Chuck Norris' Karate League Fights To Find Niche

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 9/01/2007 10:49pm

Chuck Norris' Karate League Fights To Find Niche
Actor Tries To Challenge Latest Martial Arts Craze

(AP) ADDISON Chuck Norris' infallibility is the stuff of Internet legend. Web wisdom says he can divide by zero, doesn't sleep and his tears cure cancer.

For sure, the six-time karate world champion rarely ducked under the ropes an underdog, until now.

Norris has taken on the heavyweights of the entertainment martial arts industry by investing $6 million in his made-for-television World Combat League. But after one season, his team-based karate concept is battling modest viewership and the perception that the standup style peaked two decades ago.

Norris, who touts martial arts as a positive force in troubled lives, said he hopes the league will appeal to a family audience and carve out a niche for the fighting style that made him famous.

"Most of our fighters don't want to get into the ground-and-pound of mixed martial arts," Norris said. "They want to stand up and knock their opponent down."

The league bills itself as a full-throttle and clean-cut alternative to the grueling cage matches of leagues like Ultimate Fighting Championship, the dominant force in mixed martial arts. MMA is a blend of fighting styles that often devolves into sweat-and-blood bear hugs on the mat.

WCL matches are sprints, not marathons. Each three-minute round starts with fighters dashing toward each other from the sloped edges of a circular mat and squeezing in as many blisteringly fast kicks and punches as they can. Fighters are penalized for passivity or grabbing.

Guy Metzger, a WCL coach and former UFC champion, said the rules are designed to keep up a video-game pace, with fighters in teams of five men, one for each weight class, and one woman. It's the first martial arts league to include women as a permanent player in the main event. Each fighter takes to the mat twice per match.

Metzger said the matches are timed for television and to avoid the "warped waltz" of drawn-out MMA matches.

"There's enough interest to share, but MMA is getting a little bit overexposed," Metzger said. "In my opinion, our league will save karate-style fighting."

That style is brutally fast. During a training exercise, air whistled around Anthony Njokuani's foot as his roundhouse kick struck a thai pad with a deflating whack. The quick-fire barrage continued from his elbows, knees, gloved hands and bare feet.

"This is nothing compared to fight time. You can barely see them fly," said the 26-year-old Njokuani, who fights for the Oklahoma Destroyers.

There are some 120 fighters on eight teams representing cities and states across the country, although fighters rarely have local ties. Judges award points for each of 12 rounds, and the team with the most points advances to the next round in the tournament-style championship.

Norris' penchant for playing tough guys has fueled a resurgence of cult celebrity on the Internet and in talk-show sketches. At WCL events in cities like Denver and Austin, the league's sole owner often sits prominently ringside and cheers on the fighters.

The first matches were televised in January, adding Norris' creation to a handful of leagues fighting for a share of the burgeoning martial arts industry dominated by Ultimate Fighting Championship.

UFC has grown from a political pariah once dubbed "human cockfighting" by U.S. Sen. John McCain in the 1990s to $223 million in pay-per-view revenue last year, surpassing HBO boxing and World Wrestling Entertainment for the first time.

The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board spurred the growth by setting rules for MMA in 2001. Marc Ratner, a critic when he was executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, later became UCF's liaison to government regulators and sought sanctioning for MMA fights.

"We've been on a rocket ever since," Ratner said.

These days, UFC events sell out 10,000-seat arenas and average more than 1 million viewers, better viewership than some NBA playoff games and last season's NHL All-Star game. International Fight League, another prominent player, is a publicly traded company that pulls in 1 million viewers with two broadcasts each week.

WCL's estimated 120,000 viewers pale in comparison, and Norris was turned away by SpikeTV, which broadcasts UFC and its companion reality show Ultimate Fighter. The network said its lineup was maxed out on MMA programming.

Each match is tape-delayed on the Versus network. With production and other expenses, WCL President Damien Visioli said the league breaks even with television. A second season is scheduled to start in October.

"We're not making money, but we're not buying the exposure either," he said.

To gain viewers, WCL is trying to ride the martial arts wave while distancing itself from other fighting leagues. Norris said WCL fighters practice combat martial arts, not MMA.

Ken Pishna, editor of the online magazine MMA Weekly, said it will be tough to gain traction with teams of gloved fighters in clean, monochromatic uniforms after entertainment martial arts surpassed boxing as a dominant draw with bare knuckles, blood and chain-link octagons that have thrilled the masses.

While Norris still has pull in the fighting world, his standup fighting style peaked in the '80s, Pishna said.

"At best, the World Combat League can find a niche market," said Pishna, who covers the industry and judged some of the first WCL fights.

Njokuani considers himself a standup fighter first. He said fighting in the WCL gives him a chance to build a name with his own fighting style.

"I don't like rolling around on the ground with another guy, getting sweat in my eyes," he said. "For me, this is where it's at."

http://cbs11tv.com/entertainment/loc...237180429.html

Like you don't get sweat in your eyes standing up? Closet case.
I still haven't seen a single match from them, though my understanding is that's it high on attack, low on defense.

**AAAhmed46** · Posted On: 9/01/2007 11:24pm

Maybe they need a Dana white?

**Wolf** · Posted On: 9/01/2007 11:28pm

Watched it a few times. I mean, it's American Style Kickboxing basically with low kicks. I've seen some damn impressive knockouts. This is actually a good HL video of KO's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEf8cRicJME

**Lu Tze** · Posted On: 9/01/2007 11:52pm

"I don't like rolling around on the ground with another guy, getting sweat in my eyes," he said. "For me, this is where it's at."

That's funny because I'd rather roll on the ground with another guy, getting sweat in my eyes than compete in a sport where heavy, repeated blows to the head are the only means to victory, under a ruleset that arbitrarily discourages defensive tactics and ringcraft.

The league bills itself as a full-throttle and clean-cut alternative to the grueling cage matches of leagues like Ultimate Fighting Championship, the dominant force in mixed martial arts. MMA is a blend of fighting styles that often devolves into sweat-and-blood bear hugs on the mat.

Another gem.

When are these jerkoffs going to realise that not only is MMA a more realistic ruleset, it's also fucking safer?

**ninjafetus** · Posted On: 9/02/2007 12:23am

Ken Pishna, editor of the online magazine MMA Weekly, said it will be tough to gain traction with teams of gloved fighters in clean, monochromatic uniforms after entertainment martial arts surpassed boxing as a dominant draw with bare knuckles, blood and chain-link octagons that have thrilled the masses.

Bare knuckles? Have they watched MMA anytime recently?

**Eldarbong** · Posted On: 9/02/2007 2:12am

I am the biggest K-1 and muay thai fan I know. I could not get into watching WCL. I don't know if it's the format, the lack of an actual ring, the caliber of the athletes involves, the no clinching, no low kicks, the fact that they wear booties and trousers... I just don't find it appealing. And this is strange, seeing as how I watch just about any MMA, K-1, boxing, muay thai.

**hpr** · Posted On: 9/02/2007 3:36am

The highlight reels seems fun, but I've yet to see a show. Seems that even pirates aren't interested.. Not enough ninjas there, I guess.

**Wolf** · Posted On: 9/02/2007 10:14am

Originally Posted by Eldarbong

I am the biggest K-1 and muay thai fan I know. I could not get into watching WCL. I don't know if it's the format, the lack of an actual ring, the caliber of the athletes involves, the no clinching, no leg kicks, the fact that they wear booties and trousers... I just don't find it appealing. And this is strange, seeing as how I watch just about any MMA, K-1, boxing, muay thai.

Leg kicks are allowed.

**Eldarbong** · Posted On: 9/02/2007 2:39pm

Originally Posted by Wolf

Leg kicks are allowed.

I hate to quote wikipedia under any circumstances, but they say
"No Low Kicks - Leg kicks are allowed to the support leg as well as the lead leg, but must be at least three inches above the knee."

**CNagy** · Posted On: 9/02/2007 2:48pm

As if they stop to measure each kick. Keep it above the knee and it's legal. Try to "blast out someone's kneecap" and it's not legal. I can't remember the last time I saw an MMA low kick that wasn't above the knee, unless it was a stomp to the foot.