Karate is NOT a Sport

Yes, it is .... what makes it a sport is that the majority of westerners have turned it into a sport. We are a sport oriented society, every thing we do often uses a sport metaphor. How often did your coach tell you in high school that football is like life, etc. etc.?

Should karate be classified as a sport? No, it should be taught, practiced and applied in the sense of budo, i.e. combative, fighting and/or self-defense. Is it in actuality done that way? Not all that often but when you do find one that is budo oriented then your lucky.

Even those who proclaim they are often are not. Karate is a sport and yet it can be all the other stuff as well. It is a matter of perspective, perceptions and belief of the system and individual.

If someone says it is not a sport you also have to ask yourself, how do they know? We sometimes label things to fit our sense of self-security but often it turns out to be a false sense of security.