My son was a black belt when he was about 10 years old. He had an adult sparring partner that was champion in our region. She let her guard down and my son broke her nose even with head gear and gloves. I’m sure she would have begged to differ that martial arts is fake.
It's not that martial arts is fake. It's that it doesn't prepare the student very well for a real fight with someone who is trying his best to hurt him, with no rules and no mat.
My son was 13 years old and had recently received his black belt after 5 1/2 years of training.
He was walking down the hall of his school when a “student” who was a good 6’2” and 220 pounds (my son was 5’6”) and tried to do the knockout game on him from behind.
Fortunately someone saw it coming and said “look out!”
In a fraction of a second my son turned and blocked the punch in such a way that he dislocated the larger boy’s elbow.
After that I felt much better about the four times a week classes, the $250 a month, and the aroma of the dojo...