Karate, worth it?

[O'Malley]

Hi guys!

I've been doing Muay Thai, Street Boxing (a mix of Savate, Filipino boxing and Pençak Silat) and Kali Eskrima for a year. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go on because of my crappy college schedule.

I'm thinking about taking up karate (Shotokan style) in a famous dojo in my city (the instructor is 5th dan, he has trained many times in Japan and there is a total of 15 black belts in the club) and I would like to ask those of you who have experience in Japanese martial arts to give me their opinion about it.

I know that krav maga, for example, is more practical and could quickly teach me how to defend myself but I was wondering if karate was a decent style to use in a street fight (maybe I could use some moves from other styles when karate doesn't work).

I have another question: how long would it take me to get good, or at least decent, at this martial art? A friend of mine who's a 1st dan karateka said to me that I would need 3 years to have a good level. Well, I'm still young but it seems quite long.

What's your opinion?

[Bravo]

it's a traditional martial art

you will either love it or hate it


check it out and find out

[O'Malley]

'kay.
In either case, I wouldn't waste my time.

Thanks for your answer.

[Rickenbacker]

Omalley, do you know what quartering is?

[O'Malley]

I may have heard of it but I'im not too familiar with martial English vocabulary ^^

Sounds like a weird move, though xD

[Rickenbacker]

There have been many muay thai artists that have dominated karate, taekwon do, and kung fu, because of one simple reason... Thai is more grounded. Its truly a combat sport. Im not saying that one is better than the other, i just think thai would take you a little farther in a street fight. But i havent seen you say anything about ground fighting. If I were you, I'd look into either a jits or judo school, or a submission wrestling team.

[O'Malley]

Yup, ground fighting makes me feel uncomfortable hahaha. There's another reason why I didn't bother learning more ground fighting (I've got some basis from my TKD and street boxing teachers who also teach MMA and BJJ).

See, in my city, there is no such thing as a one-on-one fight: trouble seekers never come alone, they either gang up on you with 2~4 other dudes (or bring out a knife) so that when you bring one opponent to the ground, you end up getting the shit kicked outta ya by the others. In fact, I know some black belt judokas who have been sent to the hospital with broken ribs/arms, missing teeth and stuff although the guys they fought were "just" ordinary thugs they could have beaten with their fists and brute force. But thanks for the advice, I might give it a try if I can find a good teacher ^^

About Muay Thai, I agree that it's a more "fight based" style. As they are few moves (in comparison to e.g. Japanese or Chinese martial arts), you can implement them faster and concentrate on the sparring (the teacher used to teach us like only one new move or combo per lesson then we sparred till the end of the course). This also makes the style really flexible and effective.

Though, my shedule doesn't allow me to keep on Muay Thai.

[Rickenbacker]

If that's the case as it is in any major city, I suggest submission wrestling, sheerly for the fact that it will teach you how to get up. I dont care what anyone says, nobody gets to their feet faster than a wrestler. That's just a fact.

[O'Malley]

I'll check it out ^^

[lfthk1]

If you were 6 yrs old I would say yes...being an adult, no