Testing

Did you know that MMA is a sport and has no value for self defence on the street? If you are a traditional martial artist (TMA) then keep repeating this mantra to yourself, as maintaining this fiction will help you feel better about your art for a bit longer. I love the logic of it all. MMA has wrestling, boxing, Muay Thai, BJJ, and a few other martial arts but it's a sport with no street value. Krav Maga was put together by a guy with boxing and wrestling skills and bits of other systems were added over time with the odd original technique or two and it is heavily marketed as a self defence for the street.

The TMA's that are desperate to differentiate themselves from MMA always talk about the sport verses the street. They forget one tiny little detail and that is the martial arts world is filled with garbage. You need to test your strategies and your skills to ensure you aren't being delusional.

You might sneer at competition but TMA's got right into competition a few decades ago and the rules made it a pretty poor spectator experience. The issue for them now is that MMA does it so much better. These cross trainers have built themselves a testing ground where they regularly see if their skills are any good. It might not be the greatest testing ground ever devised but it is one never-the-less. A lot of TMA's on the other hand are rarely going outside of their individual clubs. I saw someone in a blog describe it as 'inbreeding grounds' where they train against the same people doing similar things.

You need a testing environment to see if you really have the skills that can handle the reality of a serious battle with a serious opponent; something you cannot fake. You need something that will get rid of any illusions you are holding onto.

MMA has come up with their version of a testing ground where it is hard to fake the outcome. Sparring in a TMA environment will produce a fake outcome almost all the time. So which system is training for reality?

Another test that cannot be easily faked is multiple attacker training particularly when the group is half decent. You either get taken down or you make it to safety. Dealing with multiple attackers is another area where TMA is desperate to point out their advantages over MMA. They should be careful about making any claims to greatness in the area, as from what I have seen they would not enjoy going up against a decent group.