Does Spectacle Have a Place in Sport Martial Arts?

The title might throw you off, but I’m sure you’ve seen it before. Spectacle is what makes professional wrestling entertaining. It’s the reason Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor fought to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. You can also credit spectacle with being the reason that so many watch a single football game each year – the Superbowl.

Spectacle is also (almost entirely) absent from martial arts competition.

You can disagree with that point, but if you do, it likely depends on your barometer for what is spectacle within martial arts. There are those who consider an extra kiai to be spectacle, but that’s not what I am talking about. A spectacle is something that I’ll define as unnecessary action to garner attention.

If you’ve ever compared the spectator numbers of sport martial arts to other sports, I think we can agree there’s very little spectacle happening. Which leads to the question- should we change that? Some martial artists are so concerned about appearances that they don’t compete – a subject that our own Louie Martin discussed last year.

Some of you know me by name, but I expect many of you know my company – whistlekick. We make stuff for martial artists. One of our goals, which is a deeply personal goal, is increasing the non-competitor attendance at martial arts events. See, by increasing that attendance we increase revenue. Which creates opportunities for larger award payouts and the option of paying referees. Both of which would go a long way to increase the prominence and participation of sport martial arts.

Could Spectacle Help Martial Arts?

One of the proposed ways to do this is through spectacle. The addition of elements to martial arts competition that create more drama or audience engagement. On the surface, it seems like a good idea, because spectacle usually increases attention. Which increases revenue. But what about when that spectacle flies in the face of tradition?

We, as martial artists, tend to be a very traditionally-minded group. We place a higher value on history than most pursuits, certainly more than most other sports. No one is telling Tom Brady that his style of play is terrible because it’s not the way Johnny Unitas played. But the way forms were done a few decades ago; that matters to many of us. Maybe even most of us.

Which makes it seem obvious to me that we won’t be throwing tradition away. We’re not going to start competing in pro-wrestling style costumes. I don’t see us calling each other out in front of an interviewer with a microphone. Chair throwing is right out.

But could we take a few of the more subtle elements and include them? Absolutely. In one case, we already are. Some competitions offer a night show for high-profile divisions. The number one thing that process does right – it gives the audience a single thing to watch.

Is Our Current Way…Boring?

Anyone who has competed knows it can be stressful to make sure you’re at your competition ring at the right time. What about when you’re a spectator in the stands, watching 8, 10, or even 20 rings? How do you know where you should focus your attention? The answer, unfortunately, is you don’t know. So you feel overwhelmed and you get bored. And probably leave. And most likely don’t return.

Having a single competition ring isn’t the only thing we could do, but I think it’s a wonderful example of changes we could make. With one division at a time, we can add in background music, lights, commentary – all the things we see at other sporting events. Why are they so common? They work. They keep people’s attention.

And I think there’s plenty of room to create spectacle around the competitors without turning them into spectacles themselves. The more we lift up our competitors the more the rest of the world takes notice. If we run 12 divisions simultaneously, we tell everyone that the event is for the participants, not the spectators. And that’s exactly how we’ve run these events as long as I’ve been participating.

Moving Forward

I’m not saying it’s wrong. I’m also not saying that we could change every event to run this way because it would take forever. I’m simply pointing out something we can look at, something that we can consider changing in an effort to create a better competitive environment for everyone. And in doing so, benefit the martial arts overall.

So, keep your tights and your stage names. But give me a platform where martial arts competition is celebrated for the spectacular skill and dedication it requires.

Do you have ideas on how to make sport martial arts more interesting? Let me know in the comments below!