Padding is Killing Martial Arts

I first started to think about this years ago as I began to wonder why the palm strike has fallen by the wayside in favor of the fist. My guess is that this has come about in part because hitting someone with your fist does not hurt because of padding and wrist wraps that can be used during training. Also, people don't have to fight hand to hand day in and day out for survival so if you break your knuckles you get a cast rather than lose your life because you can't fight the next day.

My next point comes from watching people execute various techniques on youtube, at McDojos, and instructional tapes. People are willing to block heavy kicks with the blades of their forearms. Hammer fists, and bolo forearm techniques are often considered sloppy fighting in MMA circles rather than the harbingers of a broken face (and knuckle savers). I see various iron fist techniques going by the wayside as time goes on. People are willing to take bad angles to low kicks. People are less concerned about center-line kicking because the cup will protect you if you get hit in the groin. However, the rules usually prevent groin kicks anyway.

Now when you throw BJJ into the mix, people think that they can go out onto the street and apply submissions from their backs because they are used to training on a mat.

I have often considered making a video on how to not hurt yourself in a street fight. I can see a long-time McDojo practitioner going out throwing 1 kick, hurting his leg, and being defeated with the opponent throwing no offensive techniques. This should not happen and would not happen if people would take the pads off from time to time in order to figure out what they need to do to protect their bodies when executing techniques.