(Approx 2 minute 55 second read)

Every so often, a comment comes along that is so removed from reality. Well… you decide.
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“As a sword arts practitioner (kendo and iaido) I do not understand this obsession with karate having to be effective for self defense or ‘street fight’.”
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He continues: “Martial arts became a ‘Do’, a way to perfect yourself because there was no more wars, no more chaos, no more need to learn real fighting. In Japan, you can lie drunk in the gutter for the night and you’ll wake up with all your belongings and money.”
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He carried on to say that: “There is no need for self defense anymore, unless you are really hanging with the wrong crowd, and that’s why Martial Arts changed. Now, I don’t want to get into politics but if your country is so unsafe that you have to learn to protect yourself against random street attacks, this is a major national problem. Unless you plan on going in the MMA, what’s this obsession with ‘real fight’?”
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And finally: “It is a self-improving discipline (and that’s what it is now), does it absolutely need to be ‘street effective’?”
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Wow… To suggest the martial arts no longer need to be effective for self-defense – that the world is now some kind of utopia where “you can lie drunk in the gutter” without consequence – isn’t just naive. It’s ignorance.
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What kind of bubble do you have to live in to believe violence is no longer a problem? That people who’ve been attacked were just “hanging with the wrong crowd”? Try saying that to someone who’s been targeted because of their race, their religion, or who’s scared to walk home at night.
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He’s living in a fantasy. And frankly, it’s insulting – to every individual who’s ever had to face violence. The disconnect from reality here is staggering.
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It’s easy to dismiss the need for self-protection when you live in comfort and safety. But that’s not the reality for everyone. Many people have to face violence on a daily basis, not by choice, but because circumstances or the nature of their work put them directly in its path. For those of us who have known this reality, self-defense isn’t an “obsession”; it’s a critical tool a necessity for navigating a world that often demands we stand our ground. It’s not street-fighting.
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His limited view assumes everyone lives in a safe, ordered world – where the martial arts are simply a vehicle for spiritual development and self-refinement.
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It isn’t.
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I’ve been approached by people who were targeted because of their race, their gender, or simply because they were vulnerable. I’ve had women ask for help after being attacked. I’ve taught those from many of our services, and people who needed to learn how to avoid conflict – not because they were “obsessed” with fighting, but because they needed some form of protection.
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They didn’t come to the dojo for self-improvement.
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The idea that no one needs self-defense because “you can sleep drunk in the gutter” in Japan is not only unrealistic – it’s offensive to those who live with real danger.
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Not everyone gets to live in a low-crime area with a stable, safe society. And even in those places, violence still exists.
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To say otherwise is to turn your back on the very people who need self-defense training the most. These people deserve more than rituals. They deserve training that acknowledges the world as it is – not as some ridiculous fantasy. And for those who need it, effectiveness matters.
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Yes, martial arts can be a ‘Do’ – a way. But if someone comes to the dojo hoping to feel safer in the world, and all they get is ritualistic practice, then something’s badly missing.
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The idea that the martial arts no longer need to be effective is not just naive – it’s dangerous. It ignores reality, and mocks the experiences of those who’ve faced real violence in the real world.
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It’s not a game. Self-defense training divorced from reality becomes theatre. And theatre doesn’t save lives. For the vulnerable, the stakes are always real, and the fantasists need to acknowledge this.
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End of rant.
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Written by Adam Carter