Impractical Practical Martial Arts

I agree with pgm316 that use of the word "full" to describe the level of contact is what causes a lot of confusion and argument. If you're not trying to deck each other, it's not full contact. It might be hard, but not FULL. If you call your training full contact it's just going to put people off as they'll assume it's dangerous.

I also agree with what Pat has said about the cage not being the be-all and end-all. Like he said, you could get stabbed or outnumbered quite easily. To me, MMA is just a myth buster. It doesn't answer all the questions of martial arts by a long shot, but it does show what doesn't work on that first stepping stone of unarmed combat.

MMA, as BaiKaiGuy pointed out, is not a new idea, it's just a sensible idea that's been resurrected by competitions like the UFC. Plenty of TMAs do train live with hard contact in both striking and grappling, and to my mind, these are basically MMA; the actual name of the style means nothing compared to how you train.

 

Dave Turtons SDF is a uk based group of clubs that do all the stuff mentioned but he falls under the RBSD side of things not just a MMA club. It is worth mentioning he does have a couple of MMA fighters one of which was or still is a British Champion.

But that is due to the nature of realisim in his training - he is a very respected and credible instructor.

RBSD often covers the 3 catagories as discussed but is a bit of a rare breed from what I understand.

 

It's just you I'm in the North and al my people have to spar at the right time of course, and a Kali class that does not spar???, whats the point.

Best regards

Pat

 

You put your finger on it there Tim with: "If you're not trying to deck each other, it's not full contact." And if you are trying to deck each other then people will frequently end up on the floor, and be injured!

Which means full contact training shouldn't be done frequently as its not worth the damage caused on a regular basis.

And I agree with the cage, its not the be-all. It is very close and has been valuable for all martial artists to learn from. But add back bitting, gouging, scratching and a few other nasty moves, oh and maybe change the cage for a ring or drunken football fans and you'll have another martial arts revolution on your hands!

 

It made me cry, it really did.