Karate's Effectiveness

[Brandon Fisher]

My art is a Karate based art however it incoporates grappling adn joint locks and throws.

[setboy]

Ok, thanks so much guys! I was thinking about it today and I got a better attitude towards Karate. I just might give it a try (The man here said $30 for 2 weeks, 6 days a week and free uniform for trial purposes) to see if its for me. One thing I learned from what you guys said is I'll get what I take out of it and the "style" shouldn't dominate me anyway. Thanks again!

good to hear you are going to try Karate

do you know what system of Karate it is?

befor you make any decisions, i would check out all the dojos/training halls in your area. one may be better for your needs than the other

Raphael

[bigpopparob2000]

I don't know anything about combat Muay Thai. I will say that Karate in and of itself is good for self defense. Granted, it depends on the dojo. If the school places a lot of emphasis on training for competition, then you're in the wrong place.

What do you need from a school/style for self defense:

1. Physical fitness-being in shape increases your self confidence and image and reduces the chance of being attacked. Thugs and muggers would rather have an easy target rather than someone who's going to fight back.

2. Striking-know how break someone's nose without breaking your hand.

3. Know how to keep it from going to the ground-you're better off staying on your feet on a street fight. Especially with regards to Karate or Muay Thai, you won't specialize in grappling like in BJJ, so it's good to know how to remain upright where you can utilize your strikes.

4. Grappling-basics of what to do if you do find yourself on the ground. This can be putting your attacker in an arm bar or using some escape to get back on your feet.

5. Weapons-you can't carry around nunchucks and katanas. However, for self defense, they should teach you disarm techniques for knives, sticks, and hand guns (be particularly mindful of this if you give Muay Thai a try).

Dont go to Aikido, i think you are to young for it, and the non violence spirit will frustate you.

I would say that you are at a good age for learning Aikido. Unfortunately, Aikido takes a lot of time and work to become proficient at. Aikidokas can kick butt in a street fight, but they need around ten years of training to perfect their techniques and sensitivity. For your immediate goals, Karate or Muay Thai are excellent choices.

[Andrew_Patton]

That video has already made the rounds. It's a scripted act used to make a point by a rival style.

actually, I believe the link said something about geoff thompson being the guy who produced that video, geoff's actually a karate-ka from the UK (Shotokan I believe) and is a big proponent of bunkai based karate (if it's karate it's based off of kata) and he usually digs on competition geared schools, i.e. point fighting, unrealistic bunkai/self-defense, geoff's also a door man IIRC for some club(s) in the UK, so his approach to karate's usually based on his experience in those situations

[stoneheart]

My art is a Karate based art however it incoporates grappling adn joint locks and throws.

I don't think I've seen a traditional ryu-ha yet that did not have grappling implicit within the oyo bunkai. Goju is especially known for close range combat, frequently leading to a takedown or throw.

Low level karate-ka only see the superficial which is the brute trauma caused by blocks, kicks, and punches... They don't realize that the technique you use to control your opponent is immaterial, so long as you actually DO control your opponent.

I think it's great that you teach grappling explicitly to your students. Please keep up the good work.

[Azula]

This may sound like a careless reply, but Aikido is one of the more "self-defense" fighting styles in martial arts, and is more practical in a street fight. Now im not saying other styles aren't as good, but from what i know of taking Taekwando, a style of Karate, and Aikido...i know Aikido is best for self-defense. Steven Seagal sets a good example of Aikido but again, he's only an actor.

[alsey]

if you want to learn karate as an effective self defence system, you need to find a school that practices it as such. if its the long range striking-blocking style of karate, i wouldn't bother. if you can find somewhere that teaches close range combat with striking, grappling, throwing etc that's a lot better. in my experience, karate-do as it is usually practiced today isn't that great a fighting system, but the older okinawan styles are extremely effective if you train in them correctly.

[gateqway]

One thing i want to point out is the purposes of these MAs.

Muay Thai I believe is more offensive and the purpose is to teach you how to beat the crap out of the other person.

On the other hand Karate's purpose is more about self defence and improvement on life in general.

IMO I find people who study Muay Thai are generally quite aggessive and loves to fight, while Karate-kas are more peaceful and try to avoid a fight.

You might also find karate would give you some pretty good fundation skills like generating power, basic blocking/parrying, footwork and stances for stability.

See how you go, you can always change whenever you want.

And don't forget about learning some grappling skills, it'll come in handy.

Cheers

[lordtariel]

The link to the other post is broken, but I believe I remember the other post. It was a video about martial artists being overtrained and completely useless in a real street fight... My take is it doesn't matter what style you train in or how good you are, unless you're mentally prepared to fight, that internal debate of fight or flight is going to be occuring during the fight when you should be paying attention to buisness.

[Jiffy]

I've seen this same question posed on this forum more times than I can count. The simple answer is yes and no. It depends more upon the school and the student than it does the style. Yes, like any other style Karate can be very effective in a street situation (I have personally proven so), but it is the person that MAKES it effective. Same goes with ANY style.