I don’t generally tend to comment on things, even when it relates to something specific that I have some knowledge about. There’s never been any real value in doing so, since it usually just results in an online argument with someone far less knowledgeable who’s always willing to actively pick a fight with another person from behind the relative safety of their laptop screen. Plus, when someone believes something, it’s usually very difficult to convince them otherwise.
I don’t often get negative comments on my blog posts but everything before now and again I’ll get someone on their soap box who seems intent on picking a fight. A notable example was a few years ago when I wrote a post about proteins and the consumption of meat, only to have some die-hard vegetarian basically denigrate the entire post, accuse me of following pseudo-science and claiming I was spreading false information. In case any one of you were wondering, this is one of the driving reasons why I always include a disclaimer that I’m not a doctor in any of my health or quasi-medical posts. Bu8t I digress…
The point behind bringing this up is because I follow a number of pages online dedicated to martial arts and more specifically, karate. And it absolutely kills me when I read the number of inaccuracy’s comments made by individuals who have likely never even studied martial arts. By virtue of this and through this lens, I’d like to provide my list of most common misconceptions surrounding karate that I’ve noted over the decades.
- That’s a waste of time because you’d never do that in a real fight.
I have a real problem with this kind of statement. While I can’t speak for every style, as I haven’t studied every style, nothing is wasted in karate. Every stance, every move, every strike and every technique is one piece of a significantly larger, overall puzzle that creates the muscle memory required to effectively defend yourself, should the need arise. When you see someone perform a kick straight up above their heads, the intention shouldn’t be to think “when would you ever kick someone like that?” Instead, you should consider that if the practitioner stretches and trains to kick perfectly at that height and level, it will be scores easier and more effective to perform the kick at a normal level. As I mentioned, nothing is wasted. Even if it only looks pretty and you may not use that specific technique in actual combat, it still serves a training and development purpose. - Fights can go on indefinitely.
Hmm, that a big fuckin’ no… Look, I’m a big fan of martial arts movies (normally) and I enjoy watching them as much as the next guy but real talk, here. That big fight climax at the end of the movie where the two fighters go head to head for 30 minutes or more without stopping is categorically impossible. Anyone who has ever been in a real fight will tell you that the average run time for a real fight is about two or three minutes. And karate is no exception. The amount of energy and effort it takes not only to deliver effective strikes but to block incoming attacks will have your lungs seize and your muscles go lactic after a number of minutes. Setting aside for a moment that these fight portrayals include either of the fighters taking several strikes to the head and body and yet they seem to keep fighting without interruption. - Karate Doesn’t Work In Real Life/That Only Works in the Movies.
I saved what is argumentatively not the best but the most important, for last. I’ve been fortunate to have never been severely injured during the course of my life but I have to admit that I’ve used karate A LOT! Either in the context of defending myself personally, defending others or in the course of my quasi-lengthy policing career, karate has saved my bacon (please hold all “pig” jokes) on more occasions than I can count. I’ve most often heard the argument that karate can’t stack up against other forms of “sport” combat like MMA. While I’ve never been a big fan of MMA, I’ve held a respect for it, as I would never see myself willingly sacrificing my body in that way. However, the concept of two willing participants rolling around and sweating on each other in biker shorts doesn’t quite appeal to me and doesn’t quite apply in the same self-defence context as karate would. But I digress… The bottom line is simply this: While form, karate and typically repetitive techniques may seem soft and ineffective and while one may not understand the dynamics of muscle memory and why it would help and certainly apply in a real-world context, I can confirm without any shadow of a doubt, that karate does in fact work as a martial art and a self-defence tool. I have my continued existence as proof.
That’s it for now, folks. A bit lengthy and a bit of a soap box post, but such is the way of it sometimes. The important thing to remember is not to believe everything you see in the movies but also don’t assume that martial arts doesn’t work. If anyone needs any further proof, I’m always looking for someone to train with. I’d be more than happy to share my knowledge. ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 
I wish I could have commented here sooner, but the last few weeks have been a total shitstorm (as usual, but that’s another rant, lol).
First, some folks are going to be looking to pick a “fight” no matter how well worded or researched an article is. God help you if you use snark like I do also, lol.
OK, I’ve got WP eating paragraphs again, so one more time… All three of those mindsets are indeed born of ignorance. What I can add to your rebuttal of the first one is that Bruce Lee once said there’s no such thing as a bad technique, only a bad time to use it. Since it seemed you were focusing on high kicks there, I’ll run with that. High kicks can be a very valid move if you’ve got an opponent momentarily off balance or outright stunned. They can become a fight finisher at that point. Another consideration is how one trains their kicking skills. I’ve seen TKD practitioners who can kick faster than most people can punch. If that’s the case and one can control distance properly, that kind of kicking becomes more valid.
Fights can go on indefinitely… Yeah not much I can add there. That belief is nonsense and shows a person has never been in a real fight before. None the less, it’s also one of the reasons why MMA gets a better rep nowadays. They focus alot more on conditioning than most other dojos in the West. That’s a huge advantage in a fight.
Karate and striking arts in general don’t work in real life... That’s part of the never ending stream of propaganda put out by the UFC and MMA crowd. We had this discussion in the past; the UFC rules are set up strongly in favor of grapplers. Strikers only win when they’re hulking slabs of meat like Brock Lesner. That’s if you actually get a technical match instead of a brawl (like most UFC matches nowadays). Take away the ability to target vital points, etc… and you’ve crippled strikers and biased the match.
Best proof striking works is that UFC match where one fighter kicked to the knee and disabled the other fighter. Tons of howls about how that was a cheap move, cheating, etc… That’s striking in a serious street defense situation though.
Let’s not overlook the dangers of going to ground in “the real world” either. You’re less able to defend against a suddenly drawn knife or similar weapon, and you’re at a huge disadvantage if others jump into the fight as well.
I’m all for learning some grappling to be more versatile, but the MMA crowd’s parade of misinformation is damaging martial arts in general. I think the worst example I saw was trying to say that authentic (takes 20 years to fully master) Shaolin kung-fu wasn’t a complete art when it contains at least 2 variations of grappling arts.
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I always enjoy getting your perspective and comments. I especially like your comment on the dangers of a pulled weapon once you’re on the ground.
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