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By Bradley J. Steiner, American Combato
When the idea of allowing full contact in karate sparring arose (i.e., mid to late 1970’s) it sparked a powerful response from martial arts enthusiasts. “Wow! That will really get you ready to kick ass in the street!”, “Ultimate realism!”, “This will let people prepare for actual combat when no one ‘pulls’ their blows”, “No more ‘theory’ here! Now we will really get to see how effective karate is!”, and so on.
We even knew the Top Full Contact Fighter at the time: David Wells. He was a fabulous fighter, strong as three men combined, and—despite his size—Dave was fast as a cat! He worked out in the gym we ran in The Bronx. Dave was also a gentleman of the highest order.
We knew that this trend in karate was a serious error, and that instead of better preparing students to defend themselves, it misled them and gave them a most unreal idea regarding what hand-to-hand combat is, and what one needs to be able to handle genuine dangerous violence.
First, sparring is unrealistic and counterproductive in readying anyone to deal with a violent offender or an enemy in military close combat.
Any sparring . . . with or without contact.
Sparring is a great sport (if you forbid contact), and no one can argue that those who train for competition are as legitimate and respectable as those who train for real combat. Do whatever you enjoy or find most fulfills your purpose in training. But understand what you are doing, how it will condition you, and exactly what your participation will and/or will not prepare you for.
If contact is permissible in sparring, then RULES must enter what sort of contact you can make. Obviously, you cannot make solid and fierce contact with the eyes, throat, ears, neck, sternum, testicles, knees, shinbones, insteps, kidneys, solar plexus, liver, spleen, bridge of nose (or philtrum), bladder, pubic bones, spine.
Note that originally, when karate sparring was first introduced as a method not of competing, but of developing combat skills, NO CONTACT was the absolute rule, only black belts were permitted to begin sparring, and all of the vital target areas were allowed. Sparring was rigorously controlled, and no contact was the guiding rule. Period. No exceptions.
That rapidly changed because the inevitable viewing of this exchange of techniques as a sport intrigued many people. Especially in the West, where the public loves sports, (but, alas, hates disciplined, regular, hard drill) karate sparring took off. It was (as it is today) touted as an “exciting sport and a method of self-defense.”
The latter has been diluted, however, to a dangerously low point.
Competitive karate sparring (or any competitive match-type “fighting”) is not, regardless of what people like to believe, a reliable method of all-in self-defense and close combat. That it (like judo, boxing, wrestling, kick boxing, etc.) can be adopted by a highly proficient individual to a self-defense emergency is hardly surprising, and neither we nor anyone else (as far as we know) denies this.
But full contact karate instills and conditions in the participant the use of benign techniques . . . so that they can make contact! Since participation in the activity involves intense concentration, and the techniques become automatic, one who participates in full contact karate will doubtless—unconsciously—resort to that which he competes with in an emergency.
(Note: we have seen karate and MMA fighters already do this. Yes, it is sometimes effective; but it is not the best way to go against truly lethal assailants. And one must be an experienced, in-his-prime actively competing athlete for this to work. A typical Joe will simply get bashed in the mouth and stomped).
And there is this: In full contact karate matches (or “contact matches” of any kind) participants get used to being hit.
But any average person or woman in decent shape (and sometimes in not-such-good shape) will be able to handle that kind of “being hit” easily, in a real encounter.
Fear, adrenaline flow, increased blood pressure, etc. that naturally occurs in an emergency, will permit Mr. and Mrs. average person to absorb and assimilate sporting-type blows and contact. They do not need to smash each other about in sparring matches.
And no amount of conditioning from “sparring” and “competition” will enable anyone to withstand a broken knee or shinbone, gouged eyes, a crushed throat, powerful impact to their carotid artery, blows to the testicles, smashed kidneys or pubic bones, a ruptured bladder, burst eardrums, or a broken spine. We do not say all of this to be dramatic; simply to point out the truth.
Real combat (and real self-defense!) demands that truly destructive actions be made reflexive, spontaneous, and automatic, on the part of the defender . . . or he may end up dead.
We have no quarrel with anyone who wishes to pursue any form, style, or school of martial art that he prefers. Nor do we argue against competitive sports. Do what you enjoy, and that which meets the objectives you wish to attain. Just realize that to prepare for actual close combat and real-world self-defense, no sport, and no sporting venues will fill the bill.
Combat/defense training is a different animal. You cannot change that fact; and you cannot ready yourself reliably for self-defense by participating in contests and sport, regardless of what anyone—or any fad—may insist. Full contact training—full contact karate, etc.—is not the way to go for hand-to-hand combat training. Please do not find that out the hard way.