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The organization to which I belong allows hand contact to the head while sparring in class. However, in competition, they forbid hand contact to the head. Therefore, for months you train using hand contact to the head, and then, for a few minutes a few times a year, you must spar under stressful conditions and not use any hand contact to the head. Because of this clash of rules, in competitions, there are many times when students foul out because they use hand contact to the head. In addition, there is also that second of hesitation when the brain and body want to react with a hand attack to head but must decide not to, which slows reaction time.

If you play baseball a lot and play softball once in awhile, under the stress of a softball completion, it is easy to confuse the rules with those of baseball and make a crucial error. However, when you play baseball and then play football, there is never a problem with the rules since the two sports are entirely different. When it comes to studying multiple arts, it is best to either just study one mixed martial art that incorporates all types of techniques and philosophies into its training, or chose a second martial art that is totally different from the first, such as studying karate and then taking up Escrima. Escrima does not use punches and kicks (in its purist form) in their training and karate does not use striking with sticks (in its purist form). Therefore, the two arts are sufficiently different that, when under the stress of a self-defense situation, one would be confused as to which art skills to use.

Some disagree with my views on holding ranks in multiple arts; they claim that training in two or more martial arts is not a problem for them. I say they are wrong. For example, say you train in a hard style martial art that emphasizes blocking attacks and then attacking using punches and kicks, and you train equally hard in a soft style martial art that emphasizes avoiding attacks and then attacking with wristlocks and throws. A surprise attack on the street requires you to react instantly and instinctively. When you have trained equally in two opposing arts, how will you react to a surprise attack? Will you instinctively block? Will you instinctively avoid? Or, will you hesitate since you have no instinctive reaction?

People can say anything. They can say how they think they would react, but the body does not instinctively react in ways your think it will react, it instinctively reacts in the way it has been trained to react. When training causes confusion as to which way it should react, the brain will hesitate, or pick a way depending on which side of the brain is dominant. Here is an example of how the brain works.

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