I knew a Marine who’d reluctantly admit that he’d been taught how to use one finger to kill a man.
He’d then mime pulling a trigger.
I guess this is a difference between living as a woman and as a man. I haven’t been in a real physical alteration since i was 23. The last one was the (failed) attempted date rape i alluded to above. By the way, i had a knife in my pocket during that incident, and it stayed in my pocket because i thought it would be unwise to take it out. He tried to strangle me (among other things), and i bit him hard enough to leave marks. The last couple of fights before that were in high school, against other girls. And i fought a lot with my brothers as a kid. But as an adult? That’s just not something that ever happens in my life.
(I have left dicey situations from time to time.)
I did a year of Tae Kwon Do in my 50s - and I never sparred - I was in it for movement, physical fitness, and to work out aggression - which works just find punching a paddle. I’m not interested in getting hit for fun. I dropped it when it got to the point where I was likely to hurt myself just in the training - breaking a foot training kicks wasn’t uncommon.
I’m 53. I’ve had a couple scenarios that things happened around me, both involving nightclubs and other drunk people. I stayed out of them.
One time I was in a sketchy neighborhood needing to pee, stopped at a gas station that didn’t have a public restroom. Some guy was suggesting I could go behind the store. Just duck through this hole in the fence and go into the dark shadows. Riight.
The only actual altercation I’ve been in was some jackass at my work got confrontational when I told him to leave. He threw a temper tantrum and grabbed my nametag. I stupidly grabbed him back, and he shoulder bumped me in the chest. I let go quickly and backed up, but I was on the verge of something real. I was prepared to do lasting damage quickly, but he backed off after that and just taunted me. Then we called 911 and he left.
Yeah, all these other styles are bullshit.
How effective are traditional martial arts at self defense training really depends on the school and instructor.
If you spend all your time learning traditional katas, I would say you are woefully unprepared for any actual fight.
Point sparring is a bit better, but has drawbacks. You get comfortable moving around, reading the opponent, etc, but point karate is stylized based on the rules of the sport.
Hard contact continuous sparring is better because you learn to deliver with force and receive strikes, but it’s hard on the body. And it’s still limited by sport rules.
Grappling styles get closest to actual fighting with what they train, but rely on getting in close or on the ground.
Styles like Krav Maga are less about style and more aimed at combat effectiveness. True self defense training will focus more on a mix of what happens. Grabbing, striking, falling on things, using objects, evasion techniques, multiple attackers, and weapons disarms are all things that can be taught effectively.
Someone who has no formal training but been in a lot of fights had hands-on training in effectiveness that a kata and sport fighting enthusiast isn’t getting. Thus laughing when seeing a fighting stance.
Alternately, one of the Black belts I know was once working as a bouncer. Some guys were being rowdy and one wanted to fight him. He replied to give him a sec to warm up. He then threw a handful of full speed kicks followed by dropping into the splits. The other guy waived off.