Which is better for street

Any art can be made to be applied on the street depending on the practitioner and their focus. Not that I am not about to get the sports combat people in a fuffle.
That said, whatever you plan on using should be tested in some way shape or form. To be honest you could train in the best, and be bested on any given day. Size of the fight in the dog not the dog that is fighting.
 
This is karate.
Correction: This is terrible karate. Sloppy, weak, boring. Did I mention sloppy? I could smoke these guys in a half minute, and I'm over 70. Not boasting, just that these guys set a low bar. They'd get eaten up and spit out in the 60's and 70's. And what's with all the plastic padding? They didn't seem to need any of it. None of what I saw would be effective in a real fight. But I must confess that I did look similar........when I was playing tag during recess in 4th grade.

OK. I feel much better now. I'm going to have some milk and a Hostess cup cake.
 
Correction: This is terrible karate. Sloppy, weak, boring. Did I mention sloppy? I could smoke these guys in a half minute, and I'm over 70. Not boasting, just that these guys set a low bar. They'd get eaten up and spit out in the 60's and 70's. And what's with all the plastic padding? They didn't seem to need any of it. None of what I saw would be effective in a real fight. But I must confess that I did look similar........when I was playing tag during recess in 4th grade.

OK. I feel much better now. I'm going to have some milk and a Hostess cup cake.
Well, it's that silly 1 touch sparring. Which I think we all know isn't intended to teach anything useful for actual fighting. It's like sparring under WT rules. Match those same people with a different rule set and who knows?
 
Well, it's that silly 1 touch sparring. Which I think we all know isn't intended to teach anything useful for actual fighting.
We had point sparring in the 60's and early 70's, but it was much different then. The strikes were focused, but had body force behind them, not the lunging, reaching out, tapping shown in the video. It was not for the faint of heart. Not only were pads not required (other than cup and mouthpiece) they weren't even allowed! The good fighters then were well able to handle themselves on the street. Those were the days of Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis, Bill Wallace, Benny the Jet and others who later pioneered professional full contact karate.
 
Last edited:
We had point sparring in the 60's and early 70's, but it was much different then. The strikes were focused, but had body force behind them, not the lunging, reaching out, tapping shown in the video. It was not for the faint of heart. Not only were pads not required (other than cup and mouthpiece) they weren't even allowed! The good fighters then were well able to handle themselves on the street.
Sure, but that was 50 years ago. That's point sparring today. And the slop can simply be a matter of the rules, just like the hands down at the sides.
 
That being said, I think Drop Bear had a valid point. There is Karate and there is Karate. If that one-touch stuff is all you train, you're not likely to fair well in an actual fight.
 
And the student, and the circumstances, and everything... The answer 'it depends' is the best answer.

I'd say that it depends on what your natural tendencies are on the streets, and I'd always recommend an art that compliments that. If your tendencies on the street is to grapple someone down to the ground, then karate training might go out the window when the time comes, since you're likely going to wrestle them down to the ground the way you naturally tend to do.

I remember a viral video a few years ago, where someone was teaching kung fu in their backyard and lost his patience with a heckler. He then challenged the heckler, and beat him pretty good... with fighting that looked absolutely nothing like kung fu, and everything like someone scrapping on the streets.
 
Last edited:
A superb point. I am not a kicker, not a distance kicker anyway. So I don't tend to focus on that. As in the heat of the moment I wouldn't use it. That said, I'm not in a kicking art per se.
 
Back
Top