Karate karate?

Question

should i take karate because i want to protect myself but im not sure

Answer 1

alright well first off there's nothing wrong with learning any martial art, because they should all help in someways.

i currently take kyokushin karate, but the teacher of the specific dojo makes it more of a MMA class (i.e. we do boxing, muay thai, and jiujutsu with the kyokushin elements thrown in; no katas).

Most forms of karate are very traditional and do a lot of katas, which in my opinion don't train you to fight in a real life situation.  Katas are just "imaginary" fights which you do a specific set of moves, but in my opinion not many of them are very applicable to a real fight, and the sequencing cant always help you in a real fight.

If you want to go with karate, you can go with kyokushin karate because its focus is more real fights and they do alot of sparring. the tournaments are full contact. they do katas but depends on the teacher on how much (my teacher does none). you could try krav maga, which is probably the ultimate for real life situations. boxing, kick boxing, muay thai, are very useful standup arts. jiujutsu is the ultimate grappling art. you could take one of these classes or go with a combo of stand up and grappling, which is very useful. or you could go with MMA training.

hope you find what you are looking for.

Answer 2

If you are interested in learning how to defend yourself you have a great number of options; you can check with your local law enforcement some put on self defense courses, check around with some of your local martial arts schools lots of them offer courses just in self defense or check out some of the local schools and see what they do and how they are run and maybe do a trial course at a few of them. Asking if you should learn Karate to defend yourself is open to opinions in the extreme. First of all Karate is a generic term just kind of slapped on martial arts that originated in Japan just as Kung Fu is a generic term for martial arts originating from China. Secondly you should be able to find courses through your local police or at some local schools that are for nothing but self defense, so actually studying a given style may or may not be what you want to do.

I have assisted in teaching several self defense and acouple rape prevention courses with my local police department and even a couple through local gyms and community centers. If self defense is your only real concern here then that is the route I would look to go. The self defense courses I have help teach have not been derived from 1 particular style, but rather made up from many different moves from many different styles and are designed simply to teach you how to avoid or escape many of the most common real life situations. If your local law enforcement doesn't offer something like this then check out some of your local schools and ask them about straight self defense courses.

The down side of just doing a self defense course is that they are generally short term and what you learn won't stay with you unless you make a real habit of practicing the moves over and over and continue to over time. On the other hand you could go and do a self defense course at 1 school and then 6 months later go and try out a course at another school. If you have trouble finding schools that just offer self defense courses, then do some trial courses at a couple local schools and go with what feels right to you.

Answer 3

you should take karate if you want to take karate. If self defence is an issue. then you should. if not do it to better yourself. not because its cool or anything.

Answer 4

that or krav maga or aikido or mma

Answer 5

Despite what many MMA Acolytes will say, Karate provides an excellent foundation for self defense. You will learn punches, kicks, defense from common street attacks, and depending on the teacher, defense against common weapons and multiple attackers.

Answer 6

If nothing else, it'll make you stronger and give you faster reflexes.