Originally Posted by
Wayfaring
I train to fight for my health and to maintain as much of the athletic ability as I can which deteriorates about 20% between the ages of 25 and 75 in a best case scenario. The opponents that come up as a result of those goals are secondary. I generally avoid thugs in the street, and don't frequent areas that contain a lot of those. If I am traveling in sketchy surroundings, I tend to migrate towards non-lethal and sometimes lethal options for personal protection, and the training that supports it - combat handgun and realistic knife training / etc. Hand-to-hand skills alone are inadequate in that environment and could lead to loss of health and life quickly.
I'm not sure what exactly you're referring to when you say "we train". From what I gather, you had a teenage group of Bruce Lee imitators back in the day that had sparring matches against other Bruce Lee imitators. This formed the basis of all your skill against thugs in the street. This is certainly supported by most of the video evidence you've presented.
The guy you've got presented in the videos seems to have a very low level of skill from a WCK perspective. He may be athletic, but I seriously doubt he mixes it up with fighters with a reasonable level of skill. There are plenty of those locally, but many times these guys mindset is making a living, not increasing skill levels.
The argument trying to discount athletic live training such as an MMA environment in favor of "street thugs" skills is ridiculous from every angle except for a weapons angle. If "street thugs" could make money fighting in a cage they would be doing that. They aren't, because they'd get destroyed. For example, look at Kimbo Slice. From a "street thug" perspective, absolutely devastating, the best, etc. YouTube had the buzz going for the guy and built up a cult following where he was the "street thug of street thugs". Put him in a scenario where ground skills are allowed, and he is easily handled by Roy Nelson, the fat MMA guy. If that were a street competition, Roy would have gotten the same takedowns and position, trapped the arm, and dropped elbows on Kimbo until he was unconscious. Unless there was a weapon or a mob of people jumping him to prevent it.
In reality, about 99% of "street thugs" are low-skilled punks trying to act hard.
In summary, reality is much different than the fantasy world you seem to live in.