[Homeslice]

Originally Posted by fatbuckRTO

Showmanship is not exactly the word I would use, although you will see karate, kung-fu, or TKD demonstrations that have more to do with gymnastics than actual fighting.

I say this as a loyal shotokan karateka: all other things being equal, a ground-trained fighter will win. Karate, kung-fu, and TKD all have some devastating techniques, absolutely. But I think you really only have to watch some of the early UFC matches, back when they really did include all styles and disciplines. Everyone lost to ground fighters. And it makes sense; for instance, there are very few people in the world who can punch someone into unconsciousness more easily than they can choke someone into unconsciousness.

Now if you start pitting grand masters and 10th dans against only moderately trained grapplers, then yeah, you'll probably see an advantage for the stand-up fighters. But I've never seen jiu jutsu matches for points. They train full speed, full power because they can. Most competitions won't do that with the strike/kick style martial arts, because a full power kick to the head could cause real permanent damage. So, like Tmall pointed out, you have people practicing over and over to score points, and that becomes your muscle memory.

By no means do I think that makes stand-up martial arts worthless. And you're definitely better off on your feet if you're fighting more than one person, as is often the case in a schoolyard.

I see your point about muscle memory. But as far as "who will win", I'm not talking about MMA or any type of competition..... I'm talking about street fights and self-defense situations, where the opponent is just some regular schmuck without much if any training. In those circumstances I don't think a decently-trained TKD person would end up on the ground unless they were taken by surprise or were in extremely close quarters. The average opponent is just some idiot who tries to swing a punch that was telegraphed from from a mile away.