In this article I plan on covering the different aspects of a fight in a martial arts tournament versus a fight on the streets.

Martial arts tournament: There are rules, referees, and it is built and designed to be a friendly competitive contest. Punches and kicks that land are graded with points and the end result of such contests is to be the best sport martial artist. You can win trophies and have a lot of fun in a stress free atmosphere where you have practiced for weeks or months in preparation for the battles ahead of you.

Reality based self defense: Unlike a martial arts tournament, there are no rules and a fight or attack can happen anywhere at anytime. The rules of engagement in self defense include fighting extremely dirty, using moves that are banned from tournament competitions and being able to hurt the bad guy as quickly as possible.

You won't be using a fancy round house kick to the head in a street attack. But if you do you will be in big trouble if it gets caught or you get thrown to the ground. Another aspect of reality based self defense is that unlike a grappling martial arts tournament, you don't want a fight to go the ground on the streets.

I believe that joining and competing in martial arts tournaments is good for competition and better training with sparring, but don't compare the two as if they go hand in hand because they don't. What works in a tournament could get you killed on the streets so always keep that in mind.