Karate Vs Streetfighting

[Kickchop19]

I want to learn karate, would i be able to defend myself against a street fighter?

[Icetuete]

i'm gonna be boring and say: it depends

 

after a certain time of training ur chances will become better and better BUT...

 

what if he has a gun/knife/baseball bat?

 

what if he is not alone?

 

what if you become afraid? will you be able to use what you learned?

 

i'd recommend to go check the karate class u wanna go to and have fun training first... being able to defend yourself takes time.

 

if you just wanted to hear whether karate provides a descent self defense capability: yes, i think so

 

good luck!!

[TJS]

I want to learn karate, would i be able to defend myself against a street fighter?

 

IF you find a good school that spars and trains realistically, unfortuantly that mkaes up like 10% of the schools in the US.

 

For that reason I would check around..there are other stlyes that are usually more street oriented.

[stl_karateka]

I want to learn karate, would i be able to defend myself against a street fighter?

 

Lots of elements to karate. I attend a school where we rotate between some variations of kata, sparring, self-defense, and foundation drills.

 

Isn't all karate self-defense? Some would say yes, but I'm not so sure --- I will say that all of your karate training should be a factor in effective self defense.

 

On our self defense nights we practice against 'street techiques' such as lapel grabs, bear hugs, incoming punches etc. Every once in a while we even do knife self defense --- our instructor is very real and doesn't try to give any of us a false sense of security. He says that if someone pulls a knife on you and you can't get away, ie forced to defend yourself...you probably will get cut --- but pay attention and practice these techinques and you should get out alive. Pessimistic? Yeah. Realistic. Very.

 

one of the main points of karate is to teach self defense. But it is taught differently so you have to find a school that suits your needs. Also, self defense has so many factors you can put into a karate school not matter how hard you try. For one thing, street fighters don't fight fair, there may be an element of surprise, will you remember your training, will they have a weapon, are they drugged up so your strikes are ineffective.

 

So to answer your question - karate gives you an advantage. Of course the more training, time and practice the better your odds

[Karateka_latino]

There are Karate School that are more into sport-karate and exibitions than Self-defense. You just need to go the schools and check what kind of training they are doing.

[cross]

If you take the time to practise at home then karate may benifit you.

[Gumbi]

I want to learn karate, would i be able to defend myself against a street fighter?

 

Im assuming you're talking about defeating an opponent that is bigger than you. Take into account that most of the "good" streetfighters are good for no other reason than they've got a good haymaker, which is the most common punch you'll see in a fight. (i.e. Tank Abbott)

 

Take into account that the blocks taught in Karate are not very effective at all- the best style for teaching someone how to use their hands is boxing (so if you're karate instructor was also trained in boxing, it would help).

 

Then take into account that no one likes to get hit, and when people realize they're fighting a better striker, the most common reaction is to clinch so as not to get hit anymore. Thats where a style good in clinch work is particularly effective. The whole idea of keeping an opponent at bay with strikes just wont work by itself- its a good idea to compliment your striking with a good sprawl/takedown defense.

[cross]

Take into account that the blocks taught in Karate are not very effective at all

 

This is true if the person isnt shown how to apply the blocks. There is a difference between how the blocks are taught in kihon and the application in sparring/self defence.

[Gumbi]

Take into account that the blocks taught in Karate are not very effective at all

 

This is true if the person isnt shown how to apply the blocks. There is a difference between how the blocks are taught in kihon and the application in sparring/self defence.

 

Im talking about almost every block in the karate arsenal. Probably the worst is the low block, most likey to defend against leg kicks, along with the side to side. I think its just rediculous to block kicks (low kicks) with your hands. Not only will you break your arm, you leave yourselfl open for a follow up punch as well.

[SevenStar]

Take into account that the blocks taught in Karate are not very effective at all

 

This is true if the person isnt shown how to apply the blocks. There is a difference between how the blocks are taught in kihon and the application in sparring/self defence.

 

Im talking about almost every block in the karate arsenal. Probably the worst is the low block, most likey to defend against leg kicks, along with the side to side. I think its just rediculous to block kicks (low kicks) with your hands. Not only will you break your arm, you leave yourselfl open for a follow up punch as well.

 

the blocks work well enough. You don't apply them exagerratingly wide, as you see in kata - you will block tighter. Also, many of those blocks are supposed to be strikes and breaks.