How necessary is hard/full contact for realistic training? Why?

I for one am sick of karate street brawls.

Those karateka are a menace I say!

Especially the point fighters, those poor full-contact guys just get overwhelmed by the sheer number of love-tap roundhouses to the head... and we all know full-contact karateka can't defend their head

 

shhhh... We were trying to keep that a secret before we end up being multi round kicked in the head by numerous foam tip boots

 

Dan, I like you and don't want to sound disrespectful, but didn't you get into potential trouble for thinking that way?

I guess it depends on your definition of "neutralise". For me, that has certain military connotations that don't square with our civilian rights.

 

I got a broken nose by one of those foam boots.

 

Was your opponent warned for it?

 

Cheers David, No issues mate your not being disrespectful, its a discussion forum

I did and it caused me to rethink my entire training .... Guess neutralise was a bad word to use in this context. No double tap here

I meant if I had no means of escape and verbal descalation had failed if possible, hitting to find a escape or hitting until the threat has passed i.e. not following up after threat has passed i.e. aggressor on floor. This is worse case scenario stuff in my eyes.

 

Wasn't in a match. Training with a new guy who had no concept of control. It was his first real sparring session5

 

Now about the op. In the event you really need to be prepared for a fight, any level of sparring will help. I do not believe any level of training will get you there if you don't have the stones to go through with it.

2 personal stories
I had very little training when I was jumped in high school. I took out 2 of my attackers one by biting a huge chunk from his arm.

Fast forward years. Lots of training, stupid road rage incident. All I could think about was weather or not this guy knew more about fighting than me. Because of getting hit during sparring. I won this one by just leaving.

Today I just avoid bad situations. Because of getting hit hard in sparring.

 

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss, innit?

 

Actually, the karate point fighter I referred to unloaded his fists.

His karate training - Goju Ryu.

 

Yeah, full contact prepares one to take hits :O

 

It is specific to karate. You clearly don't know your stuff here. The referee breaks after the first impact - punch or kick, and it's light to no contact. Otherwise known as "skin touch".

Finishing the job is crucial. I would have no hesitation doing what it takes to survive. I am allowed in a court of law to kill in self defence.

 

Last confrontation - 7 to 10 big guys ambushed me. I was depressed out of my mind and couldn't care less about the outcome. For whatever reason a fight never went down. They just let me go, though screaming profanity when I left.

 

I can't think of any courts of law where you would need to kill in self defence given the number of people present.

 

How about alone at night against a gang. Who is there to save me?

You really couldn't think of that scenario?

 

Entirely dependent on ruleset, style and organisation. How many have you fought and competed in?

"Finish" doesn't mean "kill" or "incpacitate" - It includes anything that enables you to get away from the situation which may include walking away, hit and run, push away and run, verbal descalation, giving him your wallet......etc

Only in very specific circumstances and not just because you have been attacked

 

How are you going to manage that?

Talk us through it - because killing isn't easy mentally and unless armed it isn't easy physically either

 

1) You don't know the legislation in the country I live in.

2) If I claim to have acted in self defence and there was no other reasonable option, they should according to the law let me go. My record is clean for that matter with regards to any criminal affairs.

I don't know how it actually works in practise. The court could in theory disbelieve me.

 

I guarantee you it is pretty much the same globally and the fact you have no experience is yet another reason you should listen to those of us who have

Lets start basics then - What country are you in?

 

In a lot of Shiai kumite comps, yes. There is more to karate than that though.

But rather than accuse one of the most respected members of the forum with a wealth of experience of not knowing what he's on about (which is pretty confrontational), maybe you could ask him to clarify what he means?

Sometimes the best thing to do is to just talk and/or walk your way out of it though. Other times you don't need much violence to deter an attacker enough for you to get away.

I can only speak from my experiences but the one time I've had someone square up to me in the street in the last few years, I was able to walk away by posturing and talking. Not one violent attack needed.

What country are you in by the way?