Is Karate still an effective method of self-defense? Is it, within todays society, a useful and constructive art to learn? After studying it for four years, I personally came to the conclusion that it was not a worthy cause for my hard work and effort. Don't get me wrong, Karate was excellent. I studied Shotokan Karate under Sensei Pete Calver. It was a terrific exercise, it kept me fit and healthy, but to me its techniques, its hard, physical method of teaching was not to my likeness.

Take, for example, Karates straight punch. It is a punch initiated from the hip. Whilst one fist punches out towards the opponent the other is brought back, fist twisted beside the kidney ready to strike. This method in my mind was highly unrealistic in a defensive situation. It exposes the torso much more than other systems of punching, and it also adds unnecessary distance between the point of initiation and the point of impact.

Karate is a fun and amusing form of exercise. It techniques are useful, just not practical within combat situations. Take, for example, the Chinese system of Wing Chun Gung Fu. This system is based upon simplicity, upon the straight line theory. Everybody knows that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This is where Wing Chun is in itself better. It uses minimum effort and simple yet powerful punches, kicks and blocks which defend the body instead of leaving it open.

So much emphasis is put into learning the different stances, such as the horse stance or the ready stance. Too much information, I believe, is taught to the students, which means in a situation where one may need to use these skills, the brain will freeze up for that split second longer than it should whilst ones brain is automatically deciding what to do. As Wing Chun, like other similar systems, is much simpler, it is easy for the brain to make that decision as it is an automatic thought, not something that is a choice.

As with all Martial Arts, this simple act of automatically making the decision is the point at which every practitioner of any combat system should aim to do. It is not about having to think of the move you are about to use.

Think of it in these terms. When you walk somewhere you don't think about what you are doing, you do it without thinking. When you eat, you don't have to think about how to position your fork, chopsticks etc. If a system is too full of different moves, stances and practices then this is going to be even harder for the student to gain.

Karate is well known for its physical power. Its sheer explosive force which its teachers and students can do so well. The example of a person who knows Karate chopping through five bricks is a common one. Yes, it may be a good party trick in the long run, but at the end of the day its not going to be effective enough to get you out of a life or death situation.

Learn more about this author, Nick Ruddock.
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