Medici

I will tell you all THE technique for getting out of a rape situation with someone unarmed. Grab the man's head around the back, and stick your thumbs in his eyes. All the way, until they can't go any further. Do this with all your strength and all your rage, because you don't want to screw it up, you may not have a second chance. Even guys who are on drugs and feel no pain can't do much when they're blind. He deserves worse anyway.

I will write you a book right now about how to stick fight: FIND A SCHOOL!!! There you go.

It's no substitute at all, it's a superior replacement. Let's face it, if traditional martial arts were so great to begin with, these MT/BJJ guys wouldn't be absolutely dominating the UFC and PRIDE and Vale Tudo and everything else. Even the guys who started in karate or something, looking at how they fight now, it all resembles boxing standing up, and so on. No it doesn't incorperate everything that can happen in a fight thanks to the rules, but sport martial arts evolve (evolution inherently moves towards the better) because the techniques themselves basically compete for survival. That means they're always improving themselves- which is why, for instance, boxers, are so incredibly good with their hands.

Boxing will enable you to quickly defeat your karate counterparts, at least in a full contact head punching sparring session. (Uh oh, people may get mad at that one.)

That combination seems to be working well for the professional MMA fighter these days....

It really depends on your BJJ school. You should learn enough of both to get an opponent on the ground. Personally, much as I respect what Judo can do (BJJ I like more, though), I'd go with wrestling. Wrestling will get you take downs with guys who know what they're doing easier and resulting in better positions than Judo will. (Yea, I know, it's a big generality.)

Yea.. but most of the striking didn't really impress me. Decent Thai Boxer with some BJJ skills would rip them apart. But then, it seems like there were rules against punching the head?

I'm a little skeptical about it.... I've heard a few people say there are some things good about it, but this whip-punch stuff... even if you could generate enough power to hurt me, my jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts, etc will come in faster and probably still harder.