Karate losing respect?

[DKizzle]

Actually, an eye gouge can be effective in a number of places other than grappling. It's an unexpected move and can quickly end a fight if you're in trouble, as can a thrust to the Adam's Apple.

[kenpo_fighter]

i know that in early ufc those strikes were allowed, but now, the rules have been revised eliminating those strikes.

[Yamamatsu]

an eye gouge is very effective if you can hit the eyes lol...it takes practice to be able to hit such a small target at high speeds.

As for people bashing karate, chance are they bash it out of ignorance and fear. People tend to hate something if they fear it, or don't know a lot aobut it. Karate is well known for its explosive, yet controlled strikes that give the defender control over the fight the entire time. The people who bash it will be surprised how effective it is on the street when the pick a fight with the wrong person. When suddenly they're in pain from a hidari mae geri keage to the groin, and a reiken to the face. Then they'll see what is "stupid"

[Menjo]

Ive noticed this also, I have many debates about this with many people. Such as thinking TMA would lose to modern UFC successful ones. If it worked on the battlefield hundreds of years ago then TMA actually taught traditionaly(which means everyday busting your knukles, and more intense workouts than what I do at my dojo then TMA would win. Also depending on the person but MMA I can see where people get this perspective, what people dont realize if TMA worked and MMA arnt as effective then TMA which is REALLY MA (i think anyway) then fighting agaisnt people using "UFC styles" the others are at a large disatvantage.

Also Karate and some others are not what I read before "complete" with grappling and all, basicly my point is...in a real life situation these used to be taught TMA that are now like karate and kung-fu would still beat someone on the street because it is now geared for fighting for life, not sport with rules that disadvantage them. Its hard to all the points down on writing so i bet i missed useful aspects but i think thats whta i wanted to say.

[Goju_boi]

hey there has been people that practice karate in mma,example chuck lidell.He does kenpo and proudly admits it and uses it.But as for the other question i get told a lot that karate sux especially by this one kid,but then again this was the kid that claims to know how to use a bo staff,nunchaku,and sais from watching all these action movies.

[ps1]

Many, Many of you have pointed out the obvious...UFC and Pride are sports (K1 is also, it's just kickboxing though). People get paid to do it. If they were'nt good, they wouldn't be paid and people wouldn't care to watch. Several of them have had more traditional backgrounds: Maurice Smith (kick boxing), Yoshida (Judo), Chuk Lidell (Kempo) to name a few. It is a sport where being weak in even one of the three areas can mean the difference between winning and loosing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Does anyone here really believe that these people don't also know how to jab the eyes and thrust the adam's apple? Any money down says these guys are among the most skilled fighters in the world.

I have trained in various standing arts for 20 years (4th degree in Poekoelan Kungfu, 3rd degree in Shotokan, and 2nd degree in Kwanmukan). I remember when Royce Gracie won the first UFC. I thought to myself, "there's no way someone would get me to the ground! I'd just kneel down on them and blast away." I believed that for a very long time. It all came to a halt last year when I began training in BJJ (Brazilian Jiujitsu). It is amazingly effective. The truth is, if someone is skilled at takedowns (not just the guys who say, "I wrestled in highschool.") they will take you down. There is not enough time to throw a knee or drop an elbow effectively against someone who does this. Trust me, we train with a guy who wrestled at Iowa.

Also, as a military man myself, I get annoyed when people use the argument that "Karate" was used in battle. If people were using empty hand techniques in battle something went terribly wrong. They used bows and arrows, Spears, Swords and other such weapons primarily. Military history proves that people would much prefer to use weapons to empty hands. Also, military commanders didn't go into war saying, "My soldiers all know the Dim Mak so we'll be fine." No! They counted on casualties and deaths. So the whole war thing is a very weak argument on that point alone. That's without discussing terrain, time, mission goals, and the environment.

As far as the respect issue goes, I'd guess that 90% of the people out there are completely ignorant of what is taught in any martial arts class. So, who cares what they think? They simply demonstrate their lack of education. A skilled Karateka/ Kung Fu practitioner/ fill in blank martial art... will fare well in many situations. Other's just demonstrate their ignorance, let them stay ignorant. When their lack of respect for other people gets them hurt, then offer to train them.

[Menjo]

Wow you changed my view...

[Dark Shogun]

People like those guys at your school and those 12 guys wearing tents tend to be all talk and no action. If they were action, they'd soon sing a differnt tune.