Getting personal

Of the martial art styles that use sparring, some use no-contact sparring, some use light-contact sparring, while others use full-contact sparring. These contact classifications are related to the amount of force that is permitted while sparring. The level of contact used in sparring is important and should be considered when choosing a martial art to study so it is discussed in other topics.

Another type of contact to consider is personal contact. There are three classifications of the personal contact used in the martial arts: impersonal, semi-personal, and personal. These same classifications of personal contact may also be applied to the military.