Claw-claw-bite and armor

[Bruno]

The problem with "karate" (especially in North America) is that there is a LOT of stuff being taught as "karate", much of which doesn't have much to do with even the Japanese sport, let alone a combative self defense style. I've seen "karate" schools teaching Taequondo, I've seen "karate" schools teaching thai kickboxing (?), I've seen "karate" schools teaching what looks like Judo (!!)... and then there's the "It looks sort of like someone watched a lot of movies and thinks they're a 'Karate Master' now" type of "karate".

At least in an English speaking context, the word "karate" is almost meaningless without several qualifiers tacked on to give you some information about what the hell the person is talking about (and then you need to go research it).

I'd be cautious about writing off people who "know karate" entirely - there ARE schools teaching pretty honest Japanese style Karate in North America, and even the ones teaching Something Else can be teaching perfectly legitimate styles, just under a confusing name. And because they're mostly independent studios, you can't be sure that they're all just "black belt factories" - even in a commercial franchise a particular teacher could turn out to be a hard-case with useful knowledge ;)