I assume that you're talking about your style of Karate as opposed to 'karate'. Karate after all is just a generic catch all term to describe a vast range of fighting systems, much like kung Fu.
No, I don't think that it is important to increase the popularity of Karate. Whether Karate is popular or not is irrelevant as long as there is a core group of practitioners who love it and pass it down to others of like mind and heart. Karate has its own little niche in the grand scheme of things and seems to do just fine meeting its goals. It's important to preserve it, enjoy it, and pass it down, but not to popularize it and spread it all over the place just for the sake of being able to boast about how many practice the art (or just to make more $$$). Quality over quantity, as well. Edit: By "like mind and heart", I mean those who also love Karate and wish to pass it down to others.
Not really but I do think it's a bit misunderstood and try to give my perspective when the opportunity arises..
i'm with Llama and John , Karate is too vague a term given the various styles and sub styles. Just look up the train wreck that was "Karate England" a couple of years ago to see how it doesn't work.
Not sure I'm bothered about increasing the popularity of my style, but I am conscious of the fact that what I teach my students has to be correct - in order for the ryu-ha to keep flowing in the right direction. Gary
