The death of karate? Who cares?
I was introduced to the following article on a couple of internet fora, where people were getting up in arms about the author's contention that karate is weak and watered down: UFC 140: karate is overrated . The author's contention is that because of McDojos, teaching children and antiquated techniques, karate is weak and past its use-by date. It is deliberately a polemical piece, but one that reflects an attitude that is common and sustained amongst some areas of the martial arts community. My response? Yep, cool. That's it. In the author's experience, he may even be correct. But whether he is or not, doesn't matter. His opinion (and the opinion of pretty much everyone else on this planet) are not only not important, they are made nonsensical by the wide, wide diaspora that is karate. I can pretty much guarantee that the karate I do is a different beast from the karate done down the road, in the next suburb, or in the next state or country. Hell, I