A lot can be said about mma. In particular the most renowned fighting organization’s slogan is very telling. UFC: as real as it gets. This implies that it’s the most realistic sport fighting there is compared to actual street fighting. It also implies that sport fighting is not as realistic as a street fight. Why is that? Because street fighting and sport fighting are not similar in many fashions. Rule sets control what happens in a sport setting. In the street there is no rule set and no control. While sport fighting techniques can be very useful in a street fighting situation, they can also be limiting. The nature of a street fight itself is entirely different from a sport fight. When you look deeper at where sport fighting and self defense on the streets meet, you can see sport fighting is a piece of the larger puzzle that is self defense.
When you fight on the streets a referee doesn’t run up and make sure you ‘have a clean bout’ and follow the rules. There is no rules on the street so punches and kicks are the least of your worries. There are a lot of attacks that are banned even in mma because they are incapacitating to anyone. Things as simple as eye pokes and groin strikes can end a fight quicker than any punch or kick . They are now allowing more time for recovery in ufc fights when there is an eye poke up to five minutes. Those are just two of many banned attacks in mma rule sets that can put any tough ufc champion on the floor. Fighters get hit with the meanest combinations of punches and kicks with no problem yet the moment they get poked in the eye or hit in the groin, they have to stop the fight. On the streets, a fight is ended in less than a minute using moves that are banned in mma but a sport fight lasts for three minutes because the fighters chose to kick each other in the legs instead of the groin due to rules. Besides banned attacks, rule sets that make sport fighters wear gloves change the ability to fight like one does during a street fight. When you compare something as gruesome as bare knuckle boxing to mma, you will see gloves change the impact a punch has by alot. By the end of just about every bare knuckle boxing match, the contenders faces are hard to look at and unrecognizable amongst all the blood. While the punches cause more cuts without gloves, they are harder to land. You don’t see this in mma or boxing due to the surface area of the gloves. This is very revealing to how inefficient punching can be to stopping an attacker on the street opposed to in a sports fight where gloves are typically required by rule set. A stiff punch to the jaw isn’t always the best way to stop someone. Not only do gloves change the effect a punch has, but they inhibit what a martial artist can do with there hands. You will never see wrist locks used in any type of combat sports that require wearing gloves because it’s simply not practical to attempt due to dexterity. Where one must wear gloves in mma that don’t allow for use of wrist locks, it would be highly useful in any situation on the street where you are not limited by rules of a combat sport. These rule sets applied to combat sports make fighting in a ring a lot more simplified than fighting on a street. There is a lot less ways to be hurt in combat sports than on the streets and many rules to protect the fighters from the brutality of street fighting which separates the two from being similar in a lot of ways.
Combat sports Produce some of the greatest fighters in the world. People you would never want to mess with. So the best way to fight is to emulate what they do in the ring right? Not in a street fight it’s not. While the way they fight may be best suited for the sport they fight in, most styles adapted to sport fighting are not as effective on the streets. Take Brazilian jiu jitsu for example. A style that focuses entirely on grappling on the ground. Many techniques involve wrapping your legs around the attacker such as a technique called an arm bar. You would straighten the attackers arm between your legs by arching your back. This places very vital areas near your legs and groin next to your opponent’s mouth. This is not a great place to be in despite the danger your opponent faces from having his arm snapped because they could easily bite you. Not to mention if someone decides to jump in, being on the ground is the worst place to be, regardless if you are winning. For these two reasons alone, Brazilian jiu jitsu is not designed for street fighting but is designed for sport fighting conditions. When you take a look at the style of a professional fighters movement during a fight, there is a certain rhythm and timing that simply doesn’t exist in street fighting. The environment has a lot to do with that. In a ring shaped like an octagon a fighter can circle a lot easier and work with a large open space. They start the fight with the opponent at a favorable distance and will not have to worry about weapons or other opponents. A street fight often starts in a tight enclosed space with various objects in the way of moving around like you can in an octagon. It might not start at a favorable distance and they might have to worry about weapons or other attackers. The environmental differences in a sports fight and a street fight are another example of how sport fighting styles are much more suited for a ring rather than a self defense situation.The start of a combat sports event and a street fight are not similar. The fighters see each other coming from across the ring before the first punch is even thrown. They have months to prepare for the fight. The timing and rhythm of professional fighters make for a slow paced fight where each fighter takes advantage of the open space and studies the others movements for minutes. None of these factors you see in mma and boxing exist on the streets. According to highpercentagemartialarts.com the average fight time from 200 different street fights was only forty seven seconds. This is Because street fights start very differently. All of a sudden there is a person trying to attack you from a very close distance. Sometimes you don’t even know they are going to attack you. There is no break in action and it starts abruptly. Sometimes before you are even in a fighting stance. So starting a fight by methodically moving towards your opponent like you do in a ring is not going to be helpful in the street. Even though sport fighting and street fighting share the core principles of fighting, there is enough differences in the two to make the application of sport fighting entirely different.
The very nature of a sports competition and a street fight are also entirely different. One is much more dangerous than the other. While sports competition is controlled and both fighters prepare for a fair match, street fighting is wildly unpredictable. It doesn’t favor those who fight fairly. Sports fighting is much less dangerous because you know exactly what you sign up for and you don’t expect to put your life on the line. According to wayofmartialarts.com, there has only ever been seven deaths in a sanctioned mma match. when someone enters into a street fight, a person is being attacked under a much less agreeable situation. The opponent probably won’t fight fairly if they want to hurt you and it is not un common if they resort to jumping or stabbing you. According to world populations.com approximately 100,000 people are stabbed a year in the United States alone. While the nature of sports competition is about fighting for fun, street fighting is about hurting someone. It’s the intention that makes the difference between what’s a street fight and what’s a sport match. Even when two fighters want to hurt each other in a boxing ring, they do so with the intent of doing it under boxing rules. At the end of the day, they are playing a competition for fun. That’s there intent. The intent of street fighting is more heinous. It’s not really about fun. It’s all about inflicting pain on someone. Whether that be to defend a life or hurt one. The intentions of sports competition are completely dissimilar to the negative intentions of street fighting.
It’s worth noting Sport fighting envelops some of the most influential and purposeful styles of martial arts. The incorporation of basics such as striking and timing make these styles vital to self defense. But still, sports competition is more on par with the playful and artificial nature of an air soft gun. while street fighting represents the serious and decisive nature of a real gun. It is important to understand the intent behind the martial art you are training and understand it’s limitations if designed for sport. Blending of techniques that can prepare you for all the different ways you can be attacked is your best defense in a street fight. Especially against multiple opponents. Sport fighting is meant for fun with rules. It is important to see the nuisances of street fighting opposed to the straight forwardness of sport fighting so you can understand a fight on the streets is not the same as what you see in an mma octagon or boxing ring. While sports competition represents something positive and honorable , street fighting is the complete opposite of those things.
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Very good long ranging post. Very true fighting is different than sport. Very true any top rated contender would do well in a fight.
Back in the early 70’s groin shots were still legal in open point karate matches. This was full contact to the body and kiss contact to the face. In my school it was full contact to the face. The best students sparred on Thursday nights in school.
While it is true it was still not fighting it was closer, as the tournament style (sport) taught distancing and being first – that did translate to fighting.
So what I’m trying to say is my “sport” karate put me in a good position when I later bounced at bars or ejected bikers at on the the schools I worked.
I would argue back then no one kicked high with out risking a hard groin shot. High kicks were used but judiciously. Only one point for any strike. Closer to a real fight.
Still I agree even this was not fighting. Now for self defense I no longer spar (I got old somehow) so the use if eye shots, breaks, stomps, bites, and any other area that is open is fair game if my life is at stake. That is the true fighting.
What do I think of sport? Good to have something to practice against an opponent. I’d opt for the late 60’s sparring in open tourneys but boxing, mma, muy thai, wrestling and such are all good too.