I've given this a lot of thought. The unrealistic scenarios taught in karate was a primary reason why I gave it up as a kid. I came to karate to learn self-defense 25 years ago because I was tired of getting picked on by older kids. In class, we went over drills that required my attacker to very slowly present an unrealistic attack and then sit and wait for my response. Obviously, it had very little practical application at the time. But what I came to realize is that it's a case of what "Mr. Miyagi" called "learning to walk before you fly." The drills don't resemble street fighting, just like sparring doesn't resemble street fighting, they are all proxies to build up to the real thing. (by way of example, batting practice doesn't look like a baseball game either, its still a valuable part of training in baseball though) Also, the idea that boxers and MMA don't train in a form of one-step isn't correct. Of course they do. Boxers tend to focus more on teaching combos than most karate instruction I've seen (and I am by no means advanced in karate), but the defense-counter-attack drill has to be taught in all disciplines. It's great to question why we do things. I always thought of karate as this timeless ancient art until I really learned the history of it and found that karate as we know it isn't as old as I had believed. People make changes, and they do so because of what they see as working or not working. But here's the thing. What "works" for you isn't the same as what "works" for me. This may be why different styles appeal to different people, but it's also an invitation or challenge to the instructor to figure out what each student really needs. Someone who is experienced in contact sports may have less need for these drills than someone who has just learned how to make a fist and has never hit anyone in their life. Also, I think the goal is to work up to full-speed, full-contact if one is trying to learn self-defense. I fear for the karateka who was taught how to make a fist, taught punches, counter-attacks, and defense but has never actually hit someone with their hands. They are in for a rude awakening on the street, if it ever comes to that. The drills don't teach you how to fight, they give you a vocabulary for fighting. In my opinion, sparring in some ways can be dangerous for the same reason (unless sparring in and of itself is your aim, karate as sport). The person who is gently sparring with their partner and never learning what it feels like to fight hard, is not preparing for self-defense, they are preparing for over-confidence. The best martial arts training I ever received was from an old man in the back of his video store. In his class, if you miss your block, you catch a fist to the face. Guess what, you learn not to miss blocks. Your brain learning timing much faster when there is something at stake. At least that works for me. Just my opinion. I'm really enjoying the discussion. In fact, I registered just to respond to this.
