LionsDen

depends on what you mean by beneficial. the simple fact that it is a physical activity makes it beneficial for burning calories, and just generally staying in shape. if you mean for fighting, then yes i believe it is. while kata, and shadow boxing are different, i believe they share a similar space. in the years leading up to the pandemic i saw YT of BJJ instructors teaching their own homemade kata, despite not using that term, and i'm sure such things got popular as some schools tried transitioning to an online class format. if you mean, can you learn to fight from kata? then no. if all your dojo does is kata and compliant partner drills you're delusional if you think you know anything about fighting. if you mean are there other benefits many may not have thought about, outside of just fighting? then yes. kata has been shown to improve cognitive and memory capabilities, it's been shown to help people with PTSD, and some other psychological disorders.

because the majority of karate students are children, who eventually get older and find new interests. Very few kids join a karate school because they have some deep yearning to do karate, most join because their parents want to bleed some of their energy off before bed time, and tbh in my opinion kinda want someone else to raise them, so all the talk about confidence, discipline, respect, etc. that so many karate schools talk about in person and in their promotional materials is very appealing to parents. also how do you define 'quitting karate' is a transition to kickboxing like what many karateka do quitting karate?

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t read all 4 pages so far just a few of the first page. 1. For karate to make a comeback it would have to have gone somewhere. Maybe adults are becoming interested in karate again for various reasons, but karate has been making its money from kids classes for decades, at least the 80s. 2. MMA was never about ‘brawling’ this is a very ignorant point made by people who have never actually fought, especially never fought full contact. 3. I’d love a source that OG fighters are encouraging their students not to go into MMA, as for the martial arts center title of schools, it’s likely just a branding thing. Even dedicated MMA gyms make most of their money from casual hobbyists, and calling something an MMA school might alienate potential costumers, where as martial arts center sounds less intimidating to hobbyists. 4. Karate has had a big footprint in MMA for a very long time, stars like Bas Rutten and chuck Liddell being early UFC stars, if you look into the backgrounds of UFC champions karate is the 4th or 5th base style with something like 17 champions having a karate base.(some are listed as kickboxing in list articles but if you actually dig into their background they began competing kickboxing after years of karate, sort of like Gabriel Varga.) I wouldn’t say karate is making a comeback so much as experiencing a renaissance. Part of that is the very high profile karate fighters in MMA, Cobra Kai, and Karate Combat.