The commonality of technique throughout all of the martial arts and styles that exist is that they all make use of biomechanics and weaknesses of human anatomy. Where the various arts differ is in the rules, the goal, and the context that they are trained for.
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In competitions, tournaments and consensual fights, you have agreed to fight, you try to win, you are actively seeking an engagement.
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In self-defense you try to end a dangerous situation as quickly as possible. The fight, if it cannot be avoided, is not consensual, you do NOT agree to fight. The primary goal should be one of survival and escape.
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While there are common techniques, the goals and objectives are vastly different….. and that means different tactics. It also means there are methods, and techniques that you consistently train in, that do not apply universally.
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The problem inspires the technique.
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If we go back in time and history, every martial arts technique was originally created to solve an existing real-world self-defense problem. And if the technique worked, it worked because the martial artist found the advantages hiding in the otherwise disadvantageous situation. If a technique didn’t solve a problem, then it would be discarded.
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Fast forward to today, where sport seems to be highest on the agenda with many practitioners. Early on in our martial arts training, the positions and techniques we train in will be very simple and favorable towards you winning. Your hands held in a high guard, you will be aware of the threat, and perhaps in some sort of fighting stance…… Ready to fight. All techniques are possible.
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If you don’t understand the commonality of a technique and the principles behind it, where it can and cannot be used, then perhaps it’s because you haven’t trained the basics enough, and you don’t understand them adequately, in any depth. You are just assuming everything is punching, kicking, blocking, and consensual fighting. Unfortunately this is where many practitioners stop, it’s all they see, their learning ends.
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However, a common technique does not mean a common approach.
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Sometimes a motion will have several related applications that differ in context, yet still use the same mechanics. The motion is the same, but the emphasis is different. Too often it is heard, “that wouldn’t work in (insert discipline)”. Well yes, that’s because it wasn’t created to work in the situation you have tried to use it in.
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Not everything can be applied in the same context. You must understand this basic concept in the martial arts, you must understand that not ALL techniques will work in all places in the way you believe it should.
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What do you see in the above photo? ……. Context is everything. 
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