Modelling and scoring system in karate

Karate will make its Olympic debut at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. The internal logic of this activity contains a scoring system and specific modelling that can give trends in decision making. Various strategies seem to be able to lead to victory. But between zero-sum games, possible Nash equilibrium, scoring systems and penalties, should the karateka be offensive or defensive, provoke the exchange or wait? 309 fights were observed through their scoring system. The results offer new perspectives for training. Simple rivalry with the search for domination, sub-optimal balance, scores, penalties: performance in karate must be considered in a systemic way. The question of decision making, which is central here, requires us to place at the heart of future work those of expectations and the notion of self-fulfilling prophecy. This work, carried out in two languages (French and English), raises the problem of the articulation between predefined strategy and initiative in sport karate.