I disagree with this completely!

In any sparring, even MMA or UFC type there are 'rules' in real fights there are no rules. If you are skilled in grappling and you are in a tussle on the ground unlike in the ring/octagon there are no rules to say someone else wont start laying the boot in! You have to be prepared for the unexpected you just dont get that in sparring!

I love martial arts and will practice them until the day I die but they all have limitations unless you practice under adrenal stress and no rules!

What do you mean no rules? All practice has rules. Stromy is correct that contact sparring and rolling is about as good a simulation as one can get to a real fight. Nothing can simulate the adrenal stress of a real encounter.

In sparring there is a referee or someone to control the fight so you have to abide by the rules set.
Out on the street anything can happen, when sparring you know your opponent isn't gonna pull a blade or get some of his mates to join in!
To get as close to the real thing you have to drill pre-emptive strikes and work on the pre-amble that happens before the physical fight is on!
These are just my views but also shared by some of the best self protection experts in the world!

There is a lot to be said for the "woof".

But we don't practice in the street, do we? Rules everywhere. And there's no saying that you can't introduce weapons or multiples in sparring. I have done that before.



I guess I'm not seeing how adding pre-emptive strikes or whatever will increase the adrenaline compared to actually sparring.

To fully understand what I'm trying to get at you need to look up www.fastdefense.com Bill Kipp is the founder and my trainer. If you ever get the chance to get on a FAST course do it! It benefits anyone who attends one whether it be a seasoned martial artist or someone with no prior experience.

I see you are familiar with FAST!!

For years I have been tempted to visit Colorado.

I trained with Bill at RMCAT back in 2004 to be a FAST Instructor. You dont have to go to Colorado to do a course, Bill has teams all over the US so if you are interested e.mail him!

Thanks for the heads up.