One summer evening I was talking with one of my students outside the dojo when a woman carrying a gym bag from a neighboring Taekwondo dojo walked by.  She had just recently been dismissed from class and stopped by in passing. She inquired what we train in at my school.  I started to explain how we train in reality martial arts and began to give an example of kicking someone in the leg.  She gave me an odd look and said, “But isn’t kicking someone in the leg illegal?"

I often talk about the difference between Sport martial arts and Reality martial arts.  Newbies to the arts (and even those training for years) may not even realize there is a difference.  The differences are not negative nor positive towards either.  What you wish to train in a matter of what your goals are.  So, allow me to give a few comparisons from my perspective:

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Sport martial arts mainly focus on tournament training; which is usually very vigorous training, a great workout (muscular and/or cardio), and focus on certain criteria for gaining points during a competition.  Reality martial arts mainly focus on self-defense in real-life scenarios training; again which can include very vigorous training, which may or may not include a muscular and/or cardio workout, but (in contrast to sport) may focus on a broader spectrum of options not regulated by sport rules.  Whereas sports may focus on gaining points or inflicting a KO (depending on the sport and its rules), self-defense focuses on ending the situation as quickly as possibly without the limitations these of rules.

Follow up:

Another example looking at a Judo match:  If a contender uses small joint manipulation on their opponent’s fingers to bring him down, this is penalty.  However, in self defense the person would (purposely) bring the opponent down using small joint manipulation on the opponent’s fingers…possibly followed by multiple strikes.

In giving these examples, I’m not saying that Reality arts are better than Sport arts; I’m simply giving situational comparisons.  I have many good things to say about Sport arts:  They have very good technical techniques, much atheletism, much discipline, entertaining to watch, and much more!  I even said to a student of mine how ‘pretty’ Judo is comparison to what we do sometimes.  Nor am I saying that a Sport art cannot be used for self-defense.  Will a Taekwondo round-house kick to the head?  Very possibly!  I even have friends that train in Kyokushin Karate (a style that has much focus on tournaments) where I would almost feel sorry for anyone who starts a fight with one of these tough Karate guys.

However, I will say be aware what you are practicing for.  Know that a person will revert back to what they practice regularly.  If you limit yourself to the rules of sport, you may find that you confine yourself to these rules in a reality situation because that is what you are trained to do.  For example, if you constantly train to shoot to your opponent’s legs and maintain ground dominance (thus giving up your mobility) I have no doubt that you’ll be good at it.  However, doing it during a one-on-one cage fight is one thing…doing it in a crowded bar while you’re opponent’s friends are kicking you on the ground is another.

As in personality theories, simplicity is best.  So what is the simplest way to compare the two in relation to rules?  In Sport marital arts, the goal is to win the tournament and to abide by the rules.  In Reality martial arts, the goal is to survive without the limitations of rules.

I hope you enjoyed the blog.  See you on the mat!

~Josh Moree

….the next Martial Arts blog (seemingly appropriate to follow this one): Self Defense and the Law.