Street Fight vs Full-contact Competition

[Yum Cha]

Firstly, I'm not a seasoned street fighter, never was.
I did random tournaments and club fighting until my late 30's.

I never had an altercation on the street that was anywhere as difficult, painful or taxing as the competition bouts, or even some of the heavier club bouts.

Almost all of my street encounters are a couple of patty-cakes and the other guy runs away. Just lucky I guess. No denying the sense of danger was a lot higher, and the level of intent was a lot higher too.

I know some of you guys have had life and death encounters, muggings, security work, military, that by comparison, are simply off the scale compared to that nonsense, and that's one reason why I'm asking.

But for the most part, have your street encounters been more or less challenging than a tough competition fight?

[uki]

i never had a competition fight, but all of my street encounters were a piece of cake. on a side note, i believe there would be a lot of extra wasted energy expenditure due to the concentration on the rules, the crowd(being public), and whatever else runs thru ones mind up there. each encounter on the street was virtually thoughtless and simply reactionary in nature.

[Lucas]

Firstly, I'm not a seasoned street fighter, never was.
I did random tournaments and club fighting until my late 30's.

I never had an altercation on the street that was anywhere as difficult, painful or taxing as the competition bouts, or even some of the heavier club bouts.

Almost all of my street encounters are a couple of patty-cakes and the other guy runs away. Just lucky I guess. No denying the sense of danger was a lot higher, and the level of intent was a lot higher too.

I know some of you guys have had life and death encounters, muggings, security work, military, that by comparison, are simply off the scale compared to that nonsense, and that's one reason why I'm asking.

But for the most part, have your street encounters been more or less challenging than a tough competition fight?

ive had several encounters over the years, the few that actually escelated to physical confrontation have been 'easier' than even medium sparring with intermediate to advanced practitioners, IME. ill say though that ive never had to square up with a mean ass mofo. every dumb ass that ive ever gotten involved with have all been just that, dumb asses.

i have however been beaten badly and have had weapon encounters. i dont count being beaten or at gunpoint as a 'street fight'. in truth it was simply a gang beating. so the reality is that 'street' situations can be far more extreme, ime. but not on average. i dont even compare weapon encounters to a sport environment or street fights.

[uki]

yeah - it's hard to relate having a loaded gun being put to your head and having a "sport fight" expedition match...

[Lucas]

lol ya. one time i was involved in a home invasion with 3 guys 2 armed with guns, and one attacking me in my sleep. huge guy, im still amazed i got out of that, i woke up to his fingers meeting his thumb squeezing my wind pipe.....thats when i learned the power of the elbow meeting the head.

as soon as i got his grasp off of my windpipe, i wrapped my legs over his arms to break his hold and basically flew to my feet. adrenaline...

at that point my entire focus was keeping that guy between me and his friends, yelling for my roomate who was sleeping in his room. he came out with a shotty and scattered them with a pump and a yell. and boy ill tell you, was that big guy ****ed, before they ran out he was so ****ed he picked up and threw a huge glass ashtray at me lol, which i ducked.

i moved that night.

[uki]

i moved that night.smart move...

[Lucas]

smart move...

ya, heh, smartest move of my life. i know they went back.

[uki]

ya, heh, smartest move of my life. i know they went back.i had the gun put to my head and the next morning i began the 3 day hitch-hike of 1700 miles back to pa... you always appreciate the morning after nights like that.

[Ray Pina]

But for the most part, have your street encounters been more or less challenging than a tough competition fight?

I've been very lucky where my "street encounters," which include everything from young ego knucklehead playground, high-school and too young to be in bars but in bars anyway crap, to thankfully few (4) altercations were weapons were involved, unscathed.

I can say, in hindsight, I've always just happened to react right without being the aggressor. I've stood my ground or spoken my mind and absorbed shoves, but there's been times I've struck back. My most memorable martial art moment was clinching with a surfer I know who tried to stick his thumb in my eye so I shoved him away. He regained himself and swung a hay maker and with my left I executed a perfect, effortless wave-like punch I was doing in E-Chuan at the time. It just happened. I didn't throw it and I didn't feel it land. I just saw him spin and fall... I helped him up. Walked him out. We're cool now.

Even then I got lucky? I didn't know him well. He could have held a grudge. Ran me over crossing a street. ****ed with my car. He could have sued me for breaking his nose.

The biggest lesson I learned coming down here is how nicely being humble pays off. Smile. Be friendly and non confrontational. The other side of that, is if someone still messes with you they're usually overconfident, placaded by your politeness.

The hardest I've ever had to fight for what felt like my survival, or at least my dignity, was in a San Da/kick boxing tournament. I got my a$$ kicked, round 1 TKO, by a monster. He woke me up to the fact that you can't just show up at 198 being a taco bell eating 198.

[Ray Pina]

i woke up to his fingers meeting his thumb squeezing my wind pipe.....thats when i learned the power of the elbow meeting the head.

That's insane. My best friend down here was home invaded three years ago around the block from me. He, his sister, mom and dad all tied up at gunpoint.

I haven't yet, but am getting a gun soon. Truck died today. Got to get a new one of those first.





i moved that night.

Smart move of the century!

[David Jamieson]

Been in both.

competition is way harder.

this is my experience.

street fights are over fast, you can do dirty stuff.

for instance, put someone through a plate glass window. that ends it.
hit them with a chair, that ends it,,,usually

kick them while they're down and don't let yup until someone pulls you off or they completely turtle.

competition demands way more skill, endurance and conditioning.

street fights are most of the time sloppy, dirty and short.

[Liokault]

I'v been on the reverse situation.

Being short of sparring partners, my teacher got a guy from the pub, a notoriouse street fighter, to come and spar with me. This guy was the same height as me but with arms as thick as my legs. He did the class with us as a warm up prior to sparring and frankly, he was beaten before we started.

I think he was intimidated by how hard I was hitting the target mits he was holding for me because just before we were about to start sparring he asked me to go easy on him lol.

Anyway, he couldnt do anything (and our sparring rules are more or less anything goes), not even be aggressive.

[Yum Cha]

I'v been on the reverse situation.

So, sparring a streetfighter in class wasn't much of a challenge? Bit surprising, sounds like he was out of his comfort zone.

What about the streetfight side?

[Yum Cha]

One thing about streetfights, you always have to look out for 'helpers' jumping in. That joker trying to shift his way through the crowd to get around your back for a sucker attack. Fortunately, they intimidate easily, in my experience.

[SPJ]

1. street fights

we have to be street smart, counting the odds, ways to avoid or runaway.

why? b/c bad guys will not play fair, they either use a concealed weapon, outnumber you, surprise you--

2. competition with rules and a referee.

rules will make everything as fair as possible.

same weight and age range---

the only thing left is the skill that you compete with.

if you do not concede,

there is always a chance for re match.

---

[Ray Pina]

One thing about streetfights, you always have to look out for 'helpers' jumping in. That joker trying to shift his way through the crowd to get around your back for a sucker attack. Fortunately, they intimidate easily, in my experience.

true dat....

[Ray Pina]

rules will make everything as fair as possible.

same weight and age range---


Everything you said is true but this regarding age. I'm 35. I'm fighting young men 10 to 15 years younger then myself. I have experience and calmness.... but they bounce back from their training easier, which allows them to train harder, longer, more often. Many of them are also young and dumb enough to take steroids.

[Liokault]

So, sparring a streetfighter in class wasn't much of a challenge? Bit surprising, sounds like he was out of his comfort zone.

What about the streetfight side?

Not really a surprise. In a class you take away the fear, a huge amount of the benefit that aggression gives the ability to take the initiative and a large amount of the ability to use the environment amounts other things. Fundamentally you take away allot of the things that make street fighters street fighters.

I wasn’t surprised that given the above he wasn’t great; I was though surprised by how easy it was to intimidate him. I mean, at the time I was hearing stories about him getting in a fight with three guys which ended with him throwing one through a window.

[Lokhopkuen]

Competition for sure:
The whole anticipation period with it's ego bursts of elation, fear, calm, mania, comparison, doubt, overconfidence until you finally step up and your training takes over.

Street fights just happen. (I know David (((semantics))) :D )

[bawang]

in high school i tried to use kung fu fighting and horse stance on my friend and he double leg take down me and knee me in the face. i got knocked the fuk out my front teeth was loose for a few days and i was really worried i kept touching it i still remember today lol


by the way i think "street fighting" is a joke. most of the time its rich kids beating random people for fun or drunks at a bar.
the "street encounters" i had the guy always had a knife. i either ran away or calmly give him the monehs and hope he doesnt stab me for fun. my cousins security got stabbed and his guts was falling out. dont think just because you manhandle some drunk or some college kids then you are a "streetfighter"

[sanjuro_ronin]

Competition means you (typically) fight a trained fighter ( someone that trains on a regular basis to fight).
Street fight means you (typically) fight some shmo who THINKS he can fight.
End of topic there.

I competed in full contact at amateur and national levels and I bounced and "street tested" my skills for many years, no comparision in regards to the skill level.
However, a street fight was always and will always be, more POTENTIALLY dangerous.

[jimbob]

One street encounter in my life, when I found myself surrounded by a group of older teens in a park at night, demanding I pay their "toll". I kicked the mouthy one in the nuts while he was talking and threw him into the bushes and the others ran away (yelling threats behind them).

Far bigger adrenaline dump than all but one pre-arranged fight I've had - I walked on for another 5 minutes or so then I had to sit down I was shaking so much. I honestly don't know if I would have been able to switch on again at that point.

This was before I had a lot of full contact experience though. Biggest $hit I took in a comp was when I was watching some giant half American thai boxer tearing holes in the opposition in an open tournament in Penang. I was wondering who the poor sucker would be who had to face him next and turned out it was me. Lots of adrenaline loss right there (but I still managed to function. Strange feeling though).

In my case, I guess it all came down to how my head handled the situation. Street was a lot tougher, psychologically.

[Yum Cha]

..However, a street fight was always and will always be, more POTENTIALLY dangerous.

That is the whole difference, boiled down.

[diego]

Competition means you (typically) fight a trained fighter ( someone that trains on a regular basis to fight).
Street fight means you (typically) fight some shmo who THINKS he can fight.
End of topic there.

I competed in full contact at amateur and national levels and I bounced and "street tested" my skills for many years, no comparision in regards to the skill level.
However, a street fight was always and will always be, more POTENTIALLY dangerous.

I know some enforcers who'd disagree about the quality of prison fighting aka the skreets vs a ref in a cage saying go...

[sanjuro_ronin]

I know some enforcers who'd disagree about the quality of prison fighting aka the skreets vs a ref in a cage saying go...

So do I and I have beaten up more of those than I care to remember.
Its nice to ASSume that a person who develops his skills in the ring has NO street experience or any idea of what it entails to fight in "the street", its a nice ASSumption, it just ISN'T real.
Of the guys I bounced and "tested" with over the many years, only 1 had no formal "sport" MA training and he STILL trained like the "sport fighter" ie: he fought consistently full contact with skilled fighters and focused on conditioning and fighting.

[Frost]

So do I and I have beaten up more of those than I care to remember.
Its nice to ASSume that a person who develops his skills in the ring has NO street experience or any idea of what it entails to fight in "the street", its a nice ASSumption, it just ISN'T real.
Of the guys I bounced and "tested" with over the many years, only 1 had no formal "sport" MA training and he STILL trained like the "sport fighter" ie: he fought consistently full contact with skilled fighters and focused on conditioning and fighting.



What he said, most of the fighters I know work security to make ends meet, the hours allow them to get plenty of training in and the environment is great for testing out new techniques :D

[sanjuro_ronin]

What he said, most of the fighters I know work security to make ends meet, the hours allow them to get plenty of training in and the environment is great for testing out new techniques :D

Pretty much.
My last bouncing gig which ended in 98 was at a local club called G-Spot, I worked VIP, we had 12 bouncers there, they did:
MT, Wrestling, KB, Boxing, Powerlifting (always need those guys), ****o-ryu Karate, Judo, TKD or combination of systems.
Even the strict TMA guys I boucned with over the years were ALL functional MA, in other words, they ALL had full contact fighting experience of some sort, ALL of them.
The other guys had competed when tournaments were as close to full contact as you can get.
I did work with a few "point" guys and "too deadly" guys, but they never lasted more than a few weekends.