STYLE COMPARISON CHART

**NOTE: Every school is unique and may teach differently regardless of what is typical or currently popular for a particular style!

ATTRIBUTE	ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGE	EMPHASIZED IN GUIDED CHAOS?	EMPHASIZED IN OTHER ARTS?
Closed fist strikes	breaks bones, crushes soft tissue	inadequate vs large attackers, can cause injury to hand	some, where appropriate	most
empty hand strikes	breaks bones, crushes soft tissue	safe for hitting bone, penetrates defenses better	absolutely	some
ripping, tearing, shredding, gouging strikes	easily applied, almost impossible to defend	None offensively. Requires special training to defend AGAINST	absolutely	Offensively: few. Defense against: none that we know of.
head butts, biting	easily applied, difficult to defend	Head butting is usually taught incorrectly in many arts and can hurt you more than the enemy	absolutely	few
short range low kicking and stomping	easily applied, almost impossible to defend	none	absolutely	few
intensive balance training	hit, defend, counter-attack, survive and recover during wild fighting	must be taught dynamically and appropriately to the chaos of combat	absolutely	virtually none that we know
body unity training for power	utilize full plyometric power of entire body mass and strength while maintaining looseness	If taught incorrectly creates, tight, slow, weak and clumsy responses	absolutely	in some internal arts, usually incorrectly within a patterned form with no chaotic combat application
looseness training to avoid and survive impacts, find openings	ability to keep on fighting and go home	none	absolutely	virtually none that we know of; sometimes in boxers, wrestlers and internal styles, usually misdirected and incompletely
sensitivity training	ability to snese openings and incoming attacks before your eyes can	none	absolutely	supposed to be taught in internal styles, almost always incorrectly. Sometimes found in elite grapplers
awareness and fear-focusing training	avoid violence before it happens; channel adrenaline	can create rigidity and paranoia if done improperly	absolutely	some
modified Native American groundfighting	you never know if you'll end up on the ground; allows you to strike and remain free of entanglement if taught differently than is currently popular	Usually taught: 1-sportively with rules to "win" instead of disable and escape 2-Can entangle you with bigger, stronger enemies 3-Makes you vulnerable to multiple attackers if taught traditionally	absolutely	virtually none that we know
knife, stick and gun fighting	a supreme advantage--maybe	knife and stick usually taught with complex, flowery flourishes incompatible with life-and-death combat. 99% of gunfighting taught unrealistically as depicted in movies or TV show. Disarms taught are usually nonsense.	absolutely	virtually none that we know
Proven in War (True WWII Combatives)	Basic striking methodology taught to and used in thousands of bloody, documented engagements in World War II by U.S. soldiers. Simple, practical, no-nonsense, reality based, survival techniques for ending a fight and going home	Politically incorrect. Popularly taught today in watered down, emasculated versions bearing little resemblance to the original.	absolutely	A few, if that
Total Adaptivity and Spontaneity to Real Violence	What happens if the above doesn't work?	Almost impossible to learn with traditional teaching methods.	That's all we do!	None that we know of as standard practice. Sometimes acquired by elite, super-trained individuals who are able to dissolve everything they've ever learned into fluid, spontaneous responses.

Thanks to Stefan for the idea.