Karate Is DEAD (And That's A Good Thing)

[@Some-random-Scythian]

Karate was originally a more complete martial art with grappling included. It's just that after world war II Japan wanted it to become more of a eastern version of boxing. So the problem is that the karate you see today isn't being thought as a complete martial art as it originally was.

[@johnreidy2804]

YOu are spot on. I am a 4th dan in Goju and I can tell you that there are indeed grappling moves at the highest levels.

[@kennethprice3084]

Facts 💯

[@kennethprice3084]

​@@johnreidy2804much respect and well said

[@johnreidy2804]

@@kennethprice3084 Thank you friend

[@budoschulesamurai]

Shitoryu besteht aus drei Okinawa Stilen: Shuri Te, Naha Te (heute Gojuryu) und Tomari Te. Aus diesem Grunde werden im Shitoryu auch alle Katas dieser STyle geübt.

[@rebelninjafightclub]

The problem with karate is that a lot of what passes as karate today was not what it was meant to be. It was never meant to be a long range style. The point fighting style was a sport adaptation. It was meant to be a close range fighting system. Because most conflict happens at the close range. Kata was always meant to be fought at close range. Also Bunkai was always meant to be an academic then a physical exercise based on the historical literature. A student would come up with a new use for a kata move then practice during s two man drill. And practical interpretation of kata was always a part of the styles. You see that in the books written by the founders. They assumed people would come up with their own applications for kata.

[@budoschulesamurai]

Dann solltest Du Dich mal mit Kimura Shukokai (Tani Ha Shitoryu) befassen. Der Leitspruch von Kimura war: "one punch - one kill". Shigeru Kimura (siehe KZbin) war nicht nur Schüler von Chochiro Tani, einem Schüler des Shitoryu Begründers Kenwa Mabuni, sondern auch Karate Weltmeister, 4maliger Gewinner des japanischen All Style Turniers und Dr. Physik. Sein Wissen über die Physik hat er zeitlebens, (er starb leider mit 54 Jahren) dazu verwendet, um die Technik seines Karate, im Hinblick auf Schlagkraft (siehe dazu auch Peter Conserdine) zu verbessern. Seine Extreme Schlagkraft war dann auch sein Markenzeichen. Uns hat er immer gesagt: "Euer gegner hat ein Maschnengewehr, ihr nur einen einschüssigen Derringer, allerdings im Kaliber 454 Magnum. Jetzt müsst ihr nur noch lernen zu treffen". Oder: "Karate ist wie Jaido - Das Schwert ziehen und den Gegner mit der ersten Bewegung töten". Jeder, der jemals Kimura das Schlagkissen halten musste, wusste danach, von was er da sprach.

[@asherspragmatickarate]

That’s why I just started this channel my goal is to bring Karate’s original practicality back and its close range self defense methods to revive the art’s true purpose; to escape and avoid harm.

[@budoschulesamurai]

Da bin ich ja beruhigt. Ich habe gedacht Du willst das Karate Schlechtreden, so wie viele anderen, die nur das Sportkarate kennen und keine Ahnung haben.

[@Parz03]

Karate is in a much better state than kung fu

[@CombatSelfDefense]

That's fair.

[@camiloiribarren1450]

I suggest checking the kung fu style Bajiquan. It’s got a lot stuff that you could see in karate

[@gingercore69]

As someone who did both wushu and pointstyle karate let me laugh in sanda

[@Taekwon-Brando]

@@gingercore69i agree, currently laughing in sanda at this statement fellow gent

[@JeronimoFuneme]

Yep

[@SwordFighterPKN]

What's interesting is the Karate you are describing is what I was taught in the early 90s.

[@CombatSelfDefense]

Blood and guts karate definitely existed for a long time. It just wasn’t the overwhelming demand of karate at the time.

[@SwordFighterPKN]

@@CombatSelfDefense - you are very correct. I got lucky finding the teacher I had and he is still a great friend and mentor. I've heard is old stories and man the fights they would have in the gym. The best are when guys off the street would come in talking trash and they would draw straws to see who got to kick their ass.

[@carltonshell1964]

@@SwordFighterPKNLOL that actually still happens.. I have seen several people come in and claim they beat 20 Karateka at one tournament or another.. and all we can say is not from THIS Dojo.. and then proceed to let one of the yellow belts soundly thrash them. [Edit]: sorry I meant Green belt not Yellow belt (Free sparing only starts at green belt at our Dojo)

[@drumsticknuggets5123]

Same, but in the 80's I suspect the paychecks are much better catering to suburban kids. Karate and taekwondo got watered down as I suspect bjj will. Such is life. I think the video is spot on.

[@empyriansentinel4276]

If you already have control of your body (ca punch and kick, etc. effectively, try ninjutsu. It can do everything you mentioned effectively, in one coherent system, so that everything you learn applies to all the other pats. I'm not particularly a fan-boy, but it works. If like me, you come from hard-style karate you may subconsciously fight it, but just relax and soak it up.,it works - but with far less effort.

[@winge-dogjones2492]

40 years of fighting experience has told me that MMA, UFC is the best fighting on the earth when fighting in a MMA ring with their rules. Boxing is the best in a boxing ring. Karate is best for ippon kumite and for street fighting but useless in a MMA ring as their rules and use of gloves render the karateka's techniques as useful as an unloaded gun. Where MMA is useless on the street as their is no floor fighting in real life. When you go down your as good as dead. Complicated moves and locks and arm catching in marital arts are simply equivalent to set pieces in football they wont work in the flow of a real fight. I find simple fast powerful striking to strategic parts of the body and the use of positioning and the environment are the best in real life combat.

[@D.D.-ud9zt]

Lol mma is useless in a street fight. I'm sure War Machine former UFC fighter is the biatch in prison, no way unless he was too annoying and they ran a stab party on him which could happen to anyone.

[@artisticsolarninja]

Kyokushin wants to know your location

[@jeroenherlaar8308]

Muay Thai will meet you there.

[@ThePhenom9x]

@@jeroenherlaar8308 kyokushin and muay thai kick each other ass every time

[@jeroenherlaar8308]

@@ThePhenom9x depends under which rules

[@mizutxko]

Weak jaw, weak face, and most importantly no guard

[@spitzfire1107]

​@@jeroenherlaar8308 Only Kyokushin Karate can stand against Muay Thai.

[@salvatoreplacidoplumari3840]

Karate will never die

[@leandganie7714]

Karate was never meant to be a sport, it was meant as self defense

[@MarcinNevinyrral]

But without full contact sparring all you learn is empty moves.

[@DensApri]

This Is usually a pathetic excuse. Prove your worth in competition or rightly face the ridicule and fall into irrelevance

[@anastasisparastatidis5479]

Well it fails to be a self defense

[@CBHDK59]

not a sport. is good to say self- defense but is more then that, to understand combat or fighting, more importantly to understand how the body work with another body in movements.

[@MeibukanKarate1976]

@@MarcinNevinyrralFullcontact is only little part. There are much more important exercises. If you dont practice them, fullcontact also provides only little benefit for reality of selfdefence. There is no sport there you can learn and practice to attack eye, throat, groin, kneejoints and all this nasty stuff - what real karate focuses on clearly (but not sport karate, of course).

[@blackadder564]

Kyokushin always did fullcontact sparring. At least at the gyms I went to. Just not to the head.

[@dyvimmaavh4845]

Same here, but we also practiced full contact with protections on head and groins. No throws or locks, but I did a bit of judo and aikido...

[@Dan.50]

Kyokushin was created by Mas Oyama in the 60's to try and make karate work.

[@jeroenherlaar8308]

@@Dan.50 Issue is they abandoned punches to the head (bare knuckle practice isn't very practical...), which caused major issues down the line. The Thai kicked the Dutch Kyokushin guy's butts back in the days because of this. That is where Dutch kickboxing evolved from.

[@irahlondes5718]

There's no arguing Thai Boxing is great. But I'd like to offer a counter point on Kyokushin. Hand technics to the head are literally part of Kyokushin's syllabus, as it can be found in (for instance) "Vital Karate" by Masutasu Oyama where he detail all the basic technics. Eyes gougoing, punches to the throat, palms to the ears, etc... are all taught and practiced in Kyokushin. Of course you don't do that on your mates. When you spare, be it in Thai Boxing or in Kyokushin, you don't do technics that can lead to long lasting or permanent injuries, obviously. For instance in both arts you don't try to break your mates knee when hitting the leg but in a real self defence situation that's an option for both practitioners. Same with, say, groin kicks. So yes, there's a restrictive ruleset for competition, but that doesn't mean the style in itself is restricted. Competition is a subset of Kyokushin. The barehand practice is meant to actually be an advantage over other styles, because it offers realistic impacts and conditionning for both the body and the hand/legs, for the impacted and for the impacting part. Hitting with protective gears might be more flashy but it actually hamper the practitionner evolution. Furthermore, the rule of "no hands to the head" for competition isn't a safety feature. If it was, the knees and kicks to the head would have been banned too. It was meant, and is, a technical difficulty to develop more skilled fighters. But then of course, that doesn't mean every Kyokushin fight you can google will be technically impressive, as for any discipline out there. Once again, competition ruleset is a subset but people tends to take the subset for the whole thing. Hope that helps clarifying a few things.

[@budoschulesamurai]

@@Dan.50 Was mich ein wenig wundert, Oyama hatte beim Tsuki immer die Ellenbogenspitze nach unten. (siehe KZbin) Wenn ich aber heute Kyokushinkai ansehe haben fast alle die Ellenbogenspitze zur Seite.

[@camiloiribarren1450]

It’s really good to see how you analyze traditional styles with an open mind while still being fair. As an Okinawa Goju Karateka, meeting Okinawans, very happy because you’re not trashing it but you’re also not hyping it up. Kata, Kihon, Bunkai (breakdown of techniques) and Ju-Kumite (not point sparring). In my dojo and association, we do pad work and partner drills, intensifying practices and putting a more Kime (purpose and intent). Very nicely done

[@ellamayo9045]

As a traditional martial artist, I honestly love the idea of partner kata! Just feeling out and getting used to common situations and dynamics in a slow, controlled environment would be a great addition to so many gyms I’ve trained in, especially as a way to bridge the gap between isolated and applied technique. I’d really like to see this in action, if anyone has tried this in their class or style, I’d love to know how it went.

[@gamalcastile]

As a 40 year karate practitioner and former police officer who's actually had to fight real fights on the street, karate as practiced in a real, traditional, combative self-defense art is extremely effective. I agree with much of what was said about the watering down of karate over decades. It's mostly turned into a game and an exercise and often not really very efficient at either. But I disagree with the bunkai approach as being merely academic if you're training with a realistic element. Karate as a kickboxing form to me is no longer karate. It's kickboxing. It's boxing with some kicks. Karate is in-close, locking, smashing vulnerable points, and vicious destruction of joints and vital areas. Maybe most people don't train this way, but if you simply place your karate practice within the realistic parameters of "what if someone is trying to seriously hurt you....an unprovoked, non-consensual attack"....then karate body mechanics and applications can shine. The key element is "to sport or not to sport". I have zero interest in sport fighting. I don't want to stand toe to toe, hear the bell, and start trading punches and kicks. I want you to leave me alone and if you attack me, I want to stop you to the extent necessary. I've went from block/counter, resulting in several immediate knockouts, to clinching and locking up and taking down like a torpedo into the nearest hard object, resulting in fractures usually, to having someone in a neck lock applying pressure to break their neck if they continued. All karate basics applied in real situations. If you don't train with that mindset or intensity though, obviously you're just doing an exercise which is basically an Okinawan folk dance. Kickboxing is sport. It is not combat. You would not square up and engage one adversary in a test of attrition is if we're life or death. You would have a zero rules based engagement....not BJJ, not kickboxing, but smashing and breaking as immediately and violently as possible. Also, most people merely practice what I call arms & legs karate these days. There's no emphasis on full body power generation, whip and rebound of techniques done in immediate consecutive action. The point sparring nonsense is they throw 1 or 2 and back off. Everything should flow of the technique preceding it, like bending a stalk of bamboo as far as possible and letting it go. Karate is in a dismal state though, that much is true.

[@Atomic_Pinneaple]

Good

[@elginge9426]

Well said

[@budoschulesamurai]

Gerade aber Polizisten als Schüler sind etwas problematisch. Ich hatte auch schon Polizisten als Schüler. Oft fragten die mich: "Wieso musst Du, wenn Du eine Technik zeigst immer mit einer tödlichen Technik, wie z.B. einem Genickbrechhebel, abschliessen. Nun ich habe ihm dann erklärt, unser Karate ist eine Kriegskunst. Wenn der Gegner aufhört oder KO zu Boden fällt, höre ich auf. Ich trainiere aber IMMER den Fall, dass das vielleicht nicht geschieht, dann töte ich ihn. ABER - das höchste Ziel im Karate ist, es nie anwenden zu müssen. Wenn Du dass schaffst, hast Du die grösste Meisterschaft geschafft.

[@deangullberry5148]

While in the Army I spent two years in Korea, in the 90's. Watching the "natives" train in Tang Soo Do, as intended, was a sight to behold.

[@brdr6012]

Hi, I do Kyokushin. Our style hasn't had, like, any of the problems you've described, and Kyokushin has been around for 70 years. The difference between good Karate and bad Karate is whether the karateka and sensei *mean* it. Kyokushin means it, and I'm happy to keep doing it for that reason.

[@CombatSelfDefense]

You should look into Kenji Kurosaki and what happened when Kyokushin fighters competed in Thailand for the first time.

[@brdr6012]

@@CombatSelfDefense I remember that! Kurosaki was the only one to lose (he subbed in for a fighter last minute, wasn't prepared), and the other Kyokushin fighters went home heroes for their victories.

[@crisalcantara7671]

@@brdr6012 way to tell him

[@KarateUnity]

Great video once again. And thanks for including clips from our seminars. Everyone is on a different journey for different purposes. And I really believe all of us need to be factual about our practice. Not all Karate is the same, nor should it be. The problem is some organizations try to standardize it, and preserve something that should not be preserved. Karate is a personal expression . If anything is going to be preserved, it should be the evolution of the art. And I think you mentioned this, in your video, Karate is growing, and evolving . This is a very good thing. But to those who refuse to evolve it, and preserve it based on their own standards, as long as they are happy and healthy, and doing no harm to others, I see no problem with this. As far as Bunkai goes, I think the most open and holistic way to approach this is through cross training. When you immerse yourself in other arts, combat sports and combatives, you begin to see that everything is movement, and that we are more similar than different. At Karate unity, we are constantly evolving our practice through immersion in striking and grappling arts along with self-defence exposure…. Why? So we can understand our base art better. Great video, keep up the good work brother .

[@thomasmoore8505]

NAILED IT! Thank you for this video. As a Karateka I love seeing the art evolve with the practical martial arts movement. Excellent point about pad and bag work. I stress that point all the time with fellow martial artists.

[@elpatron6537]

Karate has a huge impact and influence to K-1 back in the 90s so its nothing new that Kickboxing is related with Karate

[@CombatSelfDefense]

I'm not claiming that the karate-kickboxing connection is new. Kenji Kurosaki, the man who invented "Japanese Kickboxing" was a Kyokushin black belt. But this ONLY existed for Kyokushin. Now it's for all of Karate.

[@greecostyler]

If karate was death why a lot of doormen or hustlers trains karate in the 70s and 80s?mamy K1 Winners. In the 90s The problem is the fitness industry and the reason why karate becomes soft.. But is still dangerous see wonderboy in mma.

[@jklaus100]

In ANY martial art, if you don’t live spar, you don’t know how to fight.

[@jasonpiliaris966]

You know I been in Karate for many years but I will never disrespect other martial arts out there because I always to learn to show honor and respect to others and MMA. Because remember it’s not about being a Black Belt or winning a fake gold plastic belt to be a Karate person or a Martial artist it’s the person behind the Black Belt to make the difference and it take dedication and commitment.

[@Jazzman-bj9fq]

I'd say this is pretty accurate. Contact sparring of 70-80's was legit, no joke combat training but not something that the average practitioner was going to be up for but instead it would be a relatively small tribe of 'wild men' who wanted to get it on. Not so good for getting alot of new students who had barely ever done anything athletic in their lives much less get into a square and throw and receive real blows. I've studied a couple of different Karate styles and the way I approached it was to separate it into two halves, the traditional academic half and the empty hand combat half. You have your 'academic' endeavors to learn forms and technique correctly that you need to be able to generate power but then you have your free flow fighting movement.

[@perfectsplit5515]

I remember back when I was training in karate in 1990, I heard rumors that when my sensei was still a student, his generation was much more of a fighting generation than my then-current generation.

[@CombatSelfDefense]

The tough part is, that's what EVERY generation says.

[@grahamarnhem8659]

No i can guarantee in the seventies and eighties karate training was infinitely harder.if you trained like that now the instructors would be prosecuted ​@CombatSelfDefense

[@adifferentangle7064]

Karate is still increasing in popularity. Stick to traditional styles if you want to actually be effective.

[@NYKgjl10]

Just subscribe to your channel and I enjoy your honesty in what Karate should be and it needs to evolve. As a Kyokushin practitioner for 15 years, as tough art that it is, I still always have this open mind to refine what I'm doing. What I manage to do is went to Iain Abernethy's seminar years ago and it open my eyes on bunkai which I'll be honest is missing in modern Karate in general and it needs to be implemented along with foot work, more clinches variations dynamic approach, e.t.c...Keep up the good job CSD and best wishes from California...OSU!!

[@CombatSelfDefense]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@muricanmike]

The way you mentioned forms is how my friend and I practice BJJ. Situational based with 40% resistance. It completely changes how you train in the art.

[@CombatSelfDefense]

Yeah, flow rolling is very similar to what I imagine "kata" should be.

[@toddianuzzi9296]

Not a karate guy but some of it seems applicable. Stephen Thompson, Michael Venom page put to use karate stances and footwork. Even Conor has a modified karate stance at times

[@Christianmartialartist78]

So much got lost when the art went from Okinawa to Japan. I was blessed to train in Shorin-ryu for 9 years. One of the things we had to do to go up in belt was bunkai and defense for dealing with blitz attacks or multiple attacks.

[@lars309]

Pre WWI, Okinawan Karate held closely to the chest to Ryukyuan's. Then Japanese invaded their Islands and said "Hey we want your karate". Do you think they would give their invaders what they consider "the good stuff"? No. So it was watered down. Next WWII Americans invaded Okinawa and Japan and in turn said "Hey we want your karate" Do you think they would give their invaders what they consider "the good stuff"? No. So it was watered down again/even farther. Funakoshi makes reference to this in his books "Modern Karate". Now what this KZbinr mentions is Sport Karate, aka play karate. Norris, Wallace, Lewis were not simply point fighters but contact fighter. Lewis was tough as nails. Pre MMA full contact bouts in Japan were known as shoot fighting. Misconception about people always trashing kata, all techniques are in the kata and finding a lineage on correctly interpreting the kata is key. There are many MMA fighters who trained in traditional karate which gave them the leading edge. IE GSP. Like building a house of deck of cards....GSP's foundation of karate gave him a good base. Most KZbinrs bash the traditional styles because they do not want to stand on a line and do nothing but basics for a year. Nor have they felt a block, kick or punch from someone who trains like this

[@CombatSelfDefense]

Except for that I have a 4th degree black belt in Kajukenbo and have done exactly that.

[@FeldyMohrisar]

It’s still hope for karate, unlike taekwondo that become worse every years. Kyokushin still better than other style on pressure test. My son do shotokan karate and how their kumite work is lack pressure test unlike kyokushin does. I’m do taekwondo and muay thai and at least I can teach my son some movement as secret technique.😅

[@CombatSelfDefense]

I think taekwondo is also on an upward trend right now

[@FeldyMohrisar]

@@CombatSelfDefenseyeah, there is Kombat Taekwondo that hope the old school power style can shine again.

[@manjitheerratic5127]

@@FeldyMohrisar ITF Taekwondo and Taekkyeon ( the ancestor art of Taekwondo ) are way better than WT Taekwondo ( Olympic Style )

[@FeldyMohrisar]

@@manjitheerratic5127 no itf on my country because of communists hoax.😅

[@sangkim7504]

I've heard that taekwondo as practiced and used by South Korean army during the Vietnam war was good.@@FeldyMohrisar

[@RaderizDorret]

In Isshin-ryu, we have "nihito" or "two-man" kata. Seisan and two weapons forms "bo-bo kumite" and "bo-sai kumite" in the curriculum (depending on your lineage). In my dojo (in the Sherman Harrill lineage) we also have several "dojo-only" katas developed by Harrill while he was alive plus our own modifications. In my dojo, I spent 7 years away for military service and got exposed to and trained in other martial arts and brought that knowledge back with me to come up with new ideas. Because our base was already good and focused on practicality (yes, we do a lot of kata for practice but it's not done in lines; the idea is "you know what you're here for, go train"), we've reinforced how we have the tools required to handle just about anything short of a fight where we're rolling on the ground looking for a submission hold. I'll note that my dojo is a black sheep among the Isshin-ryu community and we had a rival dojo that called us "the Dark side of Karate" as a reason why we're just "dumb brawlers". And it took me 6 years of training 3 days per week, 2 hours per session and proving I could be an effective teacher before I got my black belt. As of today, it's mostly my fellow black belts and maybe a handful of junior students and we literally meet up for class in the basement we're renting out of a small office building. A "hole in the wall" dojo.

[@goldenlionness7317]

sometimes the " hole in the wall" dojos are the best I remember hunting for a school to practice in for a summervwith my Dad. One school was a Jhoon Rhee split off. All kindsa fancy equipment, a commercial school. But when I overheard one of the Black belts talk about getting his Black belt in a year, I was like " forget it". Then I found a " hole in the wall" studio taught by an Asian instructor. Here was real martial arts a good hard workout, no frills just the " real deal"!

[@RaderizDorret]

@@goldenlionness7317Hole in the wall dojos have the advantage of the instructors not having to teach marital arts for a living and can focus on teaching what just plain works instead of pandering to suburban moms using their kids as merit badges. The dojos that annoy me the most are the ones that teach "karate" (often Tang Soo Do in my area) for their main class and then a separate "self-defense" class that doesn't use any of the main style they teach. If you can't actually use the style you ostensibly have an advanced black belt in, you suck as a martial artist. And I'm saying this as a guy who's been training for 21 years and holds a 2nd degree black belt in my style.

[@pedrowilliams220]

Kyokushin has been there since 1953 and yes there is also head strikes, it's a rule called Shinken Shobu.

[@crisalcantara7671]

all these idiots acting like kyokushin does not exist , they know verywell that's it's the strongest style of karate

[@pancrase9048]

Have you seen videos online called Enshin Karate? Back in the late 80s to early 90s there was an attempt to make Karate more legit with full contact strikes. The head kick knockouts and bloody faces were brutal.

[@perfectsplit5515]

In my opinion, karate should be split into two major subcategories of 1.) Knockdown Karate 2.) all other karate.

[@crisalcantara7671]

@@perfectsplit5515 it already is , kyokushin vs shotokan

[@perfectsplit5515]

@@crisalcantara7671 What about Shidokan, Seidokan, and Enshin? Aren't they also Knockdown Karate?

[@crisalcantara7671]

@@perfectsplit5515 all come from kyokushin yes

[@Lieutenant-Dan]

​@@perfectsplit5515 Aren't they just offshoots of Kyokushin?

[@K1-Glory]

Karate is more practical then kung fu

[@xMister.Misterx]

Karate Combat will ensure karate will not stay dead. As long as they run it properly it’s gonna do the same for Karate that MMA did for martial arts.

[@adamkraus6136]

Great video! As an international karate point fighter and traditional martial artist I think you hit the nail on the head. Though I do enjoy the sport, I look at it as a game that practices parts of fighting but not really fighting. Karate combat has allowed for a platform to develop the full arsenal of karate in a modern way. Sadly they are moving away from that as they are signing more and more mma/kickboxing fighters without a traditional background. Hope that karate can continue to evolve in today’s combat sports environment.

[@perfectsplit5515]

"by the time the UFC came around it was pretty clear karate no longer had what it took to compete in continuous full contact fighting particularly against styles like kickboxing, Muay-Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu" To be fair, any pure striking martial art will realistically fail against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or Wrestling. It has nothing to do with dilution of the style. A pure striking martial art will not teach people how to defend against takedowns effectively. -Royce took down and defeated the Continental Savate Champion in UFC 1. -Rorion took down and defeated a world kickboxing champion in a challenge match. -A judo black belt took down and defeated the world champion of Muay-Thai in UFC 2. Those defeated strikers were not products of watered-down training. Their disciplines had a deficiency, which grapplers exploited.

[@Plantaman]

I'm a lifelong karateka who has recently started MMA-style training. I fully agree with this video. Also, a personal anecdote: I was expecting the technical aspects of punching, kicking, and dodging to be much different, and to completely abandon karate as an art. I found that most, if not all, technical skills translated well, and finally found meaning and application in many obscure movements and even kata. What is profoundly different and a big detriment to karate and the way it's trained is the lack of a sense of RYTHM and CONTINUITY. You essentially learn the most efficient way to write letters of the alphabet which look beautiful. But you struggle forming words or sentences.

[@YoutubeCommenter1]

To be honest I think many of the bunkai people are suffering from some kind of sunk cost fallacy. They have often spent decades doing karate, so when they become disillusioned with its self-defense application they start searching through kata to reinvent original karate. If your interest is in historical reenactment, that is completely fine, but if you actually want to learn effective grappling moves there are living breathing humans who can teach you right now without having to sit and speculate about kata.

[@southtxguitarist8926]

I totally agree. One of those guys is Patrick McCarthy. He's the author of The Bible of Karate: Bubishi, which I bought based on a review by Karate Nerd Jesse Enkamp. It's one of the most poorly written books I've ever read, and in it McCarthy even recommends all Karate practitioners learn Chinese herbal medicine and claims that dim mak - death from pressure points - is real. He runs around doing seminars on bunkai and to me most of it looks like "What? You think THAT'S what that move is for?" I have a black belt in Shotokan and judging by what we were taught I'd give the grappling edge to just about any 6 months in BJJ student over a Shotokan BB.

[@vagabond4576]

Kind of like Boot Camp in the Marines. All they do is March all the time. Not really necessary but many of my peers will make excuses like it teaches precision and decipline bs. I could teach tactics and make people effective without that shit.

[@FreedomDiaries1]

Karate in its basic form has always worked. Simple but effective and many styles but the basic persists. Steak and Potatoes can be done in many different ways but its most basic still exists because it work.

[@Shorikid]

Hitting targets, striking targets, are traditional to karate. Working kata with a partner to work against normal attacks was good it originally worked, not what demo competitions led to. The Old Style karate in this video, mostly came about in the 1940s+, which in the history of the art, is pretty recent. Plenty of calls criticism here, but some extra context is needed.

[@kevinomahoney]

You left out Andy Hug.

[@artisticsolarninja]

He never know him

[@crisalcantara7671]

@@artisticsolarninja or anything about kyokushin , tis vid is a joke

[@FRESHL1887]

Actually. Gichin funakoshi, the founder of the Shotokan style, has already made the original Karate child-friendly to make it able to be introduced into the Japanese world outside Okinawa. This, plus the "japanization" of Karate had been criticized by the other traditional Karate masters from Okinawa, which also led to a widespread division into different Karate styles.

[@Freethink_Rebel]

So basically, every style of karate has figured out what Sosai Oyama did with kyokushin since its inception. The funny thing is that Kyokushin was looked down on by other karate styles because it wasn't considered "real karate."

[@crisalcantara7671]

they only hated it cause they got there asss beaten to much by it

[@freddyshams1787]

I agree with this. Im also glad my dojo does all 3 just like you explained it. We do kihon 2 days a week. And then we do kihon with a partner 3 days. And kumite 2-4 days. Kata i personally dropped it cuz it just wasnt for me (i did learn them tho)

[@mattlaubscher5020]

America is the reason people think karate sucks.

[@jeroenherlaar8308]

There is only: striking, kicking, throwing, choking, breaking. The rest is just about how to apply these in a frame of sports rules. Sport rules dictate much of how techniques can be applied and how styles developed. Kyokushin karate pretty much is Muay Thai without the strikes to the head, which has had a HUGE impact on how the two styles developed. Not having to worry about getting punched in the face has turned Kyokushin in a completely different sport compared to Muay Thai or Kickboxing.

[@astonwrath6879]

I'm a TKD guy. The art I study has its roots from karate. I feel like this video seriously touches on my art as well. Thankyou so much for this!

[@Californology]

Did about 6 years of Kung Fu split between two schools.Including Sanda, Wing Chun. Currently study boxing and have recently stopped practicing Muay Thai regularly due to reoccurring injury. I humbly admit I was never super talented but dedicated myself to doing the basics right. I’m almost 50 and regret not formally studying Karate with some good schools always near me. King Fu was a mixed experience for me. There is a false sense of security culture. It all depends on the teacher I guess like any martial art per some points in this video. I respect Karate more than ever at this point in my life.

[@AC_193]

I’m currently making changes to how I practice my Karate trying to incorporate modern styles training. I’m not sure if it’s working yet but I do feel like I’ve made a little bit of progress in the last few months. My mindset in all this is that Karate is not about how many katas you know or how perfect the technique looks. The original purpose of Karate is to protect yourself.

[@jacobhochstetler825]

I did this a few years ago from Taekwondo, my best advice is to find some Kickboxers or Muay Thai people to spar with. Or possibly get a few private lessons from a kickboxing coach. This will help you figure out what you need to work on and will vastly improve your training.

[@cletusgadsden2969]

Kyokushin? Aren't they pretty effective and at realistic fighting?

[@YoutubeCommenter1]

The rule against punches in the head leads to some pretty bad habits. Many videos online of kyokushin practitioners standing right in the pocket, sewing machine punching each other in the chest with no regards for their face being right open

[@davidharper8132]

Kyokushin is awesome, many of the K1 fighters came from Kyokushin. It's not hard to add boxing to a solid Kyokushin base. There's a number of successful UFC fighters with a Kyokushin background.

[@cletusgadsden2969]

@@davidharper8132 I know, I just needed to place some things out there!

[@realamericannegro977]

Nothing realistic about punching each other in the chest back and forth. They talk about other styles of karate but theirs is the worst of the popular ones.

[@markrichards9226]

What you are talking about is not new and it really shouldn’t be considered an adaptation. REAL KARATE has been doing these things for a long time. I have been involved in karate for about 35 years and my teacher, God rest his soul, was from the sixties and seventies “blood and guts” era and he refused to change to be commercial. I am 52 and still teach, still spar, and still cross train in jujitsu (Sensei was totally cool with it as he was very good at judo as well). Non of these people that you mentioned (Page, Thompson, and the rest) are doing anything different from what I learned and did or my Sensei did or even his Sensei.

[@Highlander88]

Hi, I started with Judo 1984 and then with Karate 1987. Because I had to stay for my Job in different Locations, I learned Ju Jutsu, Jiu Jitsu, Wing Tsun, Archery and Arnis too. You are fully right, Karate in the 90' was more self defense oriented and complient to the rest of the styles I trained. Today I train with the Makiwara and I make Kata Bunkai. I think that the Kata is like a book. You can read it and understand only the top level of what's written. You can read it very nicely for a child, but that's like Ballet. Or you dive deep in it and seen an endless number of practical self defence. This brings Karate to life and you have a lot of benefits from it. For me personally it helps me to survive in critical situation in my life and pushes me to efficiency in my Job. I respect every Martial art, but I am proud to be a Karateka!!! Please excuse my bad english, I am German. Bye Willy

[@bryanfox6726]

As others have mentioned, and I second ... what you said is how we trained "Karate" in the 80's ... Full-contact sparring, joint-locks, throws, knife, gun defense, etc., etc. We taught self-defense while a lot of the other schools were after numbers / business ...

[@1Blkkato]

I'm 60 and grew up in Detroit in the 70's. During that time karate trained guys were coming back from Nam along with Marines who served in Japan. Karate taught then was deadly!!! Ear rips, throat attacks, eye gouging techniques, groin attacks, breaking fingers, breaking ribs, using a ridge hand to break noses, judo chops to break jaws etc... My neighbor family center had a blk guy named karate keith who taught classes there, he was super deadly and this is when gangs were strong in Detroit - he use to challenge all the street toughs and kick their asses in front of everybody. He wouldnt get away with it now cause gangs use guns now instead of just fighting.

[@michaelgreen7511]

Very interesting concept for evolution of Karate. On a recent trip to Japan, most Karate dojo's I visited, are incorporating what you described as "3 New Ways of Training". Regardless of style, dojo's are training their students for fighting similar to K1 or MMA. Another thing I learned was that most who train Karate also had trained Judo growing up, so they were more well rounded. In Japan, there are also very popular style of Karate that are basically MMA, but they still wear a gi and incorporate the traditional concept of Budo. Hopefully the USA will start to change as you suggested. It's already begun in Japan.

[@SonnyCrocket-p6h]

low kicks, especially to the shins, knees, and nuts, are understandably banned in most styles, just like head butts and bites are, and for the same reason, There's too high a risk of serious injury. . But such things SHOULD be religiously practiced, with protection and focus on how "deep" the strike goes, cause they work so astoundingly well in a real fight.

[@blackmetalassasin1]

In styles like goju ryu and uechi ryu, these type of techniques are highly encouraged and are a lot more focused on as the styles basic techniques. Its more american styles that encourage high and flamboyant techniques where as the older okinawan schools tend to focus on a lot more simplified techniques.

[@Op_Intrude-N313]

Karate is basically a Phoenix

[@rutiloromero446]

They just need to incorporate more open sparring with gloves and headgear. The point fighting system is more for kids.

[@Izzykyokushinkai]

Kyokushin Karate still here 😭

[@sesimie]

My Shotokan Sensei was also a National Competing Judoka. We were doing clinch work because I was bullied by a boxer in my early teens in the 90's. I am all about grappling now.

[@TheresaReichley]

Other than the tradition, it’s kinda silly to keep trying to “revive” karate and Tae Keon Do back into fighting arts. They have to completely change just to be useful, stop using forms as they did traditionally, and so on. At some point, you’re having the same problem as a guy trying to put an engine in a horse - sooner or later the best performance is in getting rid of the horse part. There are other arts that do the things that people say they want in MA as self defense. Savate, Muy Thai, Jeet Kune do, Bartjutsu, and modern Kickboxing all do the things that you want to modernize Karate into being (and Savate is arguably older than Karate which mostly is an amalgam of styles formalized in 1900, where Savate existed in near modern form in 1830s or earlier). So the question is why bother with a style that isn’t teaching what you need it to teach when other styles do?

[@hopelesslydull7588]

Using your horse/car metaphor, by the vast majority of metrics, trains are better for society than cars but we keep building more roads for cars. Should we abandon cars completely for trains and bikes or should we try and rework how we use cars to not ruin commuting and walkable communities? Sometimes it takes hindsight to see how much a martial art has changed for the negative. Sometimes it takes those that are irrationally attached to their martial art to see the good trapped in the bad and a desire to pull it out. Karate and Taekwondo were once real practical and effective martial arts, so why should they not become that way again?

[@realamericannegro977]

American Karate and any hybrid will usually be legit.

[@Goshin65]

As an OG karate-ka who also trained other systems, I think you're more right than wrong here, though with a few caveats. I started teaching again (non-commercial school) recently because almost every local MA school I visited was pathetic, BJJ included. As someone who fought in and out of the ring, did several MA's, was a cop etc, I teach what I've found to work in self-defense. I don't teach kata at all; most bunkai was lost or deliberately obscured so long ago that I don't think there's enough gain in reconstructing it for practical use. Once a student has the form of a technique worked out, we go to partner drill or hitting the bag/shield/mitt. Application and tactical deployment of techniques is emphasized. We don't do kobudo, nunchaku sai and tonfa, we do stick knife and OC. When we spar all techniques are allowed as long as you don't send your opponent to the ER. Sport fighting has its place: it is good to do some, test yourself against others, learn to hit and take a hit... but you have to realize all sport fighting has rules for safety while the real world does not (it has "rules" but they are *entirely* different!) If a student wants to fight in the ring I'll train them for that, but my main focus is self-defense in the real world. Ok end rant, got that off my chest, good video you're hitting some good points, keep it up.

[@LeinonenHannu]

I’ve been getting back to karate for a year or so. I am a pragmatist. I like my techniques to work in live sparring, but I do not compete and I’m not worried about my sefty. I do karate for fun and health. I do play with some bunkai ideas, but it’s very hard to make them work in life sparring even when it’s very light.

[@toranotsumedojo]

Has anyone read any of the material left by some of the famous karate teachers? They tell you outright and with examples, how to train it and how to use it. Karate for fighting is a relatively modern thing. And what we have is kinda crappy kickboxing that doesn't look or function anything like the source material. Rob has it here. He points to both self-defense karate and sport karate. Though they my have some overlap, they are not the same thing for the same purpose. We get bogged down focusing on the skill building that some of us tend to miss the overall benefits of training. You ever look at the lifespan of the past masters with that of some of their contemporaries? Those guys get O.L.D. Saying thing like "It's not for fighting" detracts from the many karateka that dedicate their lives to dueling other martial artists. And saying "you cannot defend yourself unless you do full contact sparring" is kind of leaving out all of the people that would actually need to rely on karate as a mode of self defense. So 75 year old grandma training to recover from a hip replacement needs a concussion to know what its like to get hit so she knows what she is in for when she is attacked in the Wal-Mart parking lot? I don't think so. Self-Defense and fighting are not the same thing. The bell rings. You push the ref into your opponent. Then climb through the ropes and hit the nearest exit without a single blow thrown or taken. That will get you DQ'd in any fighting arena, but that is almost perfect self-defense. I say almost perfect because not showing up would have been better. Make sense?

[@Fr33Diver]

I was in karate as a kid 5-20yrs in the 80s and 90s. I took it very seriously and competed at a high level. It definitely saved my ass on several occasions in real street fights as an adult. In a self defense setting. And on occasion against multiple attackers.

[@gw1357]

I'm not a karateka and used to have a very low opinion of it, but I've developed an interest in it and greater respect for it while watching Senseis Enkamp and Abernathy's channel and Steven Thompson's fights. I think the practical karate movement that tries to get back to Karate as an off-shoot of southern Chinese kung fu (before it was Japan-ified) has a lot of value for self-defense. Jesse Enkamp's video on the differences between Japanese and Okinawan karate is still arguably the best video in the history of martial arts youtube -- so much scholarly value and still entertaining. I think the point about two-man katas has a lot of merit. Do you think you do that by making up new katas specifically to be two-man or by creating the second part to traditional katas?

[@CombatSelfDefense]

I personally would suggest developing new kata based on practical fighting experience

[@zuazuafilm]

Great video!! I’m starting a marital arts journey myself. Any advice on where a rookie like me can look for these newer types of karate?

[@gingercore69]

Great video, i agree that karate has to evolve 💜 I practice a martial art called sipalki, it originally was a badass self defense system.... Many schools went for the pointstyle open style tournaments and it watered down the style while some kept training brutally like it was suposed to be... Cristian serpiente bosch is a sipalki guy that when he got asked if it was hard to go from sipalki to full contact sports he said "of course... Because most of the things we did in sipalki were not allowed in the ring... Sipalki was at the time, the closest thing to mma"... With that in mind, the school i practice in has a similar ruleset to mma... But to be honest it still looks traditional... Its like having an mma federation where everyone tried to be the karate kid... So... It can still be done with karate too

[@lainhikaru5657]

I don't know if this is true or not, but one of the senseis in my dojo said that the reason why gekisai dai ichi was the first kata you would learn was because it is the nost practical to apply in a self defense situation. The main part it's basically a kick to the groin followed by an elbow to the chin. Then again Goju-ryu kata tends to fluctuate between very blunt to very breathing focus. The ones on breathing were very praised for some reason and I never understood why because I didn't went past blue belt.

[@CombatSelfDefense]

There is definitely some combative elements to kata. But a lot of them are performative and the application is a second or third priority.

[@southtxguitarist8926]

I'm 67, and what's happened to karate in more recent times is similar to what happened 50 years ago when full contact karate and kickboxing were coming about. There was an event held in 1975 in Houston, TX called “Karate Masters versus Boxing Professionals” that ended up with the "karate" fighters (many were TKD fighters from the Korean national team) losing every fight. People want to wax nostalgic about how the Karate practitioners of the olden days were so much better, but mediocre boxers came into full contact Karate and kickboxing and just wrecked the karate guys because they weren't used to getting punched in the head. It happened again in the early days of no holds barred/MMA matches. The modern MMA fighters who have backgrounds in karate and other "traditional" arts (that's a whole other can of worms) have ALL cross trained in advanced grappling, striking, and conditioning that they didn't learn in their karate classes. Look at Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. I read an interview with his dad Ray, who's his main trainer and also a kickboxing champ. He stated that their school was *never* about traditional karate, don't practice kata, and they're only interested in what works. Ray was a kickboxing champ in the 80's and has been practicing BJJ since 1996. Wonderboy's brothers-in-law are Carlos Machado - cousin to the Gracies - and former D-1 wrestler, BJJ black belt, and former UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman. Think he might have picked up some tips from those guys? But sure, let's claim his success is all because he practices "karate."

[@jisy9785]

"They are all facing the same issue". Yeah...I don't think Kyokushin has ever faced those tho. So maybe you would like to not include that one. Cause Kyokushin has none of the problems you just said.

[@crisalcantara7671]

they always pretend that kyokushin doesn't exist and yap only about pont karate fighter acomplishments , american garbage media hype

[@jisy9785]

@@crisalcantara7671 Truueeee

[@Mrcashewww]

@@crisalcantara7671 Yeah they always seem to forget all the kickboxers and mma fighters who came from kyokushin.

[@crisalcantara7671]

@@Mrcashewww 😀

[@uexkeru]

I don't buy the "it was brutally effective back in a vague time of poor documentation" that goes for all these forms-based styles. They spend time doing all these repetitive moves that had applications trained in a way that would look ridiculous now, but as soon as they see a more practical movement they go "well that was already in the kata". The kata is like a Rohrschach test but they're projecting all the stuff real fighters do into their vague arm waving motions.

[@a-man3179]

Stephen Thompson uses it pretty well

[@adennnardi9010]

Nice video. The clips you’ve edited in tell me you’re very familiar with the karate world. Some hard to find and niche clips in there. I’m a Goju ryu practitioner and I agree with a lot of what you’ve said. I’m glad we do practice a lot of what you mentioned. Balancing tradition and progression is always a challenge.

[@davidecappelli9961]

Kihon should include hitting on a bag, because hitting the air is more about breaking the momentum than real impact. Kumite should include throwing and basic ground fighting. You can do this with a 10% of cross training with grappling martial arts like Judo, JJJ, BJJ etc…Most basic, traditional MA’s go a long way when coupled with modern concepts and cross training. This doesn’t mean you have to do MMA. Congrats on your vid! 👍

[@stevegray4012]

Great to hear someone with this POV, I agree with what you say, I've been thru the ridiculous karate past and have emerged into the functional karate future.

[@kaibasan1]

Everything described in this video are things that are practiced at my school. The problem is that most “karate schools” don’t focus on sparring and applications. Remember that MMA is a rule set and that exposure and experience are key factors when it comes to to combat performance.

[@salve8496]

"come back stronger than ever" do you know what Kyokushin is? Or do you only know about karate from youtube videos?

[@crisalcantara7671]

he keeps repeating that one kyo guy lost to a thai fighter but forgot to mention andy hug and glaube feitosa and akimoto who fights in one chamionship who are top tier kyo fighters , seams to lable evey larate style the same , clickbait useless vid to get karate guys angry .

[@ns987]

"Modern karate" is Kudo

[@alanguages]

Kicks to the head don't work. -Royce Gracie (Early 90's) All you need is Jiu Jitsu to be successful in MMA. - Royce Gracie (2013)

[@D.D.-ud9zt]

Royce wasn't the best fighter in the family, and bjj they trained did employ strikes as well, the focus was getting the fight to the ground, but if someone was open for a straight right you landed it. I don't know how easy it would be to find a school that teaches such bjj today. There's a nerdification that every art goes through. Most guys wanting to learn bjj aren't tough guys, they don't want to get punched in the face or kicked in the ribs. Now the thing bjj has going for it is as long as the technique is taught somewhat correctly they actually wrestle and they can learn how to get which choke in and get out of bad positions. The problem it has is because of restrictions positions that may be fine against a fellow bjj artist may get your face smashed in on the street. To me its the king of challenge matches, like in hs where everyone gathers in a circle and doesn't let anyone intervene and you both square off. How often does that happen in real life? I would say for someone who wants self defense do boxing and be done with it. Just don't assume that your boxing is a guarantee on the streets but if you have no choice its one of the best arts if you are good at it.

[@D.D.-ud9zt]

Royce wasn't the best fighter in the family, and bjj they trained did employ strikes as well, the focus was getting the fight to the ground, but if someone was open for a straight right you landed it. I don't know how easy it would be to find a school that teaches such bjj today. There's a nerdification that every art goes through. Most guys wanting to learn bjj aren't tough guys, they don't want to get punched in the face or kicked in the ribs. Now the thing bjj has going for it is as long as the technique is taught somewhat correctly they actually wrestle and they can learn how to get which choke in and get out of bad positions. The problem it has is because of restrictions positions that may be fine against a fellow bjj artist may get your face smashed in on the street. To me its the king of challenge matches, like in hs where everyone gathers in a circle and doesn't let anyone intervene and you both square off. How often does that happen in real life? I would say for someone who wants self defense do boxing and be done with it. Just don't assume that your boxing is a guarantee on the streets but if you have no choice its one of the best arts if you are good at it.

[@Goshin65]

I started training Karate in the 70s, and into the 80s before moving on to other martial arts. Back in 1979, Karate was a very different thing. We trained HARD... because in 1979 young men fought a LOT, and the question wasn't *whether* someone would try to kick your ass (or worse), but *when would be the next time* (and the answer was likely "soon"). Karate-ka were respected then, because a reasonably well trained karate man would kick Joe Roughouse' ass 90% of the time. OTOH I recently helped my nephew scout a large number of martial arts schools in the area for a place to train.... and omg what a disheartening and pathetic journey that was! Most schools were "kuhrotty daycare" with 90% of students under 13, mostly playing around 3/4 of the time and half-ass training the other quarter. Most non-karate martial arts schools were hardly any better (bjj, kickboxing etc). I was so disgusted I started teaching a class at the local gym so my nephew would have somewhere decent to train, even though I was semi-retired. Anyway.... I think like a lot of martial arts (TKD and Judo come quickly to mind, but it is happening to bjj too) once they were made into *sports* and became *popular* they were watered down in the name of safety, sportsmanship and mass appeal (and instructor profits). My first dojo was an old storefront: no mats, no air conditioning, and my sensei had a day job. Later I trained in garages, back rooms and also one commercial dojo, but as "karate teacher" became a full time career path everybody had to have a fancy gym in a high-rent area and overhead costs drove tuition thru the roof. Many schools I was in didn't take little kids, but in the 90s they started taking children that could barely walk and talk, and teaching them not much more than pillow fighting because the soccer moms didn't want Lil Johnny actually learning to *fight* and coming home with a split lip now and then. Ok end rant, "old man yells at cloud" and so on, lol. Maybe more to say in a bit...

[@JO-uy6zs]

Your not talking about fighting. Your talking about combat sports. Different topics.

[@CombatSelfDefense]

no, they aren't.

[@JO-uy6zs]

@CombatSelfDefense Modern combat sports require far more dedication and commitment and training. Asian Martial arts can be done by my grandma. Sport and art are different. Military/police is a 3rd category.

[@Kyle-vb3fz]

Anyone who says karate is dead or ineffective, they have never stepped foot or trained in a full contact karate, kyokushi karate, ashihara karate, or enshin karate dojo. (Amongst other styles not named as well.)

[@FluentInExcel]

been trying to find that old UFC clip at 0:24 for years, what were those fighters' names?

[@CombatSelfDefense]

Johnny Rhodes vs. Fred Ettish. UFC 2

[@perfectsplit5515]

@@CombatSelfDefense Back when I was still a pure karateka, seeing Fred Ettish's performance was a graphic portrayal of my worst fear if I ever got into a streetfight with a violent aggressive predator. I feared that if I got into a fight, my performance would be similar to that of Fred Ettish. :(

[@CaPnBaLlBaG]

As karate stands now, I think it's excellent supplemental training for someone with a combat sports background. But I agree it's got a ways to go before it makes a good "base" martial art. I started in Shorin Ryu karate as a kid and trained all the way through my teenage years. Never got my blackbelt due to a string of injuries and money getting really tight as I got older. After taking most of my 20's off I started BJJ in my late 20's and now train MMA with a heavy grappling focus. I think my karate background adds a lot to my striking (being really tall for my weight, the in and out stuff works great for my build) but I'm terrible at striking in the pocket still. I'd love to go back to karate one day and try to more seemlessly incorporate what I've learned from MMA. Maybe try to build a complete system with better clinch work and grappling supplementing the outside striking.

[@Maodifi]

I'm wondering about if other martial arts that have fallen from grace could be "revived" as karate has. As long as the style has had some relatively recent combat sport use, I would think it was possible.

[@Pifagorass]

My son is doing BJJ and Shikiokushin and progressing fast in BJJ and very slow in kicking the air. Once kids kumite starts he's happy 😅 . Consider watching Shihan Cameron Quinn Karate (he's also BJJ master and instructor). Great fusion ❤

[@cowlico]

I really love your videos!! Lots of information and better ways to train!! Thank you for these, I try to do a lot of practical training!

[@CombatSelfDefense]

Glad you like it! Hope training is going well!

[@stevenroy2074]

Ouch! Has a karate pratictionner, it hurts. But its exactly how i feel when i compare karate versus other martial art. Nice video!

[@Matt_Mosley1983]

Not dead by a long shot. Not for babysitting, just some people dabble in it for easy money..,the same as almost every martial art (or so-called martial art in some cases) *100-MILLION practicioners worldwide < minmum.*

[@jernbean7856]

Point said, The risk of serious bodily harm. real martial arts is used for war not a daycare system

[@crisalcantara7671]

thank america for that

[@Ananko16]

Karate originally incorporated throws and joint locks (grappling) and possibly even chokes. These are fundamental to self defence, yet have been lost to modern karate, possibly because they would scare students away. Ironically, this has led to the downfall of karate, in that it's an incomplete fighting system. People are eschewing karate for more effective martial arts (e.g. BJJ). I personally started learning karate over thirty years ago. I was looking to build self confidence, but didn’t find karate did it for me. I therefore quit but decided to take it up again thirteen years ago, thinking the problem might have been me, rather than karate. Whilst karate did help with my self confidence to a cettain extent, I felt it still wasn't giving me what I was looking for. I have consequently stopped karate and taken up BJJ instead. Early days yet, but I think BJJ might be what I'm after.

[@daeusmarquis]

If you're looking for karate where there isn't so much stoppage during the fight (i.e.: after every scored technique), check out the Koshiki style fighting that is prevalent in Shorinjiryu karate. The fight is ongoing, only stopping now and then to award points and then it resumes again. This is the fighting style that I have trained in since white belt.

[@kazninja11]

So i am a kendo practitioner and your thoughts on kata for "neo karate" is exactly what we practice. 2 man practice. One is the attacker, one is the defender. However I am well aware kendo has its own flaws, the primary focus on kihon and keiko (our version of kumite/randori) has made sure that the art has not been watered down to the extent of karate. One question I do have is, how do you think the Second World War and the post-war GHQ ban on martial arts impacted the many forms of karate. In the case of kendo, it was originally a post meiji restoration military art which included grappling, and takedowns as we as skill with a training sword. However post-war the focus had changed significantly to mental and character development. Does karate have a similar history?

[@MarioLamRedRebel]

Its not a good thing, karate is a great martial arts and good self defense because mma is not for everybody plus karate is a good teaching for children that get bullied on school or street. Be humble but when needed fast and hit his target. Greetings from the Netherlands 🥋 OSU 🥋

[@shevetlevi2821]

Martial arts in general, and karate specifically was always meant to evolve. The important thing is to retain the timeless principles that still work, distill out what doesn't and add new principles to allow it to thrive. All while keeping the richness of its heritage and keeping its soul.

[@josifnietoart5784]

In my school of Song Moo Kwan we practice one step sparring and if interested we can pursue 3 step sparring which similar to what kata with a partner would be but in a shorter form. A one step at my school works by your partner breaking down into a ready stance and throwing an attack at a predetermined location and you defend and return a counter strike. My school for example has 24 one steps separate from the kata we practice. In its most advance form the attack is no longer predetermined you respond from your mental library of one steps. What are your thoughts on the one step sparring method?

[@cvz8849]

I have figured it out what is wrong with a 1000 year old martial art in my ten years of karate and bjj....

[@roykilling2496]

The Japanese master Gogen Yamaguchi introduced a really great system of Jiyu Kumite. They fight from nekoashi dachi, and shift around to other stances as required. It is definitely a close-quarter system that actually LOOKS like their style of karate (Goju Ryu). They don't look like generic kick-boxing, nor do they bounce back and forth like in competition karate tournaments. They most certainly do become effect at defending themselves. The key is dealing with a threat that is unplanned and spontaneous. That is done in point sparring as well, but the range is much further away, and a scoring point just has to make minimal contact.