"In a street fight do this", "In a street fight, do that", "You should never do that in a street fight", "A person would never do this in a street fight", "This works in competition, but you never want to do it in a street fight". 

​Since I started martial arts, 39 years ago, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu almost 30 years ago, I have heard everyone from a white belt to a red belt talk about "street fighting" in one aspect or another. The reasons to use BJJ in a street fight tend to come from those who are jiujitsukas. The reasons not to use BJJ in a street fight tend to come from all those who are not. The reasons to use Tae Kwon Do in a street fight tend to come from the people who do that, and the reasons to not use it tend to come from those who don't. It's all seems to be rather subjective. My goal in this article is to try to clear up a very troublesome issue with both sides of this argument and attempt to make the argument have a more objective conclusion based on defined terms and real world data. The central theme that needs to be clarified by any martial system making a claim about it's effectiveness in a street fight is - What do you mean when you say "street fighting"?