Listen, I said I don't know much about it nor practice because it's true.
But, I've been a big fan of the arts for a while, and chances are, I don't know about it any less than someone on this thread.
I was under the impression that Pettis competed in ITF because it was most similar to the video that showed the style of Taekwondo competition Pettis participated in but like I said, Thompson's style is more similar to that than Karate.
You could look up many karate style competition online but I doubt you will find a similar fighting stance and style, unless you go to ITF taekwondo or americanized kickboxing that wierd pointing fighting style.
Apparently Wonderboy did practice in Karate, but just like just because someone practiced in 'taekwondo' somewhere in northamerica it doesn't mean he really practiced in it true way that sticks to the core principle and styles, it holds true here.
Karate fighting style in competition did change over time, if you compare some stuff from now and back then in 70's and stuff.
There maybe exist more than handful of different style of karate that diverged a while back, but there aren't many that I can think of that promotes the physical sparring and regulates the world class competition. Three main ones that I can think of are shotokan, kyokushin and contact karates, none of which exhibits similar style of fighting as Thompson does.
Thompson relies more on his lead leg to kick and sort of uses the explosive motion of blitzing with combination forward while having pronounced side stance and bit staggered. This in my opinion, is what you see in ITF taekwondo. Of course in shotokan you also see that combination with explosive attacks, but I don't think it's the same. Or something like American kickboxing that RDA and MP competes in
I don't really give a fuck at the end, I'm not trying to change the world here, but I just really don't think it represents it well, because it just doesn't.
