>done stuff like kickboxing/muay thai and boxing in the past
>loved all that shit
>loved that most things aren't that complicated and you can spend a lot of time mastering fundamental skills
>love that everything is taught to you in the context of someone else trying to hurt you
>loved that while they don't force you to spar, if you've trained for a little bit, show you're not a maniac and you just ask them, they'll usually let you start sparring fairly early on
>great for practicing how to actually deal with a person trying to hurt you
>have seen a hell of a lot of hate for karate over the years
>rather than just taking people's word on it, i decide to go to see and experience for myself
>find a local dojo that teaches a fairly strict, traditional, non-tournament form of karate
>love that there's a myriad of techniques and tactics to use to defend yourself
>a lot of techniques and strategies also seem needlessly complex, too
>too reliant on, "you do this, then this, then this," without really acknowledging that the person you'd actually be doing this stuff to would be struggling against you in some way and would probably stop it, or at least make it much more difficult to do to them
>they do spar, but only among more senior students who've been doing it for quite a while
>all this while telling you it's supposed to teach you to defend yourself
I thought comparing combat sports and traditional martial arts would help me out. In some ways it has, but in others it's kind of muddied the waters for me more, as well. I don't know which way to go on this. Can both sides be reconciled? Can I do both and learn a way that I can make one compliment the other? Or am I crazy for even thinking that?
I don't care how ignorant or abusive your answers are, just give them to me. I'm trying to get input from all kinds of people on this. So I've already made the same post in Karate General.
Include all your relevant training and experience. Right down to how you've used it, please.