I was inspired recently when I read a post by the fine 
In it, he details a rather inconvenient truth for your average or even very experienced Martial Artist. He was referring specially to Aikido. But it is applicable to almost all martial arts.
So what is that truth?
Are you ready? It's a painful one...
Your martial arts won't work on the Street.
What?! Yes they bloody well will. I have trained for years and fought in competitions. I am Bruce Lee, hear me roar!
I hear you cry.
Something that is often heard in Dojo's and gyms is that the untrained, unskilled street fighter lacks the discipline of the trained fighter and can easily be taken down by someone who is proficient in fighting. Someone who has trained over a period of time in different attack/defense techniques in one more more Martial Arts.
It sounds right? So why would I say differently?
One of the best instructors I had when I practiced Muay Thai had a good take on it.
The thing about these street thugs is that they fight. They fight for real, some of them every weekend. Sometimes they fight for kicks and sometimes they fight to settle a score but the point is, they fight. How often do you fight for real?
He then asked us, a group of twenty odd young folk.
How many people have been in a real fight in the last year?
No-one raised a hand.
It's a contentious issue, people train every week, for many reasons but the ultimate aim for many is self defense. So am I saying your training counts for nothing?
No.
Let me go back to my statement.
Your martial arts won't work on the Street.
Well, they won't. At least not in the way that many think they would.
But don't worry, all is not lost. In the next post we will discuss how they can and how they won't and even how they can make it more dangerous for you!
Note: I am not attacking Martial Artists, in further posts I will detail the advantages of training in a situation as well as the advantages :O)