Totally agree with this. As a judoka, I really apreciate that my sensei made us train with 0-100% resistance fights

"You'll never learn to fight unless you practice fighting" my karate instructor always said that, and sparring full contact mma/kickboxing was required to promote in our school, as opposed to many other karate schools I've visited in the past

I absolutely agree that sparring and pressure testing are vitally important to the practical application of a martial art, and you allude to something I think is also very important--the appropriate TYPE of sparring

this is one of BEST lectures I have heard for very long time

Agreed. If you're not free sparring against people who are fighting back in ways that aren't pre-planned, you're not going to know what works for you in an actual fight. Not everything works in every situation, and not everything works exactly the same for each individual.The more realistic your free sparring, without intentionally injuring your training partner or yourself, of course, the more advanced your skill level will develop.

Great truth :sparring and fighting is way better than ANY single ancestral technique 💖

I think a balanced training approach between sparring and deadly techniques is best. Just doing one or the other will seriously impact your performance in a real life threatening encounter when there are no rules.

I wish I'd seen this before going to the local Bujinkan dojo.

I totally agree. I've had a lot of conversations about why dirty tricks don't work compared to regular training and actually just made a video about this myself. All the fishhooks or eye gouges in the world won't save you if the guy you are fighting is superior in their training.

Very well explained analysis. Love your intelligent, rational approach.

You take ideas I try to explain and explain them better. Keep up the good work

Fantastic video!

This actually happened to me in my goju ryu karate class, we used to focus heavily on katas but i notice that as soon as we sparred all the blocks would come down to just parrying and all the punches would come down to jabs and crosses and so on, you can only do very simple and quick moves under pressure.

Brilliant expose and so true! How can you train with FULL RESISTANCE and CONTACT without getting hurt or killing someone?

Good point!

Hi great video! Im currently training traditional jiu jitsu along with sidney silva bjj. So i am able to live spar and roll on a weekly basis. Granted i can't practice some of the more savage attacks from traditional like finger breaks. But i think im still getting a well rounded grasp of both standing and ground aspects of jiu jitsu as a whole fighting style. Nothing quite like that fist time i rolled and your fight or flight response kicks in and you suddenly forget all your training traditional. Completely humbling. Only with going again and again do you begin to master your fears and start to be able to actually think and not just panic. But that i suppose is a huge part of training any martial art.

This is the most important video on ma on youtube !! Five stars !! 👋😊 I'm glad to be a subscriber to your channel 😊

Loving the insight Stephen. Your podcast is really awesome too. I recommend everyone check it out. Great content on BJJ and martial arts in general. The Brandon Mullins episodes are my favorite and the ones on Filipino arts.

nice very well said

I'm currently doing Kyokushin Karate along with recently starting BJJ. Good for self defense and saves the brain

Excellent video, made me have a more complete and functional understanding of basic and advanced techniques. Lets be honest usually everyone want to take a peek especially if they are simply not offered, but from this perspective, basic technique is really the core. It also gives more meaning to styles, because of the different approaches to preparing yourself. Finally, wonder why groin grabs arent simply things attached with Velcro and drilled in a captured the flag style. Sure its not perfectly realistic but should be a little closer, and if you could make squishy goggles, eye gouging could potentially be performed to some extent (or a mask with squishy slits) Anyway again loved this video, excellent channel

Well said sir.

Hey Sthephan, awesome videos! Do you have some tips on how to spar effectively while minimising the risk of brain damage? I know that if you want to achieve anything some risk is ivolved, but a caculated risk and a safe approach are also important. I would greatly appreciate some info! Keep up the good work!

Absolutely love your videos, so informative - what's your opinion on krav maga or other self defence systems? Regards

I'm glad you have a more balanced take on this. I've trained Kung Fu, WW2 Combatives, Boxing, Sanda, Judo, and Japanese Jujitsu. I've also fout in tournaments and worked as a bouncer in nightclubs. Combat sports and illegal moves as you put it go hand in hand and got me out of a violent situation unscathed where it was eight against two. Using training dummies in solo practice for Kung Fu and Combatives are only slight adjustments for Boxing and Kickboxing sparring (as well as bag work). The same is true for Judo and Japanese Jujitsu where adjustments are just as small.

i used to correspondence train, by mail...shows how long ago it was, but with earle montague, now deceased. well he stated that he feels that "sparring" is the worst thing you can do for self-defense and actually recommended just full speed one-step sparring drills. he did admit that his beloved tai chi if it lacked one aspect it was indeed the rough and tumble aspect of other styles such as judo or jiu-jitsu. so he incorporated a bit of real pro-wrestling moves into his system. i don't agree with the avoid sparring sessions but do feel earle had a fair contribution to the arts back in the day. i just made myself feel really old, dam!

Yes!! People like to think that judo "took out the lethal/deadly techniques " which is crap right there because chokes are the deadliest techn...anyway what they really took out was mostly this sort of thing that you CANT train (eye gouges etc) and went all out on the stuff you *really CAN train*

Definitely agreed, but one big problem you have to look out for is sparring can set you up with really bad muscle memory. In MMA and BJJ sparring, you can, for instance, expose the back of your neck, which would be suicide in a serious street fight.

Interesting vid 😀

Agree: full-resistance years-long training first, then add "illegal" stuff. "Sporting skills" are essential, as they are the source of actual experience for any martial artist. What is wrong is "sport mindset". Even though illegal stuff cannot be trained, it should be studied any way for two purposes: 1) to get rid of sporting mindset in defense; 2) to open students' minds toward "dirty" techniques' variety and creativity. Illegal stuff should be taught to black belts, at some point, but in many sporting-arts dojos they're not. Unfortunately, many Judo or Boxing teachers just don't know techinques beyond sport performance any more.

you're awesome.

Totally agree and a very respectful rationale to an often highly contentious issue by those that practice no contact, or light contact martial arts. Bruce Lee referred to martial arts without sparring as "learning to swim on dry land". If you search KZfaq for "Chinese Kung Fu Tournament 1954 (full contact)", you'll see an example of two presumably legit kung fu fighters. Some kung fu practitioners try to dismiss this clip by saying these are just bad kung fu fighters. However, if you consider the media coverage, and the large crowd the two fighters, to me, look like legit representatives of their respective styles. I'm pretty sure if they were to do a traditional form - empty hand or with traditional weapons - they would look pretty impressive. But once they have to go full contact with the risk of getting punched then everything goes out the window. Another thing people do not often consider is that a martial arts style, where the sole objective is for effective combatives, needs to be optimized for human kinetics. More specifically, efficient human kinetics. It's pointless for humans to imitate the fighting style of four legged animals, or praying mantids, or snakes. Human structures, reflexes, and physiology are different. This is why BJJ , judo, boxing/kickboxing, (and I'll also include full contact styles like kyokushin karate) are so effective because they use techniques optimized for the average human. By the same token, I do not hold anything against martial arts which are designed for other purposes such as the demonstrative styles like sport wushu, Chinese opera martial arts, or the more spiritual martial arts like taichi, and aikido which are about personal development, and celebration of their respective cultures and do not claim to be "deadly", at least not by the mass of practitioners.

Your videos are spot on. I trained in Kung Fu for 8 years. One advanced student got hit in the face, and it all went out the window. Even sparring, all the fantastic moves get replaced by boxing and front kicks. Most of the self defense techniques we learned had nothing to do with the forms. And I still have no idea whether the techniques would work in a real fight.

A wise man indeed!

I Just read a old judo book from the 60's. It advised atemi karate and judo as the best approach to self defense - in that order.

I been saying for some time now, I actually train a little bit of Wing Chun, early on I learned which techniques worked and didn't work because of the sparring. Bruce Lee said it best learn everything and keep what works. How the hell would someone know if something works if they don't test it or put it under resistance. Sparring is Essential 100%

Excellent lecture. I'd probably add in... you're probably gonna be spending a few months going through the 'Kata' or 'Forms', just so you're comfortable with what you're doing and then into the sparring. It's a mistake to say its worthless as self defense but... it is only the start of the journey. Do absolutely agree with the message that learning the deadly stuff is often a waste of energy (but doesn't it half draw the crowd...), and that practicing form without resistance is not helpful for self defense (it's helpful for health reasons though... see various studies).

I agree, and I would add it is good to know a few techniques perfectly than a thousand techniques only mediocre.

Yo Stephen, my group currently doesn't have mats so we practice stand up wrestling on concrete. Is this bad because we have to be controlled with our takedowns, or is it good because we're more wary of doing things like jumping guard and dragging our knee on shots? If it's bad what could we do other than buy mats?

Very nice video and I am glad I seen it. Can you do me a favor and see what my mistakes are in my training? I been sharing the videos online, I am not a pro or anything and got no one to train with, but I do many kicks and moves.

Stephen is 100% correct!!!

I completely agree with you. This is why in my opinion that most traditional martial arts aren't practical, because they don't train realistically. Like you said, everything is trained in a slow and cooperative manner, or at least that's how my Wing Chun school was. Ultimately, I left my old Wing Chun school after semi-sparring with one of the senior students and beating him just from my high school wrestling experience. No respect towards the traditional martial arts, but they're mostly not practical from my experience. The world is constantly evolving and so are fights, so you need to adapt or you'll be screwed.

I view 'deadly' as a criticism of a technique, rather than an endorsement. I'd very much prefer to incapacitate people without killing them.

Agreeing with this is an understatement! Thanks for this. Truth bombs exploding. TMA-ers need to wake up....cross training in combat sports where there's athleticism and aliveness is key. Training with "full resistance" will look different for different people based on age, fitness level, and joint state...however, you need to insert resistance through some kind of sparring. Totally agree with you sir! Thanks again.

Stephen Kesling this video has gteat points... but I am a little confused... wrestling damages the brain but Judo too, right? 😞

My philosophy is that, if you can't train it live with full resistance or near full resistance, it's garbage and not worth practicing.

okay I'm 38 years old I started martial arts when I was 4 and I started with a martial art called Kung Fu San Soo the instructor was Bill Lassiter now Bill Lassiter was a professional boxer before he got into San Soo he was very adamant about the difference between using the self-defense techniques in a street fight and techniques in a sport competition and now here's where everything gets really juicy

Thats why I always participated in sparring matches with taekwondo. However turns out practicing illegal moves over and over does work since my muscle memory in real life did implement them without thinking. Just glad it was a choke hold so I could lose grip when I realised he was choking. Imagine I autopilotted into breaking techniques or hitting the neck. Still taekwondo sparring is like kickboxing because all close combat techniques that are into the martial art arent allowed in sparring. Which is a bit of a shame. Still practice them well under pressure and you can still implement them without thinking in a real fight. I do remember I did use proper technique, but maybe its like you said since I was used to fighting itself in a sparring situation. Which makes you keep your head cool a little bit. Oh well taekwondo can be quite different depending on school. We trained hard on impact training and did contact sparring without protection on 60 / 70%. Also practiced kicks and punches on robe wrapped arround a wooden frame and we do self defence techniques with contact on 50% power mostly. Bruises and having bleeding knockles from time to time is part of it. And lots of sparring. But we also have a group that barely does contact and focus on style mostly. So yeah up to red belt its usually normal to focus on technique, after that you train for black belts and you can choose to focus on sparring and contact training way more by joining the sparring group. Which is way more fun I feel then repeating forms.

What do you think about krav maga?

How about with protective gears, like eye goggle, and a cup?

You fight as you train, nasty techniques has a purpose :) Problem with some sportsguys is if they become arrogant, and run full confidence in a grapple mach with a knife man. I agree its best to train both

I practice tma and I tried to get a fellow student to do some light sparring. He *laughed* and said we can't spar because our style is too deadly.... I'm finally realizing that all my opinions of my tma have 100% been impressed on me by my teacher, and those opinions aren't my own.

love your humour.

do you live in vancouver?

The deadly techniques, and I know some of these, should be practiced a little bit, just for getting to know them and what they do. But yeah I agree, it shouldn't be the main focus, because in most cases when you will fight, you probably won't use the deadly arsenal. In exception for weapons, I think weapons should be taught how to use them extensively.

I think you start your argument on the wrong assumption: Who on earth wants to use deadly techniques in an everyday situation? Only a pathological killer. Deadly techniques included in traditional MA training originate in the Greek Pankration deviced 300+ years BC, taught specifically to soldiers meant to kill their oponents quickly and effectively in battle. Even then a watered-down version of Pankration (minus the deadly techniques) was formulated into a sport and included in the then Olympic games.

I agreed but teach also dirty fighting technique for streetfight.

everybody is right, but through sparring you learn muscle memory and techniques as well, on my case, if i make a mistake on sparring, my teammates llet me know and try for me not to do it again, i will say is like practicing techniques with resistance all the time '

The success of nearly ALL techniques in nearly ALL sports/contests, (including combat and deadly ones) is primarily dictated by POSITIONING. You've got to be in the right relational position first, then apply the technique for it to be most effective. REAL full-contact / full resistance accomplishes that learning of position.

All you have to do is wear a cup, and defensive protective goggles, and then you can go at it with your groin strikes and eye gouging, but even if you do that you get to a point when you are so protected you learn bad habits or lack the sense of crisis making the training moot. Some rules develop very hard to break bad habits which could really mess you up in a real life situation that need to be intentionally broken. I'm speaking from my own experience as a black belt in Tang Soo Do I find I drop my hands to guard my torso instead of protecting my head which is off limits to punches as well as keep my leg out to keep distance which is just asking for it to be grabbed if it wasn't for the rules. Though now that I am aware of these things I'm trying to stay after class and spar a guy with a background in wrestling and judo who does go for the grab on my leg, and at least lets me know when my face is open so I keep those hands up, but not everybody notices the bad habits their training methods are teaching them quickly enough. So although I agree it's better to practice a technique under distress in a controlled environment where your opponent is actually going at you and not just doing some rehearsed motions, I do think it is important to note the weakness, and limitations of the chosen rule set and find a way to train those too.

Theres still a difference between people not being used to sparring and not being able to mentally hande the pressure which results in haymakers and no form, and your techniques not working in sparring due to them not being trained under pressure

You fight as you train - Miyamoto.

what do you think about kyokushin?

How do you pressure test eye gouges and groin shots? I would wear protective gear'. Goggles, full faced helmets, and groin guards. Not that most would use them i suppose. Are you suggesting that the old Japanese Jujutsu methods that were used in real world violence along with weapons, is inferior to modernised Judo methods?

My kung fu instructor can actually pull a lot of kata shit in sanshou rule sparring its even kind of funny. But thats because he trains sanshou and kung fu all his life of course and he know how to apply shit Im just pointing out its not impossible

Truth you practincing 100%but deadly tech percent 😆danny insanto great legend yoyr great os

Kano’s forbidden techniques were taught based on an assessment of moral character

Would japanese samurai train dangerous jujitsu techniques on prisoners or slaves?

A young man learns how to fight. An old man learns how to end a fight. Now that I'm older, the finishers are best. For me anyway.

I think that as you mentioned an ambush attack being the key difference to consensual fighting, when it comes to self defence your main concern is an ambush attack, if you ambush a pure boxer his first reaction and instinct is to punch towards the head and body and keep attacking the head and body, if you ambush someone who practices attacking the throat his first instinct would be to attack the throat and keep attacking the throat, not many people expect an attack to the throat they expect a punch, so they are not used to defending it. I remember getting in a fight in school I had never been in a fight, had no idea how to fight but my first reaction was to grab the person by the throat, I had never trained in any form of fighting let alone against a resisting opponent, it was just survival instinct I was only 11. It worked long enough for someone to come and step in, I know a fight at this age is different to an adult but your instincts and reactions are clearer and less tarnished by training in a set way. I think it is important not to train that instinct out of ourselves. But I think training to get used to being attacked and the adrenalin dump is important, and to land hits whilst being attacked, maybe by the other person wearing training armour of some sort to protect the vital areas.

So I guess pressure testing fancy techniques does really get into your muscle memory.

"Or, I would almost certainly guess..." lol

And Push hands.

You’re story isn’t correct about Judo vs Jujutsu. Those fights were fought under Judo rules as well. I love Judo and Jujutsu and yes most of those student of Kano had Jujutsu backgrounds as well but yes Training methods do matter and you need to do both the traditional and combat sport forms. I study Pekiti Tirsia Kali and BJJ for that exact reason. We definitely spar in both systems but one is definitely designed for combat and the other has evolved more into a sporterized form with combat applications and definitely works in both the dojo and the street.

Guys tell me what you think about my statement: the best; learn boxing and spar in kickboxing, learn basic bjj and wrestling, and add the eye poking/dirty Delft defence...then you are golden.

Sparring is very important but it value is massivley overrated. Like Joe Rogan said you need to learn how to figth with gloves but on the flip side you have to learn how to fight without gloves. And tbh 60% of all sport matrial artist would break their hand in a real SD situation.

this boldie talks the truth.

I understand the point being made...but it's only valid up to a certain point. The validity comes when you are "exchanging" with one another....like people do when they spar. Real life attacks are not exchanges. In real life the only time exchanges occur is during ego fights...and these are almost always 100% avoidable. Now let's just look at outside of fighting arts....let's look at baseball. A pitcher doesn't need anything but baseballs and a target to aim at. He doesn't need a batter to go up against. He just needs to work on throwing his fastball, curve ball, slider, etc. When facing a batter in real life...he chooses what pitch he wants to throw and where to target it. So going back to eye gouges....I just work to make them quick and non telegraphed, etc. and someone shoves me up against a wall in an elevator and.....yup, you guessed it! My thumbs thrust into his eyes! I don't start trying to muscle him back, or push him off me, or try to punch him. I just drive my thumbs deep into his eyes! No exchanging, no monkey dance, etc.

as a kid training I was always afraid to fight I was bullied I was beating up on and very rarely did I ever fight back growing up was very hard for me to respond to a physical threat meanwhile I had Neighbors who were in a family of about 5 kids all together and their father was teaching them how to box I remember seeing them come home from a competition with a black eye or hurt lip maybe a broken nose as a kid but with a trophy or a bill of some sort meanwhile Kung Fu San Soo didn't believe in trophies or tournaments so one day one of the boys in this family let's call them the Lewis family wanted to fight with me so when my dad saw this and said okay let's do it let's have you fight my son the boy's dad came out and said sure let's have them fight your boy and see what happens fake fighting vs real fighting well I got scared and I didn't fight Flash Forward a few years later I got into Taekwondo now if I can tell you something about san so it's sort of a pre-arranged set of situational self-defense techniques that you learned for about 2 to 3 hours in a session I would go there every Tuesday and Thursday no matter what there was all kinds of techniques that you would learn and all kinds of basic moves that you were taught from multiple attackers tonight defense gun defense weapons defense and usage lots of these were traditional weapons I never saw on the street lots of areas that were covered where you were sitting down facing in a different direction to make it look realistic like as if you were at a beach lying down or facing an ATM machine something like that going to your car putting the key in the car door to open it whatever the case

And Wing Chun Urban Combat.

Yes forms don’t look like street fights.....well actually if people know the real meanings of the moves they would know katas (Japanaese forms) are full of criminal ending methods.

I take issue with this mindset because it treats the martial arts as a sport first and then a form of combat. There is no room for the art aspect of the martial arts. Yes too many martial arts do not use real sparring in their training but if you look at judo it has been extremely watered down because of its emphasis on winning and gaining points in a sports environment. Even your language of using "illegal" techniques is limiting because it implies the fight is sport like. The truth is the martial arts is about killing efficiency. Sparring is absolutely necessary to create the pressure and simulate the reality of fighting an opponent that is try to hurt and kill you. To say that throats strikes and many other deadly moves can not be trained is in my opinion foolish. A skilled practitioner of any martial arts should be able to apply them just as effectively as a punch or strike.

I am in traditional juijitsu and this man has stellar points. But I don't play fair, this idea of using improvised weapons for instance we get reminded in class. It's about utilizing and maximizing all opportunities that present themselves. At a bar, we get taught to whip pool balls for instance. True story one of my buddies I used to box with was a bouncer, he's a pro fighter now. But there was a big guy who was fucking with him at a distance, my buddy, the boxer, picked up an ice chunk and whipped it at the guys head. He cracked the guys skull or caused really bad bleeding and got in trouble. Now he didn't go to the guy and punch him in the head which he's a pro boxer could probably easily do. He hurled an ice chunk, why? Now I used to box for years, and a lot of boxers I know get a sort of tunnel vision where they think that punching is everything and they develop a sort of ego that is very difficult to snap out of, a sort of trance like state. But my buddy who won that fight with the ice chunk who was the pinnacle of boxing did something one would not really expect? This notion of surprise attacks is what he capitalized on, something we get igrained in japanese juijitsu where I train. and he ended up winning. Now as to me being in a cage fighting scenario, I would try to talk my away out of it, bribe the guy to take a loss, run at the first place, why am I in the cage? I would not position myself in the first place. Traditional juijitsu taught me more than just using my fists. Tigers stalk their pray in the grass, utilizing patience for an advantage, but put a spotlight on the tiger and get rid of all the tall grass you reduce his capacity for maximum damage. I would plan, buy a gun and beat the ufc guy before we step in the ring. Ninjitsu for instance, using darkness as an advantage for instance, you are right put him in a cage and he sucks. But they ultimately would beat samurai who loved rules, thier "code" and fighting just one on one, "honor fighting. Traditional juijitsu has sort provided me with a mindset, a killing mindset, changed my brains way of thinking, that playing by the rules just limits you, the phillosophy behind is ultimately what made me a lot more lethal.

I learned to fight better with Boxing, Wrestling, Judo, Taekwondo and Olympic Fencing.

and drill it several times with cooperation just to learn it but then you need that same person 2 start resisting you so you know exactly how that technique is supposed to work later I got into boxing and JKD along with my Taekwondo practice I was still going to Kung Fu class but it just wasn't cutting it compared to the other styles I was taking I believe then that I started actually becoming a good martial artist in high school I started learning Judo and some wrestling in high school and then later took freestyle Wrestling and put these moves together I continue to all these training aspects and would make sure I went to each style at least one day per week so I would go to Boxing class a day or two a week JKD once a week Taekwondo once a week Judo once a week and someone so at least six days per week I was training in martial arts then I got good only then I got good lots of people still this day telling me I should be a fighter even though I'm 38 I should go and actually compete in MMA now I've competed in Taekwondo and karate and judo competitions but never MMA but the reason why I feel like I'm good is because of sparring and drilling hard techniques when I took Jiu Jitsu the first time they teach you a technique they have you do it several times without any resistance but then all of a sudden they resist over and over again to catch you off-guard connect feeling is very draining if you don't know how to respond to real resistance so what this guy is saying in this video is correct and I'm planning on writing a book about my experience in martial arts hopefully someone will enjoy my book there's a lot going on signed Robert Liberty

That's exactly what I teach on my channel check out Charles Wofford martial arts on KZfaq I subscribed to your channel to and liked it

Can Kung Fu be saved if it starts training as you suggested?

so here I am thinking I'm in Taekwondo I'm going to spar for the very first time in my life literally in my life and I had all these pre-arranged moves I was going to do to someone getting ready to punch or kick me they did ITF Style Taekwondo so there were punches allowed to the face well needless to say I took an axe kick to my forehead and almost got killed I realized I had no idea how to fight my dad was best friends of Bill lasiter he was completely duped into believing that this Kung Fu San Soo was real so was Bill Lassiter but I would always notice how angry and frustrated Bill Lassiter would get his students when they just didn't understand the techniques he was trying to teach them and the way bill could move around and throw punches and move his head Bob and weave and slip and block and everything this was because he was a boxer to mold these boxing moves and movement with his Kung Fu so for him it was a good work in progress for him but for other people who never took a real fighting style and then take something where all you do is hit the air or have a person cooperate with you constantly which I understand I believe that there's some techniques that you have to practice

I guess virtual reality is the answer - so you can try out all your deadly moves without actually hurting anyone.

I wish bjj people didn’t start off on the ground or their knees. This is so unrealistic. Bjj “rolling”should always start on the feet with people trying to throw or do a takedown and THEN the ground work. I hate seeing guys in bjj competitions doing a butt scoot in guard and then the o5et guy has to pass his guard and Linley end up in his guard. The fact that he is also wearing super skin tight women’s tights makes it look even more crazy. She males trying to get other men to lay in between their legs.

IMO, I think fight clubs, in a sense, need 2 b legal! Like u said, ppl need 2 actually train, under pressure, their arts! Other thing is training methods need 2 change, such as practitioners of certain styles, shotokan 4 instance, needa pad up an' actually fight! I think there r some schools who actually do just dat, as I've seen one KZfaq vid. Another thing, even tho I'm silly 4 saying it, I'd long for living in da days of "Sword Art Online type VR systems" or "Star Trek holodecks!" Somethin' like dat would alleviate some of da risk of brain damage and/or injury from training "deadly techniques!"

sparring is boxing

First you need to get to the target! So, train in a sport like combat!! Correct you are!@

Wait you can't pressure test boxing either so no boxing. Unless you can fully punch someone in the head it will never work. What terrible logic.

Bite you all day long. Man, that's funny.

Only gracie jujitsu does pressure testing no other martial art has ever thought of doing that, right? Wrong.

correct, for 1-on-1, win-lose competition arrangements, absolutly; BUT, for the vast majority of selfdef students, the time, dedication, etc, rqd' for developing realistic grappling skills, is unrealistic; plus, 99% of grappling skills are invalidated by street-attack, eg, multiple opps, wpns, startle-surprize-- its a tough call, re EXACTLY what grappling training will YOU need for YOUR street-attacker/s, THUS so many selfdef instructors default to 100%offence/deadly tech, as do-able, for training MOST students

This one is so full of gross oversimplifications it reminds me of the movie "The Secret" that way: take the right idea and beat the horse to death with it until it becomes the complete opposite of the message it was supposed to translate

A knee to the groin would end most guard positions.

There's a practice standpoint and legal aspect to deadly techniques that makes zero sense. Like you said, literally no one would practice with you deadly techniques so they can't be pressure tested. But also from a legal standpoint. If you do more than knock someone out in a street fight like murder them. The police are going to be looking for you and you'll have to use deadly techniques in prison for the rest of your life. Maybe in the military, these techniques could be useful. But not in everyday civilian life. I have the same issue with knife techniques. Little to no situations would it be okay for me to pull my knife out and start stabbing. It would have to be an extremely rare life or death situation.