Shrewsbury said:
I guess, even though I don't compete, that I will lay out the case for competitive fighting as a part of training.
The thing that I see most when I see the net-videos of people talking about street attacks and their defenses is that the attackers ussually fire off only one strike, that that strike is either a wild haymaker or a strike from the martial art in question, and that the attacker ussually has some weird expression. A streetfighter, like a trained fighter opposing you in a cage or a ring, is honestly trying to hurt you as much as possible. The attack is continous, the strikes come in combonations, chained sets, or just a wild sucession - the attacker may clinch, try to push or pull you over or tackle you - not uncommon at all. The attacker will reset when he has a chance - he won't passively go down.
The problem with the self-defense drills I see so often on the net or described in martial arts texts is that they are predicated on the assumption of dealing with one attack or a prearranged series of attacks and then countering. When faced with freeform, these ideas translate to some extent, but not as well.
There is alot more to intent than throwing wild haymakers with fake angry look on your face and then standing there while your partener counters. There is more to self defense fighting than this.
