I'm almost done training for my black belt in Okinawan karate. I would have to say that it's one of the better forms for practical self-defense; especially the way our school trains. We learn how to defend against weapons (in theory of course) though like you said nothing is guaranteed. At least it keeps me fit and gives a false sense of security. The taser is probably the most I'd be willing to go for now; I'm not the stereotypical white, American, Caucasian male so being profiled by police or whatever is a concern. Maybe I'll just bulk up to 25o pounds like Rich Piana and scare people away as a last resort.
Are you in the All Okinawan Shorin-ryu Kenshin Kan Karate and Kobudo Federation? I trained under the Grand Master Fusei Kise while I was on Okinawa and am a 1st degree black belt! (this was well over 10 years ago, though). I do agree that it keeps one fit, but must respectfully disagree with the false sense of security part. Since the philosophy of AOSKKF is self-defense, not offense, I feel as if the training prepared me well to defend myself. I wouldn't go up to the biggest, baddest guy at the bar and take a swing at him, but if I was jumped for some reason, or in some dark, gloomy parking garage, I feel that I would be able to fend off and possibly disable an attacker. Then again, I'm 6'5" and 230 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal with 14% body fat (and dropping), so YMMV. Keep up with the training - earning that black belt is an incredible feeling!
Everyone's a tough guy on the internet, so feel free to take this with a grain of salt, but I have a lot of martial arts experience, including more karate than you. My advice: skip the karate, and train in MMA, or at least muy thai. Studies show that boxing punches are much more effective than karate punches. The latter also expose your face. Sure, you'll develop some useful crossover skills, but it's mostly just all wrong. Most fights end up on the ground, so you need grappling training, BJJ or MMA or at least wrestling. The weapons defense you learn in a karate class are not likely to be useful or correct.
A taser will not help but will increase the chance of your being killed unnecessarily. It looks like a gun. If you pull it out, someone with a gun will shoot you, with a knife will stab you. It probably won't even work. It's fine for a cop. They are using it to subdue someone with a lesser weapon, they usually have help, and a gun. It's not for you . If you have time to go for a taser against a knife, just run away.
I agree that MMA training is better training overall for both offensive and defensive techniques, but I would argue that karate is
good enough for defensive purposes. Much of karate is about discipline and confidence, not necessarily going on the offensive. There are a lot of useful moves, strikes and blocks to learn, though there are some things that you would only see in tournaments. I probably wouldn't roundhouse kick someone to the head if I was getting mugged, but the shin kick would be very useful, as well as the many blocks that are taught from which you can transition quickly to a hold followed by a disabling strike.
I agree with your comments about the taser. It has all the downsides of having a gun (looks like one, a friendly or a cop will think you're a bad guy and shoot you), and you only have one shot.
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Most concealed carry training that I've seen requires one to attend a gun safety class followed by range time, in which 70% of your shots have to hit the target silhouette. In most states that allow concealed carry, this is accomplished in one day. This is hardly sufficient training to demonstrate weapons proficiency, and I think a lot of people who complete these courses now think that they're Rambo or Jason Bourne, when the reality is that they're probably just another overweight, pre-diabetic, slightly paranoid about the black helicopters weirdo.
I've been through some significant and intensive weapons training, either by being in, or being attached to some pretty good military units. Those are the people I trust in a gunfight, but I wouldn't trust most veterans in a gunfight that involved pistols. I don't even think that veterans should be able to automatically get a concealed carry permit (which is how I got mine, BTW). Unless you were spec ops in the Air Force or Navy, your weapons range time was probably one (miserable) day per year. Even in the Army, most units only do live-fire training, including weapons qualifications, once or twice a quarter. And when they do, most soldiers are issued rifles, not pistols, so their weapons proficiency is limited to something that would not be carried concealed. They may understand the fundamentals of weapons safety, but that's a very low bar. Keep in mind that when qualifying with a rifle in the Army, the minimum passing score is 23 out of 40 (58%) which is...pretty low...
Concealed carry permit holders need to be trained to understand that their permit is for self-defense. My worry is that most CCW holders will try to John Wayne their way through an active shooter situation and end up getting themselves or others killed. Their first line of defense should not be to attack an active shooter, but to first retreat to a position of safety, scan their fields of fire for collaterals, and fire only when there is a clear shot. If no clear shot, hold fire until a clear shot presents itself. But my understanding is that this is not stressed enough in training. Even if it is, a one day CCW course is insufficient to ingrain this in someone's memory. Now imagine that same person in an active shooter situation - hands trembling, heart racing, rapid breathing, eyes wide open, sweating profusely, possibly even scared enough to where bladder and bowels have emptied into their pants - this is the condition that many well-trained soldiers find themselves in during their first actual combat scenario (though I never sh@t my pants, I certainly came close). But at least soldiers have a squad of other soldiers with them, yelling commands and controlling the setting so that in the heat of battle you can, if necessary, just start following commands and doing the same thing as those around you. The CCW permit holder? Likely has nothing more than some cursory training provided by some dude wearing cargo pants and a multicam ball cap with a subdued US flag velcroed to the front.
If CCW holders were to go through some serious training (I'm talking at least a week long) that includes a LOT of weapons safety training, retreat as the first line of defense, weapons qualification for EACH and EVERY weapon they would possibly carry concealed, and stress-fire training, I might be more amenable to allowing concealed weapons on campus. Until then, hell no.
TLDR - Nope.
