Over the past year, I've gotten back into Shotokan karate. I grew up doing karate, and completed my blackbelt exam when I was 15. There was a great sense of community with my dojo growing up, in Randallstown, Maryland. The training there was pretty intense, and not geared towards tournaments.
Over the years, I've been on and off with it. Practical considerations, like time, or distance to the neareset dojo, obviated my formal training when I was in San Diego. I used to train by myself.
It's great for fitness, teaches you about bio-mechanics and anatomy, and it's solid for self-defense. The full system consists of various punches, strikes, kicks, blocks, joint locks, grappling, throws, and take-downs. The traditional style are tailor made for close-range and medium-range hand-to-hand combat.
A problematic aspect arises when a dojo trains with too much emphasis on tournament competition. Tournaments have an artificial set of rules, that really favor high kicks, and fast punches to the body. These techniques alone are fairly impractical for self-defense.
If a dojo trains with too much emphasis on winning tournaments, it tends to ignore the more practical, self-defense oriented styles and techniques. Common moves like arm-bars, wrist-locks, and throws tend to be completely ignored in such a dojo. This is especially problematic for students, who think they are learning how to defend themselves, but are actually learning how to score points in tournament-style sparring.
There are some voices of reason out there, who train traditional karate, and include the grappling and throwing. A couple are Bruce Clayton, and Iain Abernathy. These two have produced books and dvds on the subject, the historical evolution of modern karate, and even lead practical self-defense karate clinics.
No single self-defense system is comprehensive, and so it's good to keep your eyes open. When I watch elite boxers, I see a lot of the same technique and form. When I watch brazilian jiu-jutsu guys, I see a lot of familiar grappling, but enhanced and taken to the ground-fighting scenario. Martial arts are enjoyable for sure.
