Originally posted by Gold Horse Dragon
Agreed...with but with some clarification...the way I teach free sparring (no equipment, full speed, everything goes except for eye/throat/groin contact...but still targets, just no contact to these areas) is you are not competing against anyone...but you are practising to make the art work for you instead of resorting to a 'brawl'. Your partner is your feedback...it is a learning situation and not a competition. It is an opportunity for the Sifu and the student to find the student's strengths and weaknesses (and to improve on them) in as close to a real streetfighting situation as possible. This is the closest senario to prepare the student for the harsh realities of defending oneself on the street. My Sifu prepared me this way and it works (saved my life on more than one occassion). I continue to teach my students this way. On the otherhand...tournament competition with tag matches, rules such as no head hand strikes, no strikes to the back, groin etc. do not prepare the student for successfully defending themself on the street. Even with the new 'no equipment matches' such as the Gracies promoted, there are rules that put the match into the realm of 'not being prepared for the street' and also favoured the grappler, although it was a lot more realistic than regular tournament competition, however based on priniples...I am not in agreement with the concept of these matches.
Yes there are some techniques which are too dangerous (every art has them) and cannot be used in anything but life and death street self-defense.
The only one a student really has to compete against is himself...to be the best he can be physically, spiritually and mentally and to do so with integrity and honor.
GHD
As has been pointed out though, you can't really get the full effect merely from sparring in your school. That is a group of guys that you train with regularly. They tend to cooperate way more than someone from another school, especially in competition. Also, when you train with the same people, you begin to know them, and it makes fighting them somewhat predictable, as you know what to expect from them. This is where you can see high value in competition.
i'm nobody...i'm nobody. i'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo... a boxcar and a jug of wine... but i'm a straight razor if you get to close to me.
-Charles Manson
I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally without predjudice.
- Shonie Carter