Have you ever used karate in a real street fight .. ?

benedictbm · Orange Belt

i haven't had to use my fighting skills for a street fight for a few reasons. some have been mentioned. My training and what we teach at our school "common sense before self defense". i am also very rarely around people that arent my friends. So this also helps on the people that just wanna see if they can beat you up or not since your in karate.

KU · Yellow Belt

Some people have said that you souldn't do karate just to learn how to fight, well that depends on what you mean by fight. If by fight you mean that you want to defend your pride when someone gives you a bit of lip in a pub than the fighting side of karate is quite useful for that. If by fighting however, you mean to defend your self or loved one's when there is no other option than do a self defence course. If my life is being threatened I don't want to use some flash karate move that only works 9 out of 10 times because that one time that it doesn't work might be this time and I could end up dead. I would rather use pure self defence in which case I know in practice I have never not had it work.
So then you might ask why do karate at all, well I think that it should be learnt so that you know how not to fight, how not to put your self in a situation where you need to use it. Once you have done karate for an extended period you will find you don't need to fight to maintain your pride, if someone gives you some lip in a bar offer to buy them a drink as they are probably drunk anyway and they'll feel pretty stupid wanting to fight someone who just bought em a drink.
People need to learn how to defuse a situation without there fists, there is no need to spray around your testosterone and show how big you are. Simply swallow your pride and forget it.
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- Only by contrast can we see.
- Each for his own.

Pyros · Yellow Belt

I have noticed that a lot of fights occur in certain places. If you avoid the places, you avoid the fights. Of course this leaves you still vulnerable to random acts of violence, robbery and rape, but it drops the chances of a violent encounter dramatically. I was kind of used to seeing fights every week in a couple of my then regular bars. The bars had loud rock music, lots of bikers and drugs, etc. Later I didn't go to bars that much and when I do, I go to the nicer ones where bikers are not so common. Now I have noticed that I haven't seen a single fight in at least a year! The last time I was in a fight, was summer 2001, I was very drunk but had to defend my sister from a robber. The robber was obviously completely stoned and didn't feel anything I got through to him. I had to run after my sister was safe.

ramymensa · Black Belt

I've read something about not having to take a MA just to go to some self defence classes. Well I do karate, but I also went to self defence classes held by my sensei and his assistant. There were many students who came to learn something in order to defend and only few had some MA training. The rest were out of shape in such an extent they couldn't cope with the training

For them blocks, kicks, grappling, escapes and so on were hard to understand and to perform and it will take a lot of time to perform the techniques properlly and safe. For those who did some MA everything was easier and we really enjoyed it. Knowing the basics is OK and thus you can accomplish new things.
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Kensai · Black Belt

I have always thought that in the Budo arts, using them in self defence is not actually using Karate-do/Judo/Aikido. Ofcourse you are using the physicalitys, but failed in the spiritual aspect.

To get into the situation where you have to fight in the first place is a weakness in character.

Pyros · Yellow Belt

gheinisch · KF VIP

I've been studying the art of Karate for some time now, and have never been put into a position where I had to use it. I credit my trianing with this as well. My Hanshi has used the saying from a story, "If your hand goes forth withhold your temper" "If your temper goes forth withhold your hand". All techniques in Karate start with a block(defense) and never a strike(offense).

If you do start to train in the Art of Karate be sure to find a good dojo that not only teaches you the Art but the Morality and Responsibilty that comes with it.

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"If your hand goes forth withhold your temper"
"If your temper goes forth withold your hand"
-Gichin Funakoshi

Kensai · Black Belt

To be honest Pyros I was trolling to see what people would say.

Sorry to hear what happened, and this attacker was disgraceful.

But you did the right thing in the face of an attack, this is also Budo is it not?

Yours in Aiki.

Dablackbelt · White Belt

O. I have never been in a fight, well a real one anyway. It's a pain in the a- rear... Cause my mates all know that I do karate and that I am a black belt but I get a couple of 'em going "Come on show us a move!" And hitting me hard in the arm and saying "Aren't you gonna hit me back?"stuff like that.... I aint gonna though; 1) I don't actually know how strong I could be when I try so I don't want to risk it (I don't mean to sound cocky there but I don't know how much pain I could inflict) and 2) I promised in my license and I don't break promises.

I gotta admit though.. There have been alot of times when I have been tempted to deliver a quick snap-punch into their face and I have never been in a real fight so I wanna know what it's like.. If ya know what I mean..

P.S Sorry if I've repeated myself a few times there..

SaiFightsMS · KF VIP

There is much more to a real knowledge of a martial art than just how kick, punch or grapple. The mental battles come in many different forms.

When I first started training I wanted to tell everyone what I was doing; it was just so great. But the longer I train the more personal it becomes for me.

Some of the most truly skilled people I have seen are those who do the least amount of talking about what they do. They are just very quiet and humble.

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