The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 3 letter word MARTIAL ART
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
M
A
R
T
I
A
L
A
R
T
More clues leading to the result MARTIAL ART
- Officer reportedly given powerless role in contact sport
- Dan at No 10 is a master of one
- Military skill as a means of self- defence
- Karate perhaps hurt one gangster into biting
- Sex coming up in wedding photos perhaps results in fighting between partners?
- Method for scrapping upturned vehicle, running a trial
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Karate perhaps" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case karate perhaps = martial art.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.