alternatehistory.com

1974

A martial arts craze seized the united states in 73, a mixture of scared soccer moms and boxing gyms worried about competition decided to pressure congress for a law regulating martial arts dojos.

What happened was the creation of the challenge system in order for a sensei to get permission to open a new dojo, the sensei had to have proof that he successfully beat the owner or designated champion of said dojo. If you beat 50 dojo's you could open a dojo anywhere in the united states, a limited state license would be issued by the states in question. The minimum for a state license was 5 dojos the maximum was the federal limit.

Dojos that were already opened could be passed down to a student or family member.

It was thought that the challenge system would kill the martial arts craze in the crib, it backfired hard and the idea of wandering martial artist challenging for the right to teach martial arts became an engrained part of the American martial arts community and captured the public imagination.

Attempts to get rid of the challenge system have consistently been resisted by the American martial arts community who says its a nessary bit of regulation to prevent the kind of Mc Dojo's you see in Europe from springing up in the US. Others say its just a way to limit competition.

But what if the challenge laws never came to be? How would that change American martial arts and American culture?
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