{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "When I was doing karate in LA I was a little surprised how black the competitive sparring circuit was. I guess I shouldn't've -...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/71893073538/", "html": "

When I was doing karate in LA I was a little surprised how black the competitive sparring circuit was. I guess I shouldn’t’ve - fighting sports have always been the province of driven subalterns.

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It was striking how these senseis were actual blaxploitation heroes - tall, steely-eyed dudes with fros, bushy mustaches, black belts, and a calling to clean up the ghetto streets. Except the role of “intimate companion and ally” was cast less as “a sexy pistol-packing jungle mama” than “our lord and savior Jesus Christ”.

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