Karate Works! (See video below) I love this demonstration by Jesse Enkamp!
Karate is a phenomenal self-defense art that was designed for a lifetime. Yet, most karate practitioners have no idea that what they’ve been taught was intended for five- and six-year-olds in a Japanese PE class!
To understand this, you would have to understand Japanese history. The best movie depicting this truth was the movie starring Tom Cruise, called “The Last Samurai.”
The Meiji Restoration of 1867 was a time in Japanese history when martial arts as a practice of war was outlawed. However due to some great negotiation by karate, aikido, and judo founders with the emperor, they negotiated a way to continue training, but with the agreement that it had to be disguised as an exercise for personal development of mind, body, and spirit.
Therefore, most Americans and other outsiders who practiced karate in Japan in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond are practicing karate in a way intended to be taught to five and six-year-olds in a PE class. So, practiced in that way, yes, karate would be seen as ineffective compared to today’s MMA training.
If I were not fortunate enough to have trained directly under the founding father of this karate art, I, too, would not know the difference. Interestingly enough, I had trained with him for 35 years before I was even allowed to speak to him personally. That is how closely they kept to themselves.
If you want to see the true effectiveness of karate-do, I invite you to visit an adult class. I train kids to help them gain the balance, perspective, and grounding necessary for real life. Adults should not judge our practice based on how we train children. If you want to learn real karate, you must visit the adult class.
The warriors of feudal Japan practiced in a way that would allow them to defend themselves for their entire lives, not merely when they were young and physically strong. So true karate can be practiced safely by all people of all ages. You are never too old to begin to improve your life and defend yourself.