The Street Figher Syndrome.

[GRACIEAUSTIN]

Their is a big differance between thinking you know how to fight & being able to fight. If train right you should be ready to defend yourself & never need to. You should be able to smell when things are getting dumb and leave. My students train for tournaments of all different types. The hard core training that is used before an MMA event really helps the whole academy ready to fight. I think once you have done some tournaments you can see how you act when put on the spot. AS long as you're using you head you'll be fine with even good white belt skills against this person you speak of in the first part of the thread. If you train to fight the toughest person you may ever run across you will be able to run over the average punk. Besides shouldn't all law abiding citizens be able to carry a fire arm or mace? If used right both can be of great use.

[ryanhall]

Martial arts tournaments have very little to do with real fighting. They make you tough, pain tolerant, and a good fighter. All these things are important and useful to everyone looking to protect themselves. However, someone who really wants to hurt you will NOT fight you "like a man" or even fight you at all. As Gracie Austin said, a trained fighter will likely roll over the average punk. The average punk, however, is still a far cry from the real deal.