One of the reasons why your knowledge in karate will help you to defend your self is because karate involves learning more than just fighting. Karate training will make you more confident and more aware of your street surroundings.
In order to overcome your attacker, you need confidence and fight training. With the heightened awareness of your surroundings, you can see your attacker even before they get close to you.
In addition, Karate equips you with the knowledge on how to disable your attacker and protect yourself before making an escape. Karate enables you to have better control of your mind and body.
It also teaches you how to focus on your target while maintaining your body balance. Therefore, by employing the karate moves, you can defend yourself from your attacker while controlling your body and calming the fear.
Maintaining a body balance is crucial because you can easily lose a fight to your opponent (who is your attacker in this case) if you fight without having control over your body. With a good body balance, you can protect yourself from any form of attack whether mental or physical.
Karate also equips you with a fighter’s reflexes, which enable you to move quickly, and strategically when you are under attack. The more you practice moves in any martial art the quicker your body reacts to what is presented to you in a fight. You do not want to think of the next move you just want it to happen.
Source: https://www.traintofightback.com/is-karate-good-for-self-defense