In this video from the online course “Martial Studies: Defense Against Weapons”, discover the main differences between martial arts, combat sports and self defense.
Table of Contents
Martial art, combat sport, self defense: what are the differences?
In my opinion, these are 3 different practices. Although they can complement each other, they serve different goals.
Combat sports
To me, combat sports are formidable, because the practitioners are punchers. Whether it is in boxing, savate, or pancrace, these practices mainly revolve around fighting, and practitioners are not afraid of blows at all!
However, it is a sport, which means that the fights take place in special conditions, on a ring, in a delimited part, with a referee, etc.
However, this does not mean that these people will not be able to defend themselves in the street either. On the other hand, a combat sport has nothing to do with self defense. Why is that?
I will tell you about what I know: karate. In competition, you have to use some techniques that are worth more points.
However, under these circumstances, we do not try to do self defense, but rather a combat sport to win a reward, a medal, a cup, even money. Therefore, certain techniques are favored to gain a maximum of points and to make sure that the fight stops quickly. However, codified or sport techniques are sometimes extremely dangerous in the street!
This does not mean that they are not effective, but you have to be careful about the context in which you practice!
Let’s consider an example. You have been in a ground fight and you find yourself in a Juji Gatame position. YES, you can break your opponent’s arm, but in self defense, what are you going to do in such a situation? Get your face stomped on and assaulted, that’s what you’re likely to “win”! This is not self defense, this is sport, that’s what I want you to understand.
Martial arts
What is a martial art? Well, there are many subtleties to take into account.
In my opinion, martial arts are more like self defense than combat sports, although they are partly like combat sports…
Although it is quite possible to do combat sports with all your heart and guts, as long as it becomes a way of life, it does not mean that you can adapt it to anything and in any situation!
A martial art is a ritual, a way of life, there is a whole universe around it with principles, a moral code and values. It is this very “ritualized” aspect that makes it a martial art.
However, a combat sport can be transformed into a martial art depending on the way you practice it.
Self-defense
And then, there is self defense, a domain in its own right which uses all the techniques we know to survive!
When we practice martial arts in the dojo, we don’t necessarily think about survival but more about technicality, the beauty of the gesture, technical perfection, like the fist right on the hip in karate for instance.
It is excellent, but one must know why one does it. For the beauty of the martial art itself, for the mastery of the body, of the physical. It is great; but if someone tells me that a tsuki with a fist on the hip is self defense, I may answer “question yourself otherwise you are going to suffer!”.
I am a bit radical, but I believe that in self defense, you have to take sides!
Of course, everyone is free to do what they want but some people will tell you “ah yes, but if you want, you can do that in self defense… yes very well, you do as you feel…” NO!
I am not going to tell you that I have the universal truth, but I don’t want to lie to you either:
- dojo techniques = caution in self defense,
- sports techniques = caution in self defense.
But in the end we all agree: a slap is a slap. A punch in the mouth is a punch in the mouth, whether you are on the ring or in the street.
The notion of contact
Be careful, each individual is different: it depends on the teacher, it depends on the techniques, etc., but someone who is conditioned to combat sports, to take punches almost all the time – since it is the principle of a combat sport somehow – masters perfectly the notion of contact!
This is not the case in all martial arts.
For instance, in karate, it took me 15 years be hit “in the face”! During a seminar, a Kempo practitioner hit me in the face, so much so that I cried. I was a 3rd Dan in Karate. But in Karate, we use techniques where we brush against each other’s heads, not to say that we almost never touch each other. So when you get hit by a boxer, you don’t understand what’s going on, and you get teary-eyed…
So learn to distinguish between self defense, martial arts and combat sports.
