The gap isn’t nearly so clear cut. In wrestling, we’d do solo drills of shots/sprawls/sit outs/etc every day, and sometimes combine them into chains like sit out->granby->stand up-> shot. The karate guys next to us did their partner katas all the time.
The difference is that when karate dude hits air, it looks like a joke. For all you can tell watching it, not only has this dude never been in a real fight, neither have any of his instructors or his instructors instructors. When Mike Tyson hits air, it’s terrifying, and you can tell just from watching it that this guy is very in touch with what is required for knocking out skilled opponents. It’s more about whether the connection with the ultimate test is still there and informing how the katas are done than whether you’re doing it alone or for multiple moves in a row or anything.
The gap isn’t nearly so clear cut. In wrestling, we’d do solo drills of shots/sprawls/sit outs/etc every day, and sometimes combine them into chains like sit out->granby->stand up-> shot. The karate guys next to us did their partner katas all the time.
The difference is that when karate dude hits air, it looks like a joke. For all you can tell watching it, not only has this dude never been in a real fight, neither have any of his instructors or his instructors instructors. When Mike Tyson hits air, it’s terrifying, and you can tell just from watching it that this guy is very in touch with what is required for knocking out skilled opponents. It’s more about whether the connection with the ultimate test is still there and informing how the katas are done than whether you’re doing it alone or for multiple moves in a row or anything.