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Keep in mind the British army was highly trained, had seen combat all over the world and was greatly feared when they met up with an untrained, under supplied and untested militia who used unfamiliar tactics to spank them.
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Ahh! But that untrained, under supplied, untested militia was neither untested nor untrained!
They'd been tested (the leaders, anyway) as British officers, and they had been tested in the French and Indian War before the Revolution. Besides, they were falling apart and near decimation until? That's right! Until Von Steuben was brought in to...
train them. In other words, it took a good foundation in discipline and drill before the Americans were an effective fighting force. Before that, all they had was, well, reality. Reality without training had resulted in near catastrophic losses and nearly knocked the Revolution down before it got going. So I guess what I'm trying to say is...thanks for proving my point.
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Wouldn't you say it was true that the tactics taught in school are never the ones used on the front lines because experience has taught the veterans the flaws in their schooling that will get you killed in the real world? In the Navy the saying goes, "that might be how they taught you to do it in school but that ain't the way it's done in the Fleet".
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In a lot of cases, sure. But I'd also argue that it was precisely the opposite phenomenon that killed a lot of good people. People who felt they'd been in the shit long enough to know better and disregarded their training often got all cut up as a direct result. "Reality" sometimes breeds a degree of comfort and familiarity that is truly unsafe. Lax security, shortcuts, and lackluster attention to detail have killed as many (more?) people than following the rulebook has.
Point being, it's a fine line. I think reality is only a good teacher if you have a very solid foundation in training. And I think that the more solid and "realistic" your training is, the easier reality will be for you when it hits. While one guy might spend his first real encounter just trying to get the jitters under control, another guy who's competed, been hit, been kicked, been knocked out, and been choked into unconsciousness might not have to worry about the jitters. Instead, he might be able to pay a little more attention to what's going on around him. Situational awareness is a byproduct of good training combining itself with experience. Take away training, and all you have is instinct. Time and time again in combat, the first instinct is wrong to the deadliest degree.
So while we are in 10000% agreement that MMA is not self-defense, I have to stand firmly behind the idea that it certainly can contribute to effective self-defense ability so long as one doesn't fall into the trap of believing it's the answer all by itself.