Years ago I did Karate, and the instructors were always clear about it's real life applications being ways to create an opening for you to run. Most of the kata are just ways to stun different types and positionings of un- or lightly armed attacker long enough to gtfo.
I still only remember one of the kata as "that's my purse, I don't know you", because it consists of breaking an attackers grip on your arm/wrist, smacking them in the face, then kicking them in the balls.