Hi Readers,

Todays article is brought to you by the letter "I", I for ignorance that is. I keep seeing other martial art styles (most under ten years old) boasting about how useless traditional martial arts (specifically Karate) are, and how inapplicable they are to self defense today. Well, ignorance is bliss so they say. Which is how I suppose they can cheerfully claim that what they teach is best, marketing is important after all. So I decided after seeing one of these posts today that I needed to address the situation via free speech, so I ripped a quote right off their website. The following paragraph has not been altered in anyway, shape or form but I have decided not to name the school from which I found it (I don't think they'd appreciate that, and frankly this article isn't about dojo bashing I just want to set a few things straight).

 I remember the first thing you're supposed to do when proving a theory is to state the facts (mind you this comes from highschool science class) so, here's what they are referring too.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows a wide variety of fighting techniques and skills, from a mixture of martial arts and non-martial arts traditions, to be used in competitions. The rules allow the use of both striking as well as grappling techniques, both while standing and on the ground. Such competitions allow martial artists of different backgrounds to compete. (Wikipedia)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting. The art was derived from the Japanese martial art of Kodokan judo in the early 20th century,^[1][2] which was itself developed from a number of schools (or Ryu) of Japanese jujutsu in the 19th century. (Wikipedia)

Muay Thai is a hard martial art from Thailand. It is similar to other Indochinese styles of kickboxing, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and Muay Lao from Laos. Descended from muay boran, Muay Thai is Thailand's national sport.^{[1][2](Wikipedia)}

Karate is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called te (手^?, literally "hand"; Tii in Okinawan) and Chinese kenpō.^[1][2] Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands (karate chop). Grappling, locks, restraints, throws, and vital point strikes are taught in some styles.^[3] A karate practitioner is called a karateka (空手家^?). (Wikipedia)

Taekwondo (태권도; 跆拳道; Korean pronunciation: [tʰɛkwʌndo])^[a] is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae (태, 跆) means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon (권, 拳) means "to strike or break with fist"; and do (도, 道) means "way," "method," or "art." Thus, taekwondo may be loosely translated as "the art of the foot and fist" or "the art of kicking and punching." (Wikipedia)

Ok, those are the facts that Wikipedia presented me for each style. For the purpose of this article I am leaving out Tae Kwon Do, I am proficient in Karate and it's history and tradition but couldn't tell you much about Korean Martial Arts.

1. "Having long since moved away from teaching actual self-defense, these “styles” have devolved into something more closely resembling a point fighting game and/or martial arts calisthenics." Actual traditional Karate not McDojo Karate (a term representing a dojo more interested in profit and removing threats from possible injury lawsuits than teaching their members Karate) involves intense one on one and randori practice in which the opponent is very real AND trying to hit you. Often this is done with multiple attackers, but it is done, and often. Yes Karate point fights, but so does Brazilian Jiu Jutsu so I see that as a moot point as to why they are better. As for resembling a martial arts calisthenics, absolutely it is a practice to make Karateka bodies stronger and more muscular while doing something that has to do with their art. You may do Tricep push ups to make your punches stronger but next time you get into a scrap I'd love to see you push up your way out of it.

2. "Without growing and evolving over the years......" Karate is constantly changing, the purpose of Karate is to evolve into what the practitioner needs it to be, every instructor has a different view and there have been thousands of instructors over the years therefore thousands of new evolutions. Also, the only weapons that are different now than they were before are guns, I would love to see how someone would grapple their way out of that one. Karate teaches hand to hand combat, as well as blade/knife disarming and combat strategy.

3. " ......many of the techniques which are taught in these systems, and more importantly the training methods that they utilize, could result in the practitioner getting hurt if he/she were to try to apply them in a real self-defense situation." Absolutely true, for EVERY martial art. In any real self defense situation you must expect that you will not walk away completely unscathed, unless you are the aggressor there is someone trying to cause you bodily harm often by any means necessary. Only arrogance can explain why someone would think themselves all powerful enough to be prepared for everything.

4. "Having spent the majority of their training time fighting “imaginary opponents,” many martial artists are unfortunately filled with a false sense of security and that is a very dangerous thing!" On a personal note, I do not have a false sense of security. I would be very scared in a real self defense situation. But Karate doesn't train you to be free of fear, it trains you to think clearly while experiencing fear. Also I removed the validity of the "imaginary opponents" comment in the last sentence.

5. "Sadly, for real self-defense, these styles fall short in just about every area!" An interesting comment since one of their 2 styles branches from the same place as Karate, I am talking about Ju Jutsu. Karate and Ju Jutsu go hand in hand, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has simply taken it into a more "Sport" type of style.

 For my closing paragraph I would like to point out that while Karate and Tae Kwon Do are both recognized (and usually) very highly respected sports, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu are also sports. The difference is that Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu were created as sport fighting for show, Karate was created to protect oneself from bodily harm. Saying that it is not as useful in a real self defense situation is quite a boast to make. I would also like to encourage you to consider the source in their argument. I'm not sure what training these people have that qualifies them to understand Karate and Tae Kwon Do enough to make such a rather large statement regarding their usefulness. (If I wanted a facelift I wouldn't ask a cardiologist to do it). Finally, for those of you out there who are uncertain about traditional martial arts I dare you to give me 1 year of your time, if you see nothing or experience nothing that can be considered more than a calisthenic workout I would be terribly surprised.

Shidoin Michelle Patry

3rd degree in Shotokan Ryu

3rd degree in Goju Ryu

Kickboxing Instructor