When I was at school, Karate was by far the nerdiest “sport,” though even at the time I could understand its appeal to the pimply-faced, skinny-fat loser. It “teaches you to fight,” something every nerd is told to learn for their own safety. It is not a team sport, meaning there is not the competitive grading, team to beat every week, or physical requirements to perform a specific role. It is a parallel outlet, an anti-sport that ticks the co-curricular box but cultivates few, if any, of the virtues of other sports.
Replete with its own history, traditions and philosophy, eastern martial arts as practiced in the west is a scam. What with their air-punching pirouettes, bowing and scraping servile Orientalism, these “art-forms” bear little resemblance to any real physical combat. For westerners consumed by modernism, tapping in to a foreign tradition inevitably appeals to the outcasts, who don’t feel powerful or connected to their own history and martial culture.
I’ve always found something odd about white men who became eastern martial arts enthusiasts. It seemed they were play acting, that they were little boys that were allowed to put on a costume and learn their philosophy.
I understood wanting to learn how to fight, but the eastern religious message of emptiness, Tao, and relinquishing the “self” seemed so at-odds with the passionate, aggressive Teutonic Christianity that characterized my vision of the valiant knight, Roman legionnaire or champion. The servile, self-effacing submission seemed as foreign to my sense of strength, courage and manliness.
After much reflection on this, I have come to conclude that karate and similar eastern martial arts as practiced in the west have become exhibitionist LARPing for hand-flapping retards whose technique and methods are of little use in a real fight.
How could this be tested? Find examples of fighting without all the rules: MMA. Pure karate (or any narrow other code) is hopeless in these scenarios. Over the last few decades, codifying rules, points systems, and insurance regulation has repurposed these styles from skills used in actual hand-to-hand military combat to Chinese fighting-yoga. Here’s what a pure karate bout looks like:
While some of these girls exhibit some impressive flexibility and vocal range, what is inspired in me wouldn’t accurately be described as fear. Perfectly choreographed, pure Karate is to fighting what WWF is to wrestling, minus the fold-up chairs, big-titted blondes, and multi-color spandex outfits.
Any time I have spoken to someone who teaches or practices Karate, they give the same excuses as to why their students don’t engage in contact or win MMA competitions. As a defense, they claim that their “punches could kill” so they don’t do them because its unethical. Could their kiddy punches “kill” Wladimir Klitschko? What a joke.
When asked why don’t they clean up in mixed styles with multimillion dollar prizes and contracts, they use the safe defense of “this is an art,” or “it’s not for money or fame or glory,” despite the inordinate amount of purist snobbery and rivalry within and between codes and styles. McDojos abound, yet they hide from any objective standard of combat effectiveness by the false moral high ground of their token eastern “philosophy.”
“Someone with only a year of training in boxing and wrestling could easily defeat a martial artist of twenty years experience.”
–Bruce Lee
The truth is that boxing and wrestling are the two most useful skills to learn in a real life situation. What makes mixed styles realistic is that when a fight goes to the ground, if you are weak and don’t know how to grapple, it’s game over. As soon as an Asian martial artist gets too close or too far, they have no more skills in their set and skull crushing ensues.
If you want to practice discipline, co-ordination, and stretching exercises, then Karate may be for you. I’ve heard of great health benefits from Tai Chi, a slowed-down version of Karate which is a series of stretching and balance exercises for the elderly. Just don’t think that you are learning to fight or be a warrior. It could be very dangerous for you to assume your techniques can protect you from a brawling thug. For everyone else who wants to learn to fight, stay away from the dojo. Learn boxing, wrestling, or a mixed style like Krav-Maga.
Gichin Funakoshi was the founder of modern Karate and he is the one who coined the word "Karate" which means "empty hand". After World War II, several of his students came to America at the request of American military men who had become students while serving in Japan. One of Funakoshi's best students, Hidetaka Nishiyama, was invited by General Curtis LeMay to tour US air bases on the North American mainland. Master Nishiyama eventually opened a dojo in Los Angeles.
I trained under Master Nishiyama for several years and thus have a perspective on Karate. Karate is real and these great masters were obsessed with making it an effective martial art and not just a form of dance. If you understood Japanese psychology, you would understand their unrelenting attention to detail, insistence on reality, and brutal toughness. Master Nakayama in Japan would film punches using stop motion photography to analyze the proper form for the most powerful punch. They refined their techniques and created a system that maximized power while maintaining perfect control and balance.
In later generations Karate has become watered down in America to make it more accessible to the general population. So what you are seeing is not a fair representation of the best available.
Keep in mind that it was military men and World War II veterans who brought Karate to America and not beta westerners consumed by modernism.
Hidetaka Nishiyama
Master Kanazawa is currently that best living Shotokan Karate master.
I Practiced 7+ years of Karate, when I was younger.
When I began Krav Maga 1 year ago, I understood I had no ability to defend myself in a real combat situation.
I remember the first time we trained, 2 attackers against me, free fight (with protections): my beautiful gestures were of no help.
BUT throwing punches and kicks in the air gave me a good technique base.
My punches hit hard, my kicks hurt bad, Karate gave this to me.
I don't regret this training, even if it's more than clear it's not what would save me in a fight.
12-04-2014 04:05 AM
Badamson
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(12-04-2014 01:07 AM)The Ligurian Wrote: ^^ Sherman, the article is fair as it's only talking about Karate as taught in the west. The author is not saying karate in it's pure form as practiced in Japan is shit just the downtown western dojo form practiced by overweight middle aged dudes who have never even pressure tested their art in live situations. Having trained in eastern arts in the west I concur 100% with the article.
Sherman, trained at Master Nishiyama's dojo in LA I'm assuming so that means 'the west'.
I just take issue with the evidence for 'pure karate' presented in the article with the video of the WB serbian girls. That is not 'pure karate' that is called a kata. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kata which is more or less a practice form used to polish strikes and foot positioning for transitions. Karate, Silat, Taekwon-Do, Japanese Jiu Jitsu and Kendo all use Katas....so are they all beta? OMG Jiu Jitsui is a beta martial art?!?!?!
As for 'training in the west is all garbage' also a terrible generalization. First, undone by Sherman's comment and by other examples. You can learn BJJ from Gracie family members in North America and Aikido from the grandchildren of its founders as well.
Karate isn't the only marital art with "McDojos" either, it just has the most Mature McDojo market. It was the first wave of martial art to be watered down, Taekwon Do was the second and BJJ will be the third as it seems like there is a gym next to every crossfit studio I drive by.
"Dr. Howard, you are pulling this out of your ass" you might say but let me provide a personal anecdote. I used to work out at a gym that was attached to a taekwon Do studio since I was a kid. The owner has since rebranded it as an MMA gym because "thats the cool word for self defence now days, Taekwon Do isn't 'cool' but we still teach strikes, grappling sparring and put kids in the ring if they want to. Same thing, different sign"...this was his response after I asked 'aren't you guys teaching Taekwon Do anymore?"
Here's an example of a full contact Karate tournament. No they don't go to ground...but neither does boxing...does that mean boxing is beta too? Say it ain't so!
The article has a misleading premise and the only point I agree with is that if a practicioner spends no time in the ring against an opponent he will be at a disadvantage regardless of the martial art.
looking for a new signature.
(This post was last modified: 12-04-2014 06:51 AM by Dr. Howard.)
12-04-2014 06:38 AM
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Saga
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(12-04-2014 06:39 AM)Saga Wrote: It's true, a lot of karate in the US is really, really poor quality. But then again...
I wouldn't write it off completely.
Came in to post this gif.
The assertion that "Pure Karate" is rubbish because it can't win a fight is ridiculous. MMA doesn't show the inferiority of karate; it shows that one style can't win a fight. The article's suggestions can all basically be debunked. Boxing and wrestling are great as far as pure arts go, but if you're a pure boxer you could get taken down and pounded out and subbed ala Couture v. Toney, and if you're a pure wrestler you could get arm-barred ala Nog or you could get kickboxed to oblivion ala Jose Aldo.
I went to Krav Maga once, and it was exactly what the article says of Karate: A bunch of out of shape guys were teaching knife defense (lol) and eye gouges - which they couldn't actually show us of course.
At this point in the evolution of martial arts in general, no pure art is going to win and no art is going to take everything possible into a 'street situation.' (If you're in a street fight you've already lost.) Karate isn't any worse than any other martial art in it's incompleteness. A well trained low-kick is going to take an unaware guy's leg out from under them regardless of if it's karate, TKD or Muay Thai. An arm is going to snap in an armbar whether the guy doing it is a wrestler or BJJ guy.
If we're talking about a 'real life' situation, I think Machida's karate style is one of the better ones to emulate. He gets in, punches, gets out. Opponent has to keep distance because of low kicks and high kicks. Compare that to a wrestler-dirty boxer on a street. You can't wrestle to the ground because you'll get a boot to the face or a knee to the back of the head. You can't put relentless pressure on because there is no ring or cage to stop a retreat and you can't go in with clinch boxing because you might get gouged or have your own retreat blocked off.
12-04-2014 07:35 AM
Dr. Howard
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(12-04-2014 06:39 AM)Saga Wrote: It's true, a lot of karate in the US is really, really poor quality. But then again...
I wouldn't write it off completely.
Came in to post this gif.
The assertion that "Pure Karate" is rubbish because it can't win a fight is ridiculous. MMA doesn't show the inferiority of karate; it shows that one style can't win a fight. The article's suggestions can all basically be debunked. Boxing and wrestling are great as far as pure arts go, but if you're a pure boxer you could get taken down and pounded out and subbed ala Couture v. Toney, and if you're a pure wrestler you could get arm-barred ala Nog or you could get kickboxed to oblivion ala Jose Aldo.
I went to Krav Maga once, and it was exactly what the article says of Karate: A bunch of out of shape guys were teaching knife defense (lol) and eye gouges - which they couldn't actually show us of course.
At this point in the evolution of martial arts in general, no pure art is going to win and no art is going to take everything possible into a 'street situation.' (If you're in a street fight you've already lost.) Karate isn't any worse than any other martial art in it's incompleteness. A well trained low-kick is going to take an unaware guy's leg out from under them regardless of if it's karate, TKD or Muay Thai. An arm is going to snap in an armbar whether the guy doing it is a wrestler or BJJ guy.
If we're talking about a 'real life' situation, I think Machida's karate style is one of the better ones to emulate. He gets in, punches, gets out. Opponent has to keep distance because of low kicks and high kicks. Compare that to a wrestler-dirty boxer on a street. You can't wrestle to the ground because you'll get a boot to the face or a knee to the back of the head. You can't put relentless pressure on because there is no ring or cage to stop a retreat and you can't go in with clinch boxing because you might get gouged or have your own retreat blocked off.
agreed. There was a guy that used to train in Jiu Jitsu when I was younger that was about 220 pounds and well suited to wrestling. In sparring he would step back out of takedown range and when someone would advance...surprise, he'd get them with a spinning back kick and launch them right into the wall. He was also a black belt in TKD and was taking JJ to cross train on close and ground fighting.
looking for a new signature.
12-04-2014 08:07 AM
CrashBangWallop
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