Karate in "real life" - thoughts?

[KotoRyu]

Find a good karate school that spars then. There are some out there, most notably Kyokushin but some goju-ryu schools do as well. Look for good sparring as well, not fancy games of tag.

[missionaryman12]

johncorey first you have to have some paitnce(sorry about spelling) one year is not enough time. i have been envolved in Karate for 3 years and i still doudt myself sometimes. first thing i would do is bring your doudts before your teacher and ask him/her to work more on real life applacation. About beening a doorman/boucer(again spelling) i would get into some kind of mixed martial art that includes both the striking and ground stuff. Hope you find what it is your looking for.