(Approx 2 minute 35 second read)
Karate – the ultimate in self-defense, right?
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That’s what nearly every dojo and school claims. But how useful is it really when it comes to real-world situations?
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Yes, karate teaches you how to fight. You’ll learn how to punch, kick, and even apply joint locks. But is that truly what you need in this day and age?
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I recently watched a CCTV clip with a senior instructor. It showed a woman putting groceries into her car in a supermarket car park. Two men approached. One slipped into the back seat, the other eventually slid into the driver’s seat – turning it into not just a carjacking, but a possible abduction.
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Would better fighting skills have saved her? A sharper stance, a tighter guard, a cleaner punch? No. What could have helped her more than any kata or sparring drill was awareness.
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Awareness isn’t glamorous, and it’s difficult to teach. Some people have it naturally, others don’t. And awareness of what exactly? Perhaps a better word is anticipation. Preparedness. The ability to run through the “what ifs” before danger is already unfolding.
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It’s not foolproof, of course. But it’s a start. And the best advice remains the same: don’t get into the situation in the first place – avoid it if you can.
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This is where karate, at least as it is mostly taught today, falls short. The term “self-defense” is thrown around, but too often it really just means fighting skills.
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Yet in truth, awareness is not a single technique. It’s a mindset, a way of living, something that must be sharpened every day.
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So what more could she have done? Probably very little at that moment. The time to prevent it was before the men reached the car. Once someone is in the back seat, you’re already in crisis.
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And that’s the difficult reality of self-protection. CCTV gives us hindsight and a full view, but she didn’t have that. Her vision was limited by her car and nearby vehicles. She was distracted by one of the men with a shopping cart, possibly even threatened with a weapon. It was daylight, with other people nearby, so every cue told her she was safe….. until she wasn’t.
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This is where so many of the usual answers fall short. More fighting skills? Not when you’re pinned inside a car. A gun? Not everyone can carry one, legally or otherwise, and even if you do, reaching it under pressure in such a confined space is another matter altogether.
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But here’s the reality few want to admit: even if you do everything “right”, there are no guarantees. Criminals who are determined, prepared, and tenacious will sometimes succeed no matter what you do. You can be aware, alert, and cautious, yet still find yourself caught out.
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This is where so much of the martial arts narrative around self-defense falls apart. Schools like to offer neat answers – keep your guard up, carry a weapon, drill your techniques – but real life isn’t neat. Sometimes the best you can do is tilt the odds in your favor, not win them outright.
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And this is why awareness, anticipation, using ‘what ifs’, whatever you like to call it, matters most. It’s not foolproof, but unlike a punch or a throw, it applies in every situation. Fighting skills only come into play after the crisis has already begun, and by then you may already be behind.
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The lesson is harsh but clear: prevention has to happen before the danger crosses that line.
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And this is the challenge I’ll leave you with. If your training doesn’t include awareness – true awareness (or whatever you wish to call it), practiced daily – then it isn’t self-defense at all.
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Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo