What’s the difference between a “sport” martial art and a “traditional” martial art? They both use much of the same techniques, right? And what about those traditional arts that also compete? Which category should those fall under? Is there a difference? This is what I want to tackle in this blog. While “they are the same” isn’t necessarily a myth I hear specifically, I consistently see both being lumped together as if they are the same. This then leads to comparisons that don’t make sense. These two categories are not equal on every level.

It’s easy to lump sport martial arts and traditional martial arts together. They are definitely under the same umbrella. Kicking, striking, joint locks, throws, etc., they both hold many of the same techniques and philosophies. To the average person, there is really no need to even see them as different. The difference is in the details. In case you are unsure of what I mean by sport martial arts and traditional martial arts. Or what styles would consist of which. Let’s briefly describe each one.

The traditional arts tend to have many aspects that get focused on, not just fighting skills. While fighting skills are definitely the biggest focus, culture, improved health, and self-improvement are among many other attributes involved in traditional martial arts training. Arts like Karate, Kung Fu, and Hapkido could fall under this title of a traditional martial art. Interestingly, this doesn’t mean they are thousands of years old. Some, many, are fairly recent creations.

The sport martial arts tend to focus solely on using fighting as a sport to win a competition. However, it’s important to note that those other attributes mentioned in traditional arts such as self-improvement and improved health almost always become great side effects of these sport arts. The focal point, though, is training to win a martial arts sport or game. Arts like Muay Thai/Kickboxing, Brazilian Jui-jitsu, and Olympic style Taekwondo can be considered sport martial arts.

It’s important to note that all of these arts can switch positions. Karate can easily be trained as just a sport. And Brazilian Jui-jitsu can be taught at a traditional art. It’s all in how it’s taught and what is focused on when teaching and training. This can blur the lines and really confuse people in trying to separate these arts or draw comparisons. So, if it’s not the art that separates the “sport” and “traditional” descriptors, and the techniques don’t either, then what does?

There are some simple ways to separate the two and some complicated ways to separate the two. Let’s start with the simple.

Rules regarding fighting: Sports have rules to following. Self-defense technically does not. However, there are societal laws that need to be respected.

Fairness: Most sport martial arts competitions attempt to make the fight as fair as possible. Separating competitors by rank, age, weight classes and keeping it one on one. Some competitions make use of weapons, but in this case both competitors would have an equal weapon. Self-defense on the other hand is rarely fair. The attacker is usually larger than the victim. They may also have a weapon or fellow attackers. This element leads traditional arts to learning different tactics in self-protection.

Winners and loser: Sports have clear winners and losers. Self-defense can be hazier. Sometimes surviving is considered winning. Some consider getting into a fight at all means you’ve lost. It’s all about self-protection and limiting damage in self-defense.

When does the “fight” start?: In sport, it’s when the referee says to begin. In self-defense, again, it’s not as clear. If you read my previous blog on joint locks, you’ll know that there are several levels to a “fight”. Recognizing an attack before it happens so you can avoid it, could be considered the start of the fight. So can the initial physical attack that may be unexpected.

Which art is better at fighting?: Sorry if I ruffle some feathers here, but I have to go with the sport arts more often than not in this category. If it’s a 1 on 1 fight that both are aware they are in, sport arts are heavily focused on this aspect. They spend more time training their body (strength, speed, conditioning) and tend to spar nearly every class. Self-defense is more all-inclusive, and the training gets spread around more. The onset of a fight (initial attack when victim may not be ready), dealing with weapons, and multiple attackers are all things that get trained in self-defense as opposed to sport. Mind you that the practitioner and instructor have a lot to do with this “who is better at fighting”. All things being equal though, I give the nod to
sport. However, this depends on the rules set. In my opinion, point sparring that limits contact level can have a negative impact on ones self-defense skills. This is due it’s conditioning of not following through on strikes/kicks to score a point and not cause damage. It should be noted though that these styles of competitions are usually limited to youth divisions for safety reasons.

These are a few general things that separate sport and traditional arts. There are also more in-depth and technical differences that separate the two. The way you execute a technique can differ between the two arts as the purpose and situations are different at times. With sport, the fighter must prepare for a long fight. This could be a few minutes, or even thirty minutes or more. Self-defense situations tend to last on average about fifteen seconds. This changes the way you throw techniques, needing to conserve energy for later rounds for sport. Self-defense is more of a quick explosion of everything you have.

In some martial arts competitions, such as point sparring, power is mostly irrelevant when it comes to scoring points. Speed is more important in these competitions. Therefore, the technique used in throwing a strike or kick is slightly different. For instance, when throwing a round kick for speed, you pivot your base foot as you kick. For power, you would pivot first to secure a strong base before kicking.

As you can see, there are numerous differences between sport related martial arts and the more traditional, self-defense oriented, martial arts. It’s the equivalent of asking what the difference is between a sports car and a four-wheel drive pick-up truck. They are both vehicles. They both will get you from point A to point B. But they are quite different in their primary uses. One is not better than the other. They are just different ways of accomplishing your goals. While they may both be under the umbrella of “martial arts”, the most definitely are not the same.