Effective Training versus Delusional Mind.

So what you do will work on the street? Tell me, what sort of active drills do you practice? How often do you practice free sparring? What type of free sparring? Do you do any pad work? Heavy bag? Makiwara training and conditioning? Rice bags? Do you go over scenarios and apply those in live scenario training? Do you have any comprehension of weapons? Classical AND Modern?

No?

Then what do you practice that has you convinced what you are doing will ingrain itself and save you when you need it most?
Real fighting you say? Just what does that mean exactly? Are you going out and getting into knock down drag outs on the pavement and leaving a bloody mess every day? Are your hospital bills through the roof? No? That’s good because that would make you a thug and a criminal.

So what ARE you doing then?

Oh? Standing there in a stylized stance while someone yells from the front of a packed class and attempts to push you over? This is good training for posture, balance, and energy transfer, but it is not the whole picture.
How is this real fighting? The yelling inoculates you to stressful situations so you can act with a cool head? Seriously? Have you EVER had some two hundred pound tatted up douchebag try to take your head off while yelling and snarling in your face, chest bumping you in preparation for the blow? No?

Then I’m afraid what you are doing is training, and only partially, and I’m also sad to say that this is building a false sense of security and confidence if you are not aware of the flaws in your training whilst actively seeking methods to strengthen those areas.
If you are not pressure testing your stuff on a continuous basis and really getting beyond ‘the mind’ on these things then you honestly have absolutely NO IDEA what is and is not going to work for you when push comes to shove.

You may have some sense of loyalty to a Teacher, this is great because it fosters character and shows that you have loyalty and humility, when it is a good Teacher deserving of such loyalty. You may also have some overt attachment to some style as part of your identity, which is ultimately not healthy in the long run.
Style is not going to save you when your life and limb are on the line. Your Teacher, in all likelihood, will not be by your side, nor will either pay your medical bills when it is over.

YOU and ONLY YOU are responsible for your safety, when all is said and done you have to make it home, for whatever your reasons.
No one is going to do this for you, so you have to decide how to get to this point and do what is best for you whilst drawing from good resources along the way.

In the end, it is all training, just training, by its’ very nature it is flawed because it has to factor in safety of your partner and yourself, first and foremost, and some training focuses on specifics in regards to mechanics, among other things.
The simulation is not the real thing, but the more you train and focus on each area the better off you will be, even without experience, your body will know and it will only know when it is in the thick of things.... For real.