Picking The Right Art

"But you won't become a good fighter. Those styles teach you mostly traditional moves that just don't work very well in either a self defense system or the ring. They don't train where your opponent actually fights back. That's why most people don't recommend them.

Just wondering, what styles of Karate have you studied? Every style of Karate I have studied has taught against people who are attaching you and trying to hurt you and dont stop until you put them out completley. If a style teaches against someone who doesnt fight back it is usless.

"The idea that those systems are just as good for fighting, they just take lots of devotion, is false imo. If a system take 5 or 10 times the work to reach the same fighting ability, it isn't as good."

I agree with this as well, I am just saying what ever style you choose to do devote all you have to it and you will be much better at it then the average person.

"Let's face it, a Karate master will be strong, fast, punch and kick hard, has good reflexes from kumite training - and that'll let him beat your average attacker, but it's not real fighting skill. Put him against an MMA fighter with a third of the training and the Karate master would get torn apart. Someone getting mugged with 1 year of Krav Maga training has a lot better chances than someone with 1 year of Karate training."

Again what styles have you studied. A couple masters I have trained under earned their 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th black belts by competing in a MMA tournament and took 1st 2nd and 3rd places in order to earn their belts and requier all thier students to do the same. I am just stating a point or opinion.
 
I don't know why everyone gets caught up in styles. And I don't know why we get into this mindset that if you've studied X style, you won't be able to defend yourself.

Why are we even comparing a MMA fighter against a karate stylist? How typical is it going to be that your MMA trainer is out there picking fights? We've gotten this mindset that you need to do X style to defend yourself. The tables are completely different when you're being attacked by multiple attackers, a weapon is thrown into the situation, or you're on the ground with gravel and broken glass.

What matters more is the teacher and not the style. I've seen TKD instructors that can easily defend themself, and I've seen BJJ artists that couldn't out grapple my 5 year old.

Then you can break down the individual arts (Karate, TKD, Aikido) into various branches and mindsets. Some styles will take longer than others to get the hang of (Capoiera vs TKD for example).

My suggestion-visit the schools near you and see what you enjoy the most. This will determine your success.
 
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