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OK, we have a general agreement that training like you fight, or as close as possible, is better than not. This seems to be the crux of the MMA argument, as articulated most succinctly by Knife fighter, who will elaborate I'm sure if he feels necessary.

We have also argued that high intensity combat training is demanding, and is a significant, but limited part, to a lifetime in Martial arts. You can't claim to be a top level MA without the blood to show for it. Yours or theirs is practically irrelevant.

So, this isn't about disrespect or dissent on sport fighting, its mainly a question for TCMA people, to examine how to get results with alternative training as well, to complete our picture and to lose the essential skills of your style.

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1. To my mind, sport fighting is a lot like Chi Sau, or Push hands. It limits your expression of your complete skills in favour of a very engaging sub set that becomes a game. To focus on any one element of your training for too long takes away from other skills, and becomes the skill itself. This is it for lots of guys, and fair enough, no problems with that. I prefer that kind of person to the split personality that claims TCMA but fights without TCMA.

2. Likewise, it takes you to a common denominator. Once you learn sport fighting, you practice it towards the skills of other sport fighters, and this can diminish some of your unconventional techniques, that have to be trained nevertheless, even though you can't use them in that format.

3. Several people have commented on "dirty fighting", and there is an unmistakable social issue with 'fighting dirty' in the Sport community. Not a vulnerability exactly, but a social stigma. That in itself speaks volumes to my mind.

4. I don't think sport fighting is the ultimate measure of skill, because I consider MA skill to both precede conflict and to follow after it, a comprehensive strategy for self defence. Thus, sport fighting is simply one more approximate expression of your skills, simulating an alternative situation.

I think you have to sport fight as part of your MA career, preferably earlier than later, because once you have those foundation skills, you can sharpen them with TCMA, given you have access to some substance. Big if, I know.

That's my 'one man's opinion'. And basically, you have to consider that TCMA is about more than just fighting to see my point of view.