Practical karate?

[xo-karate]

Could "practical" karate be understood as Karate that develops your functional ability. Functional ability is practical? You need to be able to do stuff. My point of view is that could the practical aspect be something else than combat? In martial arts the are two sides - combat and health or healing. What if practical karate was something to do with health?

(It does not now, but could it have?)

[vantheman]

But in many "sport" martial arts, those same techniques that do so well there ARE those high percentage moves that work well against a resisting opponent. Something to keep in mind. Too many people are quick to shrug off the combat sports when in actuality they provide a great testing ground for demonstrating what works really well and what is for the most part impractical.

Definitely! People dismiss the arts used in MMA as "sport arts" far too often. The reason they have become sport arts is BECAUSE they are effective, practical, arts (NOT the other way around). The only difference between sport situations and self defense situations is that you are in a larger disadvantage and fewer rules in the latter. This brings up an important issue: while you can now bite, gouge, hit below the belt, ect, now there is nothing against your opponent pulling out a club, knife, or gun. That is where the non-sport aspects of the art come out. That being said, I am sure most, if not all, MMA fighters are capable of kicking you in the groin or defending against a knife/gun.

So what does all of this have to do with practicality? What I am trying to say is if an art is designed/taught/trained in a way mainly geared to one venue, it doesn't mean that it is ineffective in another. Just because an art is known for its highly traditionally methods or for its use in the UFC, does not mean that it is not practical (meaning it is applicable in real-world self defense situations). On the other side of the argument, just because an art isn't used in MMA doesn't automatically mean it's ineffective (although the converse of that is almost always true). A good example of this is Krav Maga: it contains some basic Muay Thai along with various weapon defenses/disarms.

Then again, all of this depends on your definition of practical. Literally speaking, the definition is "likely to succeed or be effective in real circumstances." This is what I based my philosophy off of, but as long as you are getting what you want out of your training (and the training is legit, but that is an entirely different topic), you do not have to worry if your Karate is "practical".

[sensei8]

Possibly "Practical" is nothing more than a "brand" to attract the consumer...possibly. After all, there are many, many ways to attract the consumer to take at least a peek.

[xo-karate]

if i'd be looking for a name for karate that enhances health and physical condition and ability, what would it be?

Functional karate?

Qi Kung Karate

Fitness karate (but is't not only hitting in the air, but also valid technique.)

Maybe it's "karate"?

I was involved in "Finn Karate Do" when I was younger, maybe this could be "Fit Karate Do"?

[cheesefrysamurai]

So Abnernathy is calling his bunkai practical?

[muttley]

From what I have gathered from listening to his podcasts lately, he is saying that he is a pragmatic martial artist and that in his classes he trains his students in "realism". They train in making your escape after a pre-emptive strike, sparring against multiple oppositiions, weapon disarms etc etc.

He does raise some very good points such as grappling in the street is likely to get your head kicked in at best, killed at worse as your attackers mates who you aren't grappling with are likely to jump in while you are busy focusing on the guy you are grappling with etc.

[straightblast]

KARATE is pretty much a brand itself, everyone knows what the word Karate relates to but it's simply empty hand, chinese hand or tang hand.

Shotokan karate is nothing more than Funakoshi's empty hand.

[Harkon72]

Branded tags in MA are the most common misconceptions at times. MMA is an over used term because of it's contextual connection. Karate is a massive umbrella term for many arts and passtimes. Kick Jitsu is a new one on me, it's a mix of freestyle Karate and Jiu Jitsu apparently, sounds quite cool doesn't it?

[bushido_man96]

I've been googling again:-)

So what is "practical karate"? Does any one know?

Iain Abernethy seems to have an association for it.

And some clubs say they do Practical Karate?

So it's not traditional or sports or self defense? What is the point of view? the angle?

Abernethy has spent time working on the bunkai of the katas he has learned and then moving into drills to apply this bunkai in self-defense based scenarios of all kinds. I believe he uses various steps in the process, starting with the form and typical bunkai work, and moving up a ladder to doing some more active resistance type of work in using the applications. In a nutshell.

[straightblast]

Choki Motobu had very practical Karate.