There are those who beleive that Karate did not have or train people ground techniques. In other words, these people have the mindset that Karate is strictly a stand-up art. Thus, not having a complete worth in real defense. There are some MMA (I loathe this term) followers whom think it is ineffective in or out of the ring. (I would almost tend to make a statement, that any fight, in or out the ring is Karate given the semantics of the term-definition.)
Could it be that arts like Shotokan (for example-not just picking on), per its current course, give a false impression?