If you’ve trained in any style of martial arts or taken a self-defense class, you most likely have asked yourself, “could I really make this technique work?” or maybe, “could I really defend myself if I needed to?” It’s essentially the ultimate question that most don’t have the answer to early on in their training. Outside of the sport side of martial arts, it’s possibly the biggest issue and hardest question that every student and instructor must answer honestly.

I was quite confident early on in my martial arts training. Not long after, that confidence got shaken when I began to spar in class. I had a tendency to freeze often when in altercations before I began my martial arts journey. Many times, as a dumb youth getting into fights, I wouldn’t move until I was hit a few times. On the outside looking in it would seem downright stupid to stand there without my hands up nor a fighting stance while someone is yelling in my face how they are going to beat me up. Yet, I just stood there until I ate a few punches and started to fight back. I didn’t fully understand what was happening at the time until years later when I gained a deeper understanding of how the body reacts to stress, which I’ll briefly explain later in this blog.

Regular sparring and competing in martial arts tournaments is what gave me that confidence and a clearer answer to if I could really defend myself if needed. Not just fighting with friends over something stupid. There was still a lot of questions with specific techniques but being able to evade a strike and throw a counter strike was apparent. Having to use joint locks in escalating situations as an adult further solidified my confidence in the answer. That all came from experience, not just training.

Mind you, I didn’t do well when I first started sparring and competing. I was embarrassingly bad to be honest. Each time I sparred or fought a new competitor, I got increasingly better. I didn’t learn any new techniques to become better. I adjusted the ones I already knew to make them work for me. I also had to adjust my mind to deal with the “conflict”. I was brain dead and nervous early on. I could have had the best technique on the planet and would have performed poorly.

Training is obviously important, but you must test that technique. You can train for thirty years, but if you’ve never tested your technique through competition, proper sparring or through actually defending yourself, then those years of training are just a hobby or activity with a hope that it’s enough if you need to actually use it. I don’t fully know how to convey this to people who have not properly tested their skills. I’ve tried in the past and failed. I can’t begin to truly explain how different it is to defend yourself
from a real attacker who intends to do serious harm to you versus training with friends in a controlled
training facility.

Even sparring in class versus sparring an unknown competitor in a competition is incomparable. The mind state alone is dramatically different. And sparring in a tournament doesn’t even come close to actually defending yourself in an actual attack. Attempting to represent a real attack is near impossible in class. Sport martial arts is the closest we can get to actually obtaining experience in self-defense. Yet, even that has issues as sport demands rules and boundaries and a sense of fairness, and there is always a way to stop the action if needed. All things that aren’t necessarily in self-defense. It does, however, provide an unwilling opponent that doesn’t want you to succeed in your plans. That is an important factor.

The most important difference between training and sparring in class versus actually defending oneself is the triggering of the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS). Most know this as fight, flight or freeze. I’ve detailed the SNS in previous blog posts on more than one occasion, so I will keep it brief. This SNS is like a twin in you brain that comes out in life threatening moments, such as being violently attacked or suddenly seeing a venomous snake crawl across your feet unexpectedly. The cognitive and rational portions of your brain essentially shut down and the instinctive portion takes over. In this system, you will do whatever you are trained to do. It could be wildly throwing punches or proper punches if trained well (fight), it could be running away screaming (flight), it could be nothing and you’re frozen in fear (freeze).

If you are well trained, that training will come out at this time. However, remember that the cognitive side of your brain will not be very useful if at all. Being able to make adjustments to your defense or deal with sudden changes you may not be used to is not going to happen. You will be stuck in a loop of attempting to do the same thing over and over if it’s not working. You can train for as many different situations and options as you can think of, but each situation would take endless hours to train instinctively and there will still be thousands of situations that get overlooked.

As an example, maybe you get into an argument with someone who suddenly decides to take it physical. You begin defending yourself the way you trained for years. Then suddenly his friend jumps in and also begins fighting you. Maybe you’ve trained to deal with multiple fighters, but chances are you’ve forgotten the logical answer of simply running. You stay and fight as that’s what you’ve been trained to do. Then that friend pulls a knife. Again, you’re locked into that fight mode and the thought of running is once again eluding you. A simple ego fueled fist fight just turned to potential death due to your lack of experience but over confidence in your training.

Again, it’s so difficult to explain the importance of experience. Training is absolutely important, but so is pressure testing that training. However, this doesn’t mean you need to go out on the weekends and get into fights to gain this experience. There are a few things that can be done in a smarter way. First and foremost is what I’ve already mentioned, competitions.

No matter how the competition is set up, it’s not going to represent a self-defense situation. Not by a long shot. However, it will definitely get your mind and body adjusting for those SNS moments. The more you compete, the more you will learn to adjust and deal with the effects of SNS or even keep it from entering the SNS. Even if you no longer enter the SNS when competing (most don’t after the first time or two), it’s still beneficial as it gets you accustomed to dealing with someone who wants to hit, choke, or slam you.

Along those same lines, sparring in general is important. However, it’s important to spar properly. Lightly tapping your opponent while you giggle is not going to cut it. While it’s important for safety reasons to ease into sparring, you need to step it up. If you aren’t at least a little bit worried that you’re about to get injured from a hard hit or getting choked out, then it may not be overly helpful in regard to pressure testing.

I’m aware of many martial arts styles and schools that don’t do sparring. It’s somewhat understandable to an extent. Take Hapkido for instance. If we sparred using Hapkido techniques the way they are intended, there will be eye gouging, hard groin shots, biting, broken fingers, and hard strikes to the neck and throat. All things that are highly illegal in competitions and would lead to running out of sparring partners quickly. It would also involve sparring without the knowledge of being attacked, use of weapons and multiple attackers. There just isn’t a safe way to fully spar using these techniques as designed.

However, that doesn’t mean sparring can’t be done. In my studio, we separate these aspects of sparring to work on specific skill sets. In one sparring session we may do just kicking and striking. In another match it could be throw sparring (takedowns, sweeps, joint locks and throws only). Then in another session it may be ground grappling only. Sometimes it may be one on one with both partners ready. In other scenarios they may be blind folded or unaware of what the scenario is until the partner initiates.
It’s incredibly complicated, but very doable. In my opinion, sparring is a must, no matter how it’s done. The mental side of dealing with a resisting partner in an impromptu way is crucial.

Lastly, rank testing’s can be useful in pressure testing your technique and responses. Again, if done properly. Simply running through some forms and an easy board break is not going to cut it for most. During our rank testing’s we always invite friends and family and open the doors to anyone to come in and watch. For most people, the first time they participate in a rank testing, this creates a lot of
nervousness. Knowing that all eyes are on you, in particular high-ranking judges that can spot your every mistake and can keep you from obtaining your next rank, is a good way to send a student into or near the SNS.

During these rank testing’s, sparring is an important aspect as well. Specifically for my students, when they go for their black belt or junior black belt, sparring becomes the majority of their testing. I know at this point the student is used to random strangers watching and high ranks critiquing their every movement. Therefore, I must step it up. I need to represent the mental blockage that can result in a real self-defense scenario. I make them spar excessively to the point of exhaustion with little to no rest. Once that becomes apparent, I can see how they may really act when their logical brain is no longer functioning properly. When I see a student still able to defend themselves, not give up, and even making good decisions, I know they are at the level I need them to be at to feel comfortable signing my name to their black belt certificate.

While training does not equal experience, this is not to state that someone who only trains and never competes or never gets involved in an altercation or real self-defense scenario should not be considered a martial artist or knowledgeable. Many great martial artists and instructors fall under this category. My only issue is instructors who are not honest with themselves or their students. Teaching “real self-defense” to students when they really don’t know. Not being in a physical fight should be applauded and their fight avoidance is what should be taught above all else.