Abstract
What year did karate not get the necessary two-thirds vote to be an Olympic sport?
Karate
Karate 117th IOC Session Olympic Games Karate Netball and the Olympic Movement
Karate-Abstract 117th_IOC_Session-8_July_2005:_Review_of_Olympic_sports Olympic_Games-Sports Karate-Sport Netball_and_the_Olympic_Movement-Olympic_recognition
Karate developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was brought to the Japanese mainland in the early 20th century during a time of cultural exchanges between the Japanese and the Ryukyuans. It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taisho era. In 1922 the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration. In 1924 Keio University established the first university karate club in Japan and by 1932, major Japanese universities had karate clubs. In this era of escalating Japanese militarism, the name was changed from ("Chinese hand" or "Tang hand") to ("empty hand") – both of which are pronounced "karate" – to indicate that the Japanese wished to develop the combat form in Japanese style. After World War II, Okinawa became an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there. The martial arts movies of the 1960s and 1970s served to greatly increase the popularity of martial arts around the world, and in English the word "karate" began to be used in a generic way to refer to all striking-based Oriental martial arts. Karate schools began appearing across the world, catering to those with casual interest as well as those seeking a deeper study of the art. Shigeru Egami, Chief Instructor of Shotokan Dojo, opined "that the majority of followers of karate in overseas countries pursue karate only for its fighting techniques ... Movies and television ... depict karate as a mysterious way of fighting capable of causing death or injury with a single blow ... the mass media present a pseudo art far from the real thing." Shoshin Nagamine said "Karate may be considered as the conflict within oneself or as a life-long marathon which can be won only through self-discipline, hard training and one's own creative efforts. "In 2009, in the 121st International Olympic Committee voting, karate did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority vote to become an Olympic sport. Karate was being considered for the 2020 Olympics,—however at a meeting of the IOC's executive board, held in Russia on May 29, 2013, it was decided that karate (along with wushu and several other non-martial arts) would not be considered for inclusion in 2020 at the IOC's 125th session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September 2013. Web Japan (sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs) claims there are 50 million karate practitioners worldwide, while the World Karate Federation claims there are 100 million practitioners around the world.
The 28 sports in the Summer Olympics programme that existed at that time were all put up on the ballots, three years after a similar attempt failed to gain support from IOC members during the 114th IOC Session in Mexico City. Prior to the voting, baseball, softball, modern pentathlon, taekwondo and fencing were considered as most likely to be dropped. Five non-Olympic sports would then be voted to get in, in case any of the existing sports would be dropped, as IOC rules allow a maximum of 28 Summer Olympic sports. These sports - golf, roller sports, squash, rugby and karate - were recommended by the IOC Olympic Games Program Committee, which has shotlisted the sports that applied to be included. Golf and rugby were considered the favorites to be voted in, both mainly for their popularity and also for their relatively small number of events (each one, if accepted, would have consisted of 2 events).IOC President Jacques Rogge has been a keen supportive of this move, which was one of his agendas since being elected in 2001, while the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) said changing the current set of 28 sports risked changing the "magic combination of team sports and individual sports", attributing one of the success factors of the Olympic games to the current programme. A few days before the votes were cast, the IOC accepted the ASOIF request that the number of votes given for each sport will not be published, only "yay" or "nay". The reason given for the unusual request was in order to avoid a "popularity ranking" of all Olympic sports. Any sport that would get a simple majority of "nay" would be dropped from the Olympic program in 2012, but would remain eligible for readdmision in future Games. In the morning IOC members voted to remove baseball and softball from the games-->. The decision has triggered dismay in some nations such as the United States where both sports originated from, and Canada, where both have a strong following. Some attributed the exclusion of baseball to the fact that Major League Baseball did not allow its players to participate in the Olympics, held during the season (unlike the National Hockey League that allowed it since the 1998 Winter Olympics) and the widespread use of prohibited drugs in the professional leagues. The main reason for exclusion of softball was that it was included as a women-only sport mainly to be a gender-equalizer bat-and-ball sport for baseball (men-only sport), and with baseball out this reasoning no longer existed. Another reason given was that both sports consist of large teams and their elimination will make room for many athletes, in comparison to modern pentathlon, for example, which only consist of 64 athletes. In the afternoon, a secret vote by IOC members gave squash and karate over 51% of votes, but a subsequent vote to include them in the list of Olympic sports in the Olympic Charter has failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority needed for such amendment. Therefore, by the end of the day two sports were dropped and none added, and the program of the 2012 Summer Olympics was reduced to 26 sports. That night at The Oriental Singapore, then SNOC president and defence minister, Teo Chee Hean threw a banquet. Rogge gave Singapore full marks for the session organisation, a perfect 6. 
The Olympic Games program consists of 35 sports, 30 disciplines and nearly 400 events. For example, wrestling is a Summer Olympic sport, comprising two disciplines: Greco-Roman and Freestyle. It is further broken down into fourteen events for men and four events for women, each representing a different weight class. The Summer Olympics program includes 26 sports, while the Winter Olympics program features 15 sports. Athletics, swimming, fencing, and artistic gymnastics are the only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic program. Cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and speed skating have been featured at every Winter Olympics program since its inception in 1924. Current Olympic sports, like badminton, basketball, and volleyball, first appeared on the program as demonstration sports, and were later promoted to full Olympic sports. Some sports that were featured in earlier Games were later dropped from the program. Olympic sports are governed by international sports federations (IFs) recognized by the IOC as the global supervisors of those sports. There are 35 federations represented at the IOC. There are sports recognized by the IOC that are not included on the Olympic program. These sports are not considered Olympic sports, but they can be promoted to this status during a program revision that occurs in the first IOC session following a celebration of the Olympic Games. During such revisions, sports can be excluded or included in the program on the basis of a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the IOC. There are recognized sports that have never been on an Olympic program in any capacity, including chess and surfing. In October and November 2004, the IOC established an Olympic Programme Commission, which was tasked with reviewing the sports on the Olympic program and all non-Olympic recognized sports. The goal was to apply a systematic approach to establishing the Olympic program for each celebration of the Games. The commission formulated seven criteria to judge whether a sport should be included on the Olympic program. These criteria are history and tradition of the sport, universality, popularity of the sport, image, athletes' health, development of the International Federation that governs the sport, and costs of holding the sport. From this study five recognized sports emerged as candidates for inclusion at the 2012 Summer Olympics: golf, karate, rugby union, roller sports and squash. These sports were reviewed by the IOC Executive Board and then referred to the General Session in Singapore in July 2005. Of the five sports recommended for inclusion only two were selected as finalists: karate and squash. Neither sport attained the required two-thirds vote and consequently they were not promoted to the Olympic program. In October 2009 the IOC voted to instate golf and rugby union as Olympic sports for the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympic Games. The 114th IOC Session, in 2002, limited the Summer Games program to a maximum of 28 sports, 301 events, and 10,500 athletes. Three years later, at the 117th IOC Session, the first major program revision was performed, which resulted in the exclusion of baseball and softball from the official program of the 2012 London Games. Since there was no agreement in the promotion of two other sports, the 2012 program featured just 26 sports. The 2016 and 2020 Games will return to the maximum of 28 sports given the addition of rugby and golf. 
Gichin Funakoshi (船越 義珍) said, "There are no contests in karate." In pre–World War II Okinawa, kumite was not part of karate training. Shigeru Egami relates that, in 1940, some karateka were ousted from their "dojo" because they adopted sparring after having learned it in Tokyo. Karate is divided into style organizations. These organizations sometimes cooperate in non-style specific sport karate organizations or federations. Examples of sport organizations are AAKF/ITKF, AOK, TKL, AKA, WKF, NWUKO, WUKF and WKC. Organizations hold competitions (tournaments) from local to international level. Tournaments are designed to match members of opposing schools or styles against one another in kata, sparring and weapons demonstration. They are often separated by age, rank and sex with potentially different rules or standards based on these factors. The tournament may be exclusively for members of a particular style (closed) or one in which any martial artist from any style may participate within the rules of the tournament (open). The World Karate Federation (WKF) is the largest sport karate organization and is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as being responsible for karate competition in the Olympic games. The WKF has developed common rules governing all styles. The national WKF organizations coordinate with their respective National Olympic Committees. Karate does not have 2012 Olympic status. In the 117th IOC Session (July 2005), karate received more than half of the votes, but not the two-thirds majority needed to become an official Olympic sport.WKF karate competition has two disciplines: sparring ("kumite") and forms ("kata"). Competitors may enter either as individuals or as part of a team. Evaluation for kata and kobudō is performed by a panel of judges, whereas sparring is judged by a head referee, usually with assistant referees at the side of the sparring area. Sparring matches are typically divided by weight, age, gender, and experience.WKF only allows membership through one national organization/federation per country to which clubs may join. The World Union of Karate-do Federations (WUKF) offers different styles and federations a world body they may join, without having to compromise their style or size. The WUKF accepts more than one federation or association per country. Sport organizations use different competition rule systems. Light contact rules are used by the WKF, WUKO, IASK and WKC. Full contact karate rules used by Kyokushinkai, Seidokaikan and other organizations. Bogu kumite (full contact with protective shielding of targets) rules are used in the World Koshiki Karate-Do Federation organization. Shinkaratedo Federation use boxing gloves. Within the United States, rules may be under the jurisdiction of state sports authorities, such as the boxing commission. 
Efforts to gain Olympic recognition started in 1967, at the time when the International Federation of Netball Associations was founded. The Jamaican and Singaporean delegations present at the meeting suggested the newly created organisation become affiliated with the World Olympic Sports Council and try to get netball included on the Olympic programme. Opinions were initially split inside the newly formed organisation as to whether this was a goal worth striving for, but ultimately it was decided to work towards Olympic recognition. The Federation's first application was rejected because it referred to the sport as women's basketball and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said there could not be two different sports with the same name on the Olympic programme. This rejection was a driving factor for changing the name of the sport. There was tremendous resistance in Australia and New Zealand to this. The Federation made "major concessions" to both countries to persuade them to change the name of their national federations. In 1965, the IOC criteria required a sport must be played in at least 11 nations and the international body represented the sport must have at least 27 national organisations affiliated with it. A second application was started in 1971 after the previous rejection which reflected the name change. While name changes and other International Olympic Committee suggestions were agreed upon as necessary to go forward, the integration of these changes into the Federation's constitution and governance strategy took over four years and the application languished as a result until 1979, when the IOC responded back with a request for additional information of IFNA's finances and governance. The decision to provide additional information was deferred until 1979's Conference. The Jamaican representatives were frustrated with the slow process inside the organisation and tried to take steps to speed the process up inside the Federation. This included submitting proposals for organisational changes to address the most recent IOC feedback, addressing issues such as player drug testing, the selling of television and radio rights, and how to establish an Olympic draw among other points. Because of Jamaican influence, the Federation created a specific committee to work on the issue of addressing Olympic requirements, which was composed of New Zealanders Rena Straford, Lorna McOnchie and Anne Taylor. They were supposed to have these issues addressed by a meeting scheduled at the end of 1979. Delays happened because of the structure of the Federation and the required material was not ready for presenting before IFNA's Council until 1983. During this four-year waiting period, Jamaica and Bermuda continued to agitate for the Federation to speed the process along as attaining recognition would provide their region with additional funding and make it easier to grow the sport regionally. The second application was eventually rejected in 1983, with the IOC claiming the sport had "limited popularity." While the netball was not able to gain Olympic recognition during this period, it did gain recognition from General Assembly of International Sports Federations. This allowed netball to be played at the World Games in 1985. Because of the 1983 rejection, an earlier idea that had been tried and failed in 1979 was revisited: Creating regional Federations for the Americas, Europe, Oceania and Asia, regional groupings mirroring that of the Olympic organisers. This was implemented by 1987, which was rejected later that year because the sport did not meet all the criteria established and it was not yet a global sport. The IOC viewed the sport as one belonging only to the Commonwealth of Nations. While the netball was rejected for a third time, the New Zealand hosts of the 1990 Commonwealth Games managed to get the sport to have demonstration status, with the news of this being announced in 1987. That same year, netball also gained full member status from the General Assembly of International Sports Federations In the mean time, the IOC did provide the Federation with a grant, though none of this grant money was used by 1991. Because of what appeared to be the unlikely recognition by the IOC, the Federation urged its national members to seek membership with their national Olympic committees so national federations could access national funding in order to help grow the sport inside their home countries. A decision was made to try again for Olympic recognition was made, but the Federation was irritated because they had never been given clear guidelines for what the IOC was looking for in terms of a sport gaining Olympic recognition. The Federation believed that every time they met the criteria they were given, there was a new hoop for them to jump through. An example of this was a requirement given to the Federation 1992/1993 that the IOC be given technical specs for venue space should the sport be included on the Olympic programme. The Federation continued to work to address these requirements and eventually, in October 1993, netball through IFNA was given provisional Olympic recognition, requiring a two-year probation period. This recognition came with a per year per region for the Federation to develop the sport around the world. In 1995, netball became a permanent Olympic recognised sport after a twenty-year period of lobbying and a two-year probation period. This makes it eligible to be played in future Games. Recognition has meant national associations could become full members of their countries' national Olympic committees. National members of International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) were able to apply for that recognition by 1993. The All Australia Netball Association is one national organisation that has become a full member of their national Olympic committee. In 2004, International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognition of the IFNA was renewed. The IFNA has made Olympic recognition part of its long term strategy towards continuing to grow the game. There have been multiple attempts by netball supporters to get the sport played in the Summer Olympics. In 1996, the netball leadership actively pursued the possibility of netball being played at the 2000 Summer Olympics. The government of New South Wales encouraged the Australian Olympic Committee to lobby for the inclusion of netball in the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Netball England national team member Tamsin Greenway, two time Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes and Olympic heptathlon competitor Denise Lewis are English supporters who would like to see netball in future Olympic games. The earliest the sport could be included on the programme would be 2024. In an extraordinary session in Mexico City in November 2002, the IOC decided to limit the total number of sports to 28, events to 301 and athletes to 10,500, slowing the process of adding new sports to future Olympic Games. At the extraordinary session, the IOC set forth the requirements that a sport must meet before it is eligible for inclusion in the Olympic programme. The table created in the documentation for this meeting is provided below: 