Recently someone tried to argue that their style of karate was the strongest. Bluntly informing me that because their athletes were successful in competition going back to the 1960’s, it was the ultimate, the strongest, and the best martial art. I tried to explain that there is not one style that is the best in ALL circumstances…… But he continued to argue his style was the best, the ultimate truth in all things.
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Whether you’re a Karate practitioner, MMA fighter, combat fighter or any other competition martial artist, you train for a very specific arena, dealing with very specific parameters. Outside in the real-world, if you use those parameters, oftentimes you will find unskilled people, who have the expertise to want to hurt you, are going to be able to do so, because you are not able to play the same game as they do.
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These combat athletes are incredibly capable in their environment. But being confident (or over-confident), in a skill set that doesn’t apply in the real-world, is at the very least foolhardy, it is knowledge and skill that they just don’t have.
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Having success in an arena or being able to break boards, ice, bricks etc., or to fight in a controlled environment, which ALL competition is; truthfully, it is NOT the real-world, even if you fight full-contact.
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Every martial art that is of a competitive nature, has rules, referees and judges are able to stop a fight, to prevent you from becoming seriously hurt. There is no such luxury in a real-world self-protection incident.
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Being very cocky, or over-confident because of success in the tournament arena, taking that outside with a skill set that doesn’t apply in the real-world, is highly dangerous and downright stupid. Don’t have a false sense of security because of your abilities within the tournament and competition arena thinking it will translate to real-world events. Where’s the common sense and logic here? There are highly motivated, unskilled guys with determination to harm, not compete, that are out to severely injure you, or worse, with whatever means they can…… Full contact competitive fighting is NOT REAL (Gasp).
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There is NOT one system or style that is the best or ‘strongest’. The realities of self-defense situations and street fights are harsh and the consequences are severe….. Don’t be deluded….. The goal is to live a life that avoids violence, not encourage it. 
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With thanks to Doug Perry; quote from interview with James Pankiewicz & Chris Wilson
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