The Insane K-1 No Holding Rule

[CentralKickboxing.Org]

Hello All,

The latest CKO article addresses the Insane K-1 No Holding rule.

Click here. (http://www.centralkickboxing.org/Articles/insane_k1_no_holding_rule.htm)

It is a hot topic these days. I hope the article can start a thoughtful discussion.

Enjoy,

CKO

[unicorn]

It is amazing how much capital of excuses we are prone to provide taking a weakness of K-1 for a strenght. It's as if Chanel perfumes become contaminated with a little bit of shit and there starts the excuse "ok, but specialists say that components which stink inside shit are used by French perfumists to enhance the floral essences". Yeah, ok, it is true (Frenchmen are sometimes pervy, haha, sorry Felix). But this does NOT mean that if they start to shit in the bottles they are "experimenting". :)

[CentralKickboxing.Org]

Unicorn,
I think you mean the K-1 is wrong for justifying the no holding rule by promising that it will lead to more action per round, right?

The poop in perfum is just an analogy, right? LOL.

[unicorn]

Yes, exactly. I mean, ok, very technically, indole and scatole (the shit stinking essences) are chemicals which, added in very minute extent to a floral essence CAN really enhance it and give a stronger note to the perfume. That would compare with adapting the rules in order to avoid things hard to understand for the public. Instead of this, shitting in the bottle of perfume (= bastardizing ad infinitum the rules) will not lead to an enhanced perfume. It's simply a shitty solution one would be supposed to spray upon himself just because (say) Chanel says it's ok. Well, Chanel is great but for this and one occasion they'd be only stupid. In the same way, k-1 proves not strong, not smart and not trying based upon their extensive savoir-faire to make show more marketable. They are strong in many other ways. For this one - they are boldly stupid.

[Razor Bump]

I was so anti this rule when they 1st mentioned it. Hey we've been duped by it now we have to just grin and bear it.

[CentralKickboxing.Org]

I was so anti this rule when they 1st mentioned it. Hey we've been duped by it now we have to just grin and bear it.

I don't know Razor. The referees can't handle it. You or I could just count the instances of holding and find out the enforcement varies from one ref to the next but also how much it varies from one ref to himself in a different fight.

Semmy had an 8-10 round. That is the same as a knockdown. If someone holds more and actually locks his hands, we'll see serious disapproval from fight teams. "Sure we'll fight, but keep Onari the hell out of the ring!" Enough of this and K-1 will have an organizational nightmare.

Yes. Fighters do say this.

[Sudoraba]

Can you clarify your claim that moving to three round superfights have in fact caused fighters to bulk up accordingly with the less strenuous stamina demands?

I mean sure the three round superfights take less stamina than five rounds, but the focus of K-1 fighters is still tournament fighting which potentially poses a far greater demand stamina wise than the single five round attrition war.

[CentralKickboxing.Org]

You can see lots of examples:
Jerome used to try to peel his weight down to the 117kg range after gassing at 125. He now is expected to show up in the 120 to 125 range.

Mark Hunt went from 114 to 128.

Ray Sefo went from 102 to 112. He now tries to slim down.

Ernesto has gone from 88kg to 108kg.

Peter Aerts has gone from 92kg to 110kg.

Alexei has gone from 100kg to 115kg.

Someone is going to jump into this discussion and start splitting hairs. Sure, Hoost is older now. Age is a factor.

I'm talking about common sense. Marathon runners are small. Sumo wrestlers are huge. Heavyweight boxers weighted 200lbs until fighters were cut to 15 rounds. When fights were cut to a mere 12 rounds, we saw giants like Valuev, Lewis and Klitschko rule.

The focus is tournament fighting but that is all in their heads. Of the 8 who enter a tournament, only 2 have to fight 3 times. The reality is that these guys prepare for 3 rounds. That is 9 minutes of action.

[Paul T]

K-1 is a business.
You would think they would operate on business principles.
i.e., collect some data. Do some focus groups with fighters, trainers and yes fans.
do some surveys. Have data miners look at old tapes collecting data on time to KO and rules in effect at that time.

I think if they used a data driven approach, instead of a
"I have a feeling that this might work" they would get better results.
Even if they piloted changes first, and found they were going in the wrong direction
and then were willing to change course, that would be an improvement.

[unicorn]

K-1 is a business which produces (my gross estimation) 90% of the income in Japan. Thus, they are prone to please the local crowd. The heavyweight situation is not easy for them. Musashi has improved some things but one over another he stands no true chance to ever win the WGP except for Hachiman Boddhisattva making a personal intervention in the ring. Thus they are somehow business-comitted by trying to ease Musashi's situation until something better occurs. That such arrangments impair upon the rest of the world, they should be less businessmen to care. The fact that the rest of the world obediently follows the trend, and even more, does invent "smart" (add : smart ass) excuses for things which visibly spoil the sport, makes them only feel more confident where they otherwise would have felt insecure. JMHO.