Don’t bother looking it up in the dictionary. You won’t find it there.
This phrase—Ee-yo-ca-be-he, yo-ka-be-be—is a fundamental concept taught at
the Karate Institute of America. It represents one of the most critical
aspects of fighting, not just in the Kiado-Ryu Martial Arts system, but in
actual combat. It is not a new concept. It’s been around forever. Yet, it is
still often ignored in self-defense encounters, actual battle and competitive
sports.
As all of humanity knows, the Gold medal is synonymous with being the best,
the apex of one’s athletic performance in competition. To those who win gold,
they are often lionized, idolized, and frequently offered lavish commercial
contracts worth millions of dollars. Such souls become media darlings as
heroes, heroines and role models to others.
This, of course, is a good thing. We all need heroes and heroines, individuals
who strive to become the top of their craft because their accomplishments can
inspire us to do the same. Where would society be without individuals who rise
to well-deserved and legitimate pedestals of accomplishment?
The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics are now history. As we all know, the Gold medal
is awarded for 1st place, the Silver medal for 2nd place and the Bronze medal
for 3rd place in each of the contested events across all disciplines.
Together, these three medals create a trifecta of manifested excellence and a
seemingly ubiquitous celebratory declaration from those athletes who earned a
medal. Over and over again, from one competitor to another, from one
discipline to another, from one gender to another, the most common phrase
heard time and time again in post event interviews was, I worked so hard for
this!
The Tokyo Olympics of 2021 (branded as the 2020 Summer Olympics) have been
exciting to watch—so many different sports, so many countries represented, so
much talent, heart, soul, effort, emotion, victory, jubilation and, sadly,
defeat and disappointment. Such is the reality of competition.
With its 33 sports, 339 medal events and 50 disciplines, the Games of the
XXXII Olympiad bring together competitors from all over the world, athletes
whose primary desire is to win a Gold medal—the symbol of unequivocal,
irrefutable, indisputable dominance in a specific discipline.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Karate Institute of America was
extremely involved in tournament competition on a local, state, regional and
national level. Its competitors were highly successful in all areas of martial
arts competition, winning hundreds of championships, which included four
national championships. Yet, karate competition never made it into the big
time. Why? The reason for such failure, as history has proven, is explained by
Kiado-Ryu Grand Master Richard Andrew King in the following article: What’s
Wrong With Tournament Karate, submitted to, accepted, and published by Black
Belt Magazine in July of 1990.
27 May 2021 was another hallmark day for the Ligtvoet family as younger
brother Aidan, aka “Smasher,” received his Blue Belt. It was no easy journey
for Aidan, and it took time, but true to life principles of dedication and
perseverance this terrific, respectful, loving and intelligent young man
attained the next higher level of Kiado-Ryu achievement.
Pictured with Smasher are his mother Atousa; father Ed, and his big brother
Tristan, who is currently a third dan KIA Black Belt and close to receiving
his 4th Dan in December of 2021! The Ligtvoets are a remarkable family.
Each of them is a stellar human being and the Karate Institute of America is
blessed to have them as part of its KIA family.
