have something resembling the Way of the superior man. When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns around and seeks for the cause of failure within himself.�(Koller and Koller, 435) Including more martial arts in the Olympics would only bolster the IOC�s stated goals and allow martial practitioners to continue on their own path to self improvement as well.

Sources
www.olympic.org
Koller and Koller, Doctrine of the Mean, Number 14 in �A Sourcebook in Asian Philosophy, (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 1991), 435)

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Rosie

A. Lorenzo, so I interpret you're all for it and would like to see more Martial Arts in the Olympics. Did you manage to catch the Olympics showing of Martial Arts this years? What were your thoughts on them.

I wish there had been more coverage of it in my area; what little I did catch I found a bit lackluster in how it was covered. The commentators didn't really know what to say or talk about or explain on the fights to help viewers gain a better understand. I think in order to be successful in the Olympics, there also has to be passion behind the more public sides of the Olympics.

I was not able to see much of the martial arts coverage. The time difference played havoc with network coverage. USA Today covered the subject better that did NBC. Martial artists need to better educate the public. In the United States, I do not believe that there are any major corporate sponsors.

Getting an expert in the field to provide commentary may be a stopgap measure. A similar situation occurs in Soccer. Some U.S. commentators that do not understand it do a disservice to the audience . While some European and South American commentators know the game thoroughly and help educate those watching at home.

Hopefully martial artists interested in becoming sports broadcasters may eventually filter into those positions. Only time will tell.

It's for sure one of the most complicated and difficult sports, of course it should be covered. I don't think that martial arts gets enough recognition - it's far more challenging and interesting to watch than some sports shown over and over at the olympics - for example, running.

Don't knock runners now, they put a lot of training into what they do (so says the Mom of a cross country runner, LOL)

But martial arts should definitely be in the Olympics.

The simple fact that so many cultures have some form of it - and now it is practiced worldwide as both a sport and self-defense.

And the son that I mentioned the runs cross-country? He also does Tai-Chi.

Hi everyone!

Martial Arts is already involved if memory serves me correctly. It is a respectable sport and should be part of the Olympics.

Enclosed is a link that you might find interesting about what the Olympics will bring to Karate.

Olympics and Karate

This should also provide some good insight.