Quote Originally Posted by t_niehoff View Post
What does prepare you? Doing it. Sparring/fighting in that environment and trying to work out for yourself (or with the help of someone who has already done the work) of how to make your art work -- how to put the pieces together. That's what we do every time we train. And we've spent hundreds of hours doing it.
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If this statement is true, then ALL MARTIAL ARTS should be abandoned and one should NEVER train to fight, they should just fight on pure instinct without theory, without thought given to strategy, etc....

Sparring and fighting are still not the same thing...sparring still presupposes that the other guy is not trying to take your head off and or mame you or kill you like a real fight....sparring uses gloves or protective gear whereas fighting does not...figting is "bareknuckle" and no holds barred. Real fighting may use weapons of convenience like broken bottles, a knife, the curb of a sidewalk, multiple attackers, maybe even a gun....if "the only thing that prepares you is doing it" then logically your are saying forget training, just go pick a fight and see how you come out....

Moses