The element of surprise is a very valuable weapon in a fighter's arsenal. This action by the 'martial artist' tells me alot about him.
I saw a video a few years ago where some pimp was beating on one of his girls across the street from a karate school. While students videotaped from the 2nd story, the instructor goes down and yells from across the street for the pimp to stop.
The pimp tells him to mind his business or he will come over and kick the guy's butt. The guy keeps telling the pimp to stop so the pimp walks over threateningly.
The instructor raises his arms in a feigned move to protect himself as the pimp approaches and when the pimp gets within reach just brings one hand down across the jaw/neck of the pimp like an axe.
The guy hits the ground like a sack of potatoes.
The part I liked best was the feign move. It gave the pimp a sense of confidence as this guy was pulling his hands over his head... that confidence opened him up for a solid shot.
Seems like if there are 6 attackers, the best way to warn them that you know karate is to pull a Steven Segal move and break an elbow on the 1st guy you can. The rest will figure it out.
I agree with that. Knowledge of martial arts isn't exactly something one who studies them goes around blabbing about.
Plus it's such a cheesy line. "Do you want ka-ra-te?"
It could be that he was giving them a chance to break off the confrontation without anyone getting hurt. That's what a karateka might do if he was more interested in spending an evening unmolested than in kicking some Fijian butt.
Even good fighters want to avoid fighting, if they're smart. A lot of random stuff happens in fights, stuff that you can't always deal with no matter how good you are. If you can manage it, not fighting is better.