I went for a few karate classes during schooldays. Discovered that I wasn't really interested and dropped out, but not before learning something. In karate (and all martial arts), there're three levels. One, exhibition. Two, practice. Three, match. All have rules and all need preparation. For example, you can see a karate expert break a few layers of planks or even bricks. But he can't do that without preparation, just like that at will anytime anywhere. In a sudden attack streetfight, there's no time for preparation. We call preparation, ready or onguard.In a martial art match, there're all kinds of rules. In a streetfight, the only rule is there's no rule.