^ Exactly. I know people troll and joke around here. I originally started this account to join in on the trolling fun, but I'm a true fan of MMA and martial arts in general. I have to be serious sometimes. It's irritating to me how karate is portrayed as some abstract fighting style with flashy moves and point fighting. That's not the case at all. The shotokan style is probably the most common style of karate and it is in fact point fighting, with wide deep stances and punches cocked at the hip. Traditional Okinawan styles (from which Shotokan is derived, and changed into a sport)...Goju-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu, and Japanese Kyokushin and Seidokan are hardcore standup fighting styles proven in mixed standup competition. In fact Goju-Ryu has strength requirements, and you will not be promoted a rank otherwise.
Then you have many American dojos pushing bodies through the door because more people means more money. It is a liability to train full contact with kicks and knees to the head as they do in most traditional styles. You have people misrepresenting themselves as blackbelts, when they may have taken a year of TKD at the YMCA. A legitimate blackbelt takes 4-6 years to earn.
