Originally Posted by Michael Wright

Hi Liberty,

I wouldn't worry too much about the need to prove that JKD can work in a competition. I believe everything in the arts has it's own purpose and arena. I started JKD, specifically with Sifu Paul, because I wanted to learn the best options to take care of myself in a worst case scenario. To me, personally, this is the real strength of the JKD I have experienced in that you learn to flow and adapt as the horror of real violence mutates - all ranges, with or without weapons, against one or more attacker, with or without rules. I have never proved my JKD in the ring, but I'm absolutely fine with that, I have never proven that a knife, a hammer, or a gun works in the ring either. Everything has it's own purpose and it's own arena.

I must agree with Ghost, its not a fair assumption to say that sports-specific training waters anything down. You cannot use rules or techniques that are "too violent" as an excuse why JKD is a more practical art than say Thai or Boxing. Thai Boxers and Boxers do very well outside the ring, and one of the real strengths of their art is that it has been pressure tested over hundreds of years. Yes, the training is sports-specific, but it has many core attributes that stand up superbly in the street. Traditional martial arts (and let me for a moment include JKD in that) tend to look at things like the UFC and hide behind the notion of rules, a cage, and a referee. I'm pretty sure that if Tito Ortiz, Randy Coture or Shaun Sherk showed up at most of these schools and said "sure, no problem, lets just hit the pavement".....there wouldn't be many takers.

I have been involved in encounters where my JKD training has probably saved my life through techniques and concepts I never would have been taught in the ring. That said, my Boxing has given me a level of attributes and a pressure testing in the ring that I never would have gained from just my JKD. Again, everything has it's own purpose and everything has it's own arena. I don't feel the need to prove either one stronger than the other, I'm happy with what each one gives me in it's own right, and if trained well - they only make each other stronger.