That seems to happen a lot in many point style karate studios. I have yet to see that in even one single knockdown karate place though.
My only criticism on most the KD styles, is that they don't punch to the head in comp. I understand it is a must because they don't glove up. And facial damage and horor movie levels of blood would result. But, given how often they get dropped with high kicks, they should go ahead and compromise. Wear the MMA 4oz, and start fighting like it really goes down in life. IE. people trying to punch you in the head.
Point karate has its positives too. But as a stand alone it is definitely FAIL. It is great for developing timing, distance, focus, ashi and tai sabaki (footwork and body movement) The best lesson it teaches, is that it is better to give than receive. Hit but not be hit. Where it fails hard, is that it encourages bad habits in so far as defending yourself goes. Quick strikes that lack authority, like the back fist (not spinning) and kick combos where a leg is constantly in the air popping around like an old rainbird sprinkler. And as bad as that is, what makes it worse, is the kicks have little juice in them. The stop and go fighting becomes habitual as well. I have sparred many tournament fighters that throw pot shots almost exclusively. And have no idea how to shell or respond when pressured with combos, in-fighting, and clinching. Hard to train that out of them. Sadly, that seems to be the Open tournament scene now. tip tap, stop&go, games of tag.
I did almost 7yrs on the Fl. tournament circuits '80-'87. FBBA (Fl. Black Belt Assc.) were some of my favorite tournaments. FAME started sucking hard fast, when it took over. Smaller ones could be wild and fun as hell. Many were full contact to the body, and even a head kick TKO/KO did not necessarily get you DQ''d. Sometimes you won by forfeit because they could not continue. If there was facial damage a penalty point was assured. If you drew blood, auto DQ. But even that depended on how highly rated the tournament was, and who held it. Brown belt was dog eat dog almost always. The judges knew that is the stage of training when you are looking to prove you deserve your shodan. In a good dojo, by those last few ranks as a mudansha, you have developed power striking, but still don't have many settings on your power dial yet. I had matches every bit as tough physically, as ammy kickboxing matches. Except the gloves were a lot lighter and open fingered, no wraps, and you could grab each others' gi.
Some tournaments were continuous rounds scored like boxing. Some were stop&go, but a good, clean, shot, was the only way to score. Everything else was a clash. And we would frequently trade for a good 5 seconds or more before they would break us. Mostly due to certain ashi barai (foot sweeps) a few throws below the hip and a 2 second window to hit them after they were down, might be sanctioned for the tournament. Also, 2 warnings for leaving the ring, and the penalty points kick in. Those rings were small too 15'x15' iirc for most, so you were going to mix it up.
The U.S. Open was always the most pussified IME. We would get more warnings for excessive contact and penalty points than every other event that year, put together.
Cliffs: Point fighting is not what it used to be. And, it is still a useful tool if part of a fighting system, and not the dominate core of it.
And, Machida and Wonder Boy are excellent examples of how the style can be incorporated into the stand up game successfully. Too bad Wonder Boy is a n00b on the mat compared to many MMA fighters.
