Side kicks are indeed pretty useless from a self-defence point of view, since by the time you've thought to get in a kick the whole thing's pretty much over. Plus it all tends to be too close-range for kicking.
From an organised fighting situation it's more useful, since it opens up a few more options; after you commit to a kick you still have a choice between the different forms (and heights) of kick. So if you're going to pick fights... 8^)
Oh, and I agree that kata are probably fairly useless to somebody of your level. For me they're quite effective in reminding me to stay in correct form; when it's all about the shape of your body, you can't get away with poor posture. The specifics of the kata still seem fairly arbitrary to me, though.
no subject
From an organised fighting situation it's more useful, since it opens up a few more options; after you commit to a kick you still have a choice between the different forms (and heights) of kick. So if you're going to pick fights... 8^)
Oh, and I agree that kata are probably fairly useless to somebody of your level. For me they're quite effective in reminding me to stay in correct form; when it's all about the shape of your body, you can't get away with poor posture. The specifics of the kata still seem fairly arbitrary to me, though.