[dogscoff]

That is always the way - many clubs will concentrate on kata and how Daz-white their gi are -

Definitely sounds like you need to find a new club. I know for a fact that what you are looking for *is* out there. I have no idea what is available where you are but I'd have thought you'd get a pretty good selection being in a major urban centre as you are.

not enough actually concentrate on the power aspect of it - I am 6 foot and 18 stone, what the hell am I going to do with kata

Well... to be fair, kata isn't supposed to be taken quite so literally - it's a way of practising and remembering techniques, and the skills you learn from kata should be transferrable to whatever techniques and combinations you like. That said, you do need a balanced training regime, or you'll have nothing to transfer the skills to.

- my whole style is close-in power combos (and biting if I am really in trouble)

Well then maybe you do need to try a different martial art. Perhaps some of the grip/twist/hold/break ones. Aikido? Kung-Fu has some cool maneuvres. I think you'll find that kick boxing is even more long-ranged than shotokan.

I think I am now officially retiring from full contact now.

I can't imagine why you got into it in the first place.

I disagree. To get that perfect strike in that disables your opponent is fine for Jet Li in a movie, but you try and do it IRL - the only strikes that will work that way are some of the lethal attacks and you cannot exactly do those round Bournemouth for long. Power combos disable an opponent and do it fast.

I guess it depends who you're up against. You fight in the arena against other martial artists. For me, that would be a means to an end rather than an end in itself, so maybe we're not aiming at the same target.

The most likely situation for me to get into a fight would be with some beered- up idiot falling out of a pub. I might well run into an experienced bruiser but it's unlikely that I'd come up against anyone with any real martial arts training- I'm just too placid to get into a fight with anyone who has the patience to train regularly.

In that case (ie they are more drunk and less trained than me) I think there's probably a reasonable chance of landing a "perfect" (or at least good enough) strike. "Good enough" doesn't necessarily have to mean a KO either - just enough to make them think again or at least give me room to finish them off.

Street-fighting comes down largely to luck anyway - who you're up against, what weapons they have, how many mates are stood behind them, how determined they are to hurt you, how much everyone has had to drink... these are all pretty much random variables. The best you can do (other than avoiding the fight in the first place) is to arm yourself with a technique that is geared towards real combat rather than competition and/ or meditation and/ or impressing girlies. I think Shotokan fits that description.

Wow... I can really ramble, can't I?