After making a long-awaited Olympic debut at the 2021 Tokyo Games, karate was not included on the list of sports for the 2024 Paris Games, nor is it on the agenda for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. That decision by the International Olympic Committee received mixed reactions from a sampling of dojo owners in Maine. Some believe the sport is losing out on a prime opportunity for exposure, while others are less concerned about karate’s absence from the Olympics, saying pop culture plays a much larger role in attracting people to martial arts.
Andy Campbell owns Dragon Fire Dojo in South Portland and has practiced martial arts for more than 40 years at the national and international levels. He called the decision to exclude karate “disappointing.” “I think the impact of having karate in the Olympics was great, because it gave us a chance to really showcase how hard these athletes work, and what their abilities are,” he said.
“I really feel that keeping it in the Olympics would have helped draw in some of these other kids.” Other Maine dojo owners, like Donna Harris at Phoenix No Limits Karate in Auburn, say karate’s impact extends far beyond an Olympic stage. “(Karate) was never meant to be a sport,” she said.
“It was an art. America is when it became what it is, when it became Americanized, that’s when they introduced it as a sport. Traditionally, karate was an art form that was handed down through the family and you had to be a well-known member of the fam.