Does Karate Work in a REAL Fight?

[Ho-oh]

Really, the title says it all.

In a real fight against a strong opponent (who uses other fighting styles), how are your chances of winning affected by having a black belt?

 

[Sleet]

The real-life effectiveness of karate or any other martial art depends on your experience with the art, but just as much if not more it depends on your mental ability to know what to apply and how. Some things taught in karate are practical in self-defense, while others are not. It is important to know which are which.

In short, yes, it does, but you need to know what you're doing, and don't expect to use the flashier techniques.

A lot of people like to scoff at traditional martial arts just because every technique you learn isn't 100% geared towards self-defense, and I think those people are usually just either snobbishly supportive of their own defense-based art, or jealous because they don't know any martial arts. There are about four main reasons to learn a martial art: self-defense, competition, exercise and fun. While some arts focus more on some more than others, you can't blame an art for not putting all the eggs in one basket.

 

[Nt '95 trainer]

You use karate. I use kicking you in the legs and slaping you a lot around the limbs and back. Fight is 2 minites long. I win.

Edit: I lied. I'd die in 48 seconds to anyone trying to kill me.

 

[Rellik]

Obviously, knowing a martial art, be it Karate, Judo, or whatever, will give you an advantage over someone with no training at all. But against someone who knows what they're doing, be it another martial artist, or someone who learned how to brawl from being in street fights, it all comes down to how your own skill, natural talent, and luck, stacks up against your opponent's, just like in any other form of competition.

Now, in my personal experience, Karate isn't too shabby of an art. I studied it a bit when I was in elementary school. Only made it up to yellow belt before I had to stop going, but a few years later, when I was in middle school, I got jumped by three guys, and while I may not have beaten them up or anything, what little I remembered from Karate allowed me to defend myself pretty well, all things considered.

Really, the title says it all.

In a real fight against a strong opponent (who uses other fighting styles), how are your chances of winning affected by having a black belt?

Contrary to popular belief, having a black belt in no way means that you are on the top of the food-chain. This is a misconception about not only Karate, but most martial arts in general that use colored belts as a show of rank.

When dealing with Japanese martial arts, practitioners are usually split into two groups: Mudansha (The people with colored belts), and Yudansha (The people with black belts). (I'm sure that this applies to most Korean arts aswell, like Taekwando, but I don't exactly how it works with those.) The confusion comes from the fact that once you reach Yudansha, all of the belts are black, regardless of what rank you hold, and the fact that most Western schools purposely make their students advance one rank at a time, so that they can profit from the fees their students need to pay when they take their promotional exams.

Technically speaking, when you're a Mudansha, no matter how high of a rank you hold as a Mudansha, you're not really considered a student of your chosen art. You're like a kid who's using training wheels to ride his bike. When you reach Shodan, the very first rank of Yudansha, where you get your first black belt, you're at the very bottom of the ladder. You can ride with out the training wheels, but you're not ready for the Tour de France.

 

[Falconwing]

Depends.

If the other guy has a weapon of sorts, like a gun, it gets much harder. You have to be REALLY good to be able to react to a gun. And even then, the guy has to be right in front of you.

In a fist fight though, yeah. A person who is taught how to fight is a lot more effective than a person who is just throwing there arms around. I study martial arts and while some of those attacks can hurt, they are slow and sloppy. A person who knows where to attack and how to attack it is much more effective.

Of course, you can't just take karate or Tae-kwon-do or something for a few years and call it good. It takes time, effort, and practice. So, it's kind of difficult question to answer.

Also, yes, Taekwon-do does use a system of colored belts to signify rank. Not only am I a student of TKD, I also did a research paper on the belts last year.

 

[Rellik]

Also, yes, Taekwon-do does use a system of colored belts to signify rank. Not only am I a student of TKD, I also did a research paper on the belts last year.

I know that TKD uses the colored-belt system. It's one of the remnants of the Japanese occupation. What I meant was, I don't know what the names are for the Korean equivalent of Mudansha and Yudansha, or if they held the same significance that they do in Japanese martial arts.

 

[Falconwing]

I know that TKD uses the colored-belt system. It's one of the remnants of the Japanese occupation. What I meant was, I don't know what the names are for the Korean equivalent of Mudansha and Yudansha, or if they held the same significance that they do in Japanese martial arts.

Ah, I don't believe there is a name for them. But black belts are always held in much higher regard than the other students. I was 13 when I joined the black belt panel and started judging whether people older than me were ready to get a yellow belt.

It was a weird feeling.

 

[Our Wasted Years]

Yes Karate will work in a real fight, you just have to be properly trained and know what the hell to do.

 

[Sleet]

In taekwondo the belt system is pretty much exactly the same as it is in karate. I don't think there's a word for the students themselves, but I know the pre-black ranks are referred to as gup ranks, while black ranks are dan ranks.

You use karate. I use kicking you in the legs and slaping you a lot around the limbs and back. Fight is 2 minites long. I win.

Edit: I lied. I'd die in 48 seconds to anyone trying to kill me.

Yeah, pretty much. If someone with karate is trying to kill you, they would not just stand there and let you do those things.

They'd also be completely going against the principles of karate, but that's beside the point.