irrigator

let me start out by saying that im far from any kind of master. ive studied martial arts some, and philosophy some too. despite my limitations in classroom study, the only thing that ocurs to me upon reading your question "what can be done to fix karate?" is 'what did you miss in your journey that makes you think a fix is necesary?'. to my way of thinking, 'fix' implies that its broken in the first place, to which i can only respond that you are probably mistaking a por teacher for a broken system.
In america, we suffer a letigious society. This being the case, the introductory levels of many styles have indeed been 'watered down', however, at the advanced levels, the various systems remain dependant upon lineage. that is, one cannot teach what one does not know, thus, one cannot learn from unlearned teachers.
The common misconception today is that mma competitions negate the experiences, the teachings of the past. this could nto be farther from the truth. while mma competitions are fun and challenging tests of ones various skill sets, they are not combat. combat is the fire that forged teh various traditional styles, and it is simply youthfull arrogance to reject as obsolete the traditional past. arrogance, and ignorance, for one cannot be falsely confident of what one doenst even know he hasnt been taught.