Quote Originally Posted by Peegee View Post
I know how to do karate but karate didn't teach me how to fight.
As a karateka for years under the instruction of techniques of Goju-ryu karatedo, I find your statement strange (and untrue when it comes to karate not teaching you how to fight). But you specifically said it didn't teach you, so I'm guessing you yourself never got very far in practice and knowledge when you were training karate? Correct me if I'm wrong about the 'not getting very far', but that only seems likely based on your statement.

Karate is defence, yes, but it is pure fighting mostly in the presence of defence. I can get close to you and take you down to the ground so fast you won't even know what hit you until you're lying on it - this move would initially be for defence; meaning, usually and primarily, you'd have to make the first move in attacking me for me to make the specific move I'm talking about. I can use kata on you without you moving a muscle toward me, and take you down (brutally, if I choose to), or break one of your limbs - this also would initially be for defence, or better yet for technique perfection in practice with another student. But I can use them to attack if I choose to (and know how to).

And yes, there are different kinds of karate arts, such as for instance Shotokan, and karate literally is about defence, but all karate arts teach you how to fight. All of them. You just need to know how, and that will only come to you the more you learn and the more you practice and understand.

Karate is a great fighting style, only because defence is the key word when doing the fighting itself.

Banzai!