Why is karate considered a BAD martial art?
The answer I'm posted is from a question I answered yesterday. It fits both questions: **************************************... I don't believe it's the style or the practitioner. I believe it's the teacher, specifically, his training, knowledge and experience, and whether or not he is willing to pass that on to you. You can have a great work ethic and achieve great things, but if you're training with one of the many "teachers" who lack knowledge and believe that they have "tradition", then you're only going to learn the movement of the art and not how these movements actually work. Many mean well. They believe what they have is the full version of the real thing. But sadly, they don't. The Asians are solely responsible for this. They are the ones who held back on the knowledge and now the arts are regressing and regarded by some, aka - the misinformed, as "obsolete" and "useless". This is why some Asians decided in the recent decades to pass on REAL knowledge to certain chosen students. Master Oyata Seiyu is a prime example of this. The Seniors in Okinawa were angry at him, attacking him physically, for teaching his full art. If he had not done so, the art would have had an even WORST reputation in the west. They should be grateful to him. His senior students are very knowledgeable and have great skill. Was it because they were naturally good? I do not agree. What if they had trained with that fake "grandmaster" Sin Kwang The' ??? What does natural ability do for you when you are learning BS? **************************************... Regarding "pros and cons", if you use the above as a guide, you will see that their are no cons, just lack of knowledge. That is the "con" that everyone should post. I would say that karate has many more techniques than Muay Thai. That's a pro for properly taught karate.
Is karate underrated as a martial art?
You always here people talking about MMA or Kung Fu and whatever else but people say karate is just a beginners martial art and yet with tournaments I go to the karate people win all the time.
Does Karate and other forms of martial arts truly require a lot of odd practice? (In the movie Karate kid I saw him taking off the jacket for hours)
No. Not at all. But it could. The point of all those stories and anecdotes about odd training is that there is no one best way to train. One could argue pros and cons about any kind of training. I have used weights all of my adult life, and I'm pretty strong. One could say I'm tight and that my ability to generate power might be compromised by my musculature. Or one could argue there is more latent, hence potential, hence kinetic energy in my body so when I strike, I hit harder than a person who weighs the same as me but has a much higher fat content. One could say that the shotokan instructor who used to correct the trajectory of my punches either one inch up or one inch down, was doing it completely gratuitously and just to be controlling. Or one could say he was teaching me volumes by correcting me no matter what I did. I have trained bare-chested and bare-footed out in the snow. Did that teach me discipline, focus, resolve and fortitude? Or did it give me pneumonia? Hard to tell. Combat involves being resourceful, creative and having the ability, capacity and skill sets to fight in challenging situations; injury, bad footing, off-balance, in bad weather, against multiple attackers, etc. Goofy training experiences do expand one's mind, enhances creativity and sometimes is just plain fun and challenging. But fighters trained according to strict orthodoxy are just as competent and get just as much out of it as others, I think. Find what works for you.
Are Karate Katas practical in real fight?
2 Reasons they aren’t ‘practical’. 1st It’s a series of movements that are supposed to represent what you would do in a fight. If that was true, it would be great. However, some Kata has lost their way. I remember in 1, I was supposed to turn around, and lower myself onto a bent leg. It demonstrated your balance or something. It would get you killed in a fight.2. It’s strikes and kicks. That limits your options in the real world. Against a guy mugging you, sure it works great. But how many people get mugged? Most people have to use ‘force’ not ‘violence’ I’m talking about dealing with the drunken uncle who takes his car keys and is walking to his car, or a 12 year old having a temper tantrum throwing dishes. Are you going to kick them in the head?I taught my kids judo. When my daughter was 9, some kid was swinging a garden hose and connected the metal end on her wrist. She dropped him with an osoto. The boy is bad, she is good. If she had done karate, she would have kicked him. An escalation of force, now she’s the bad guy.Karate is a lot of good things. As a ‘practical’ skill, there are better options.Note: telling people Karate isn’t practical is like telling a Doberman owner that you don’t trust his dog. They will point out that you can kick a guy in the ankle or something. But that is only a very small slice of the skill sets you learn. Viewed against MMA, Krav Maga etc, if learnt only for it’s practical value, Karate is not worth it.
Is it possible to learn karate/kung fu in doing chores?
The over the top stuff you see in films is usually just that, stuff you see in films. And they do love that old chestnut. However, the idea behind it is fairly solid. Many styles and schools make the students under go a number of non combat tasks that apply to exercise and other areas. Students in proper Dojo are expected to clean the wooden floors before and after class by hand (Running up and down the hall builds arms and legs.) Boxing gyms might make the students run around the hall/block a few times to warm them up and build stamina. We are told to look for aspects of our art within every day actions a lot, but we don't look for hidden meaning to the actions themselves. For example, my home has an old wood heater we never used since it also had a modern gas heater. I realised that chopping wood would be good training for my upper body and would increase the power and speed of my sword swing. (And I like wood heaters) Run down to the shop to grab milk/paper/whatever. I squeeze and release while holding a pen/pencil to increase grip strength (another important exercise for the sword) It is also common for children to receive simplified teaching that uses more recognisable examples to help them learn.