Hard Sparring and Competition

How do you know if your fighting techniques will work under pressure? The best way is to compete and the 2nd best way is to spar with real conditions. Some will criticize sport fighting and say it's still not the real thing. No, it isn't but it's the best labratory to test your stuff. Outside of ripping someone's eys and groin, there's a combat sport where you can test every range of hand to hand combat. Not everybody will have the opportunity to compete. So, I recommend finding and training with those that do. You need to feel stress and pressure. You need to know what's like to do your stuff when tired and nervous. You need to know that you will pay painfully for mistakes. Everything else is theory.