Testing and competition
Testing or evaluation is important to martial art practitioners of many disciplines who wish to determine their progression or own level of skill in specific contexts. Students within individual martial art systems often undergo periodic testing and grading by their own teacher in order to advance to a higher level of recognized achievement, such as a different belt color or title. The type of testing used varies from system to system but may include forms or sparring. Various forms and sparring are commonly used in martial art exhibitions and tournaments. Some competitions pit practitioners of different disciplines against each other using a common set of rules, these are referred to as mixed martial arts competitions. Rules for sparring vary between art and organization but can generally be divided into light-contact, medium-contact, and full-contact variants, reflecting the amount of force that should be used on an opponent. Light and medium-contact These types of sparring restrict the amount of force that may be used to hit an opponent, in the case of light sparring this is usual to 'touch' contact, e.g. a punch should be 'pulled' as soon as or before contact is made, in medium-contact the punch would not be 'pulled' but not hit with full force. As the amount of force used is restricted the aim of these types of sparing is not to knock-out an opponent a point system is used in competitions. A referee acts to monitor for fouls and to control the match, while judges mark down scores similar to boxing. Particular targets may be prohibited (such as the face or groin), certain techniques may be forbidden, and fighters may be required to wear protective equipment on their head, hands, chest, groin, shins or feet. In some forms Competitors score points based on landing of a single technique as judged by the referee, whereupon they will briefly stop the match, award a point, then restart it. Alternatively sparing may continue with the point noted by the judges Some critics of point-sparring feel that this method of training teaches habits that result in lower combat effectiveness than in continuous sparring. These lighter contact styles of sparring may also be used exclusively, as training for full contact, for children, or otherwise where heavy contact would be inappropriate.
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