There is a pretty simple way to test this, it’s simply somewhat dangerous and arguably unethical. Take a “maximum damage” fighter, and send them into a number of no rules fights where they can justify using maximum force, and then pit them against MMA fighters in sanctioned matches.
I don’t know of any style that does this, but I did train for a while in a style that does something similar. In Wun Hop Kuen Do (and possibly other branches of Kajukenbo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kajukenbo) being an instructor level practitioner is essentially a research position. You’re required to test your skills in realistic situations, because as a teacher, the danger to your students if you instruct them poorly takes precedence over the danger to yourself. My sifu, Jason Goldsmith, would have collaborators attack him in earnest with a sharpened knife (he worked his way up from rubber ones,) or fight against multiple opponents, in order to make sure his skills worked where it really mattered.
Sifu Jason does prepare people for competitions, including MMA, if they request it, but he makes it very clear that that isn’t really what the style is meant for, and is not the setting in which it’s most effective.
There is a pretty simple way to test this, it’s simply somewhat dangerous and arguably unethical. Take a “maximum damage” fighter, and send them into a number of no rules fights where they can justify using maximum force, and then pit them against MMA fighters in sanctioned matches.
I don’t know of any style that does this, but I did train for a while in a style that does something similar. In Wun Hop Kuen Do (and possibly other branches of Kajukenbo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kajukenbo) being an instructor level practitioner is essentially a research position. You’re required to test your skills in realistic situations, because as a teacher, the danger to your students if you instruct them poorly takes precedence over the danger to yourself. My sifu, Jason Goldsmith, would have collaborators attack him in earnest with a sharpened knife (he worked his way up from rubber ones,) or fight against multiple opponents, in order to make sure his skills worked where it really mattered.
Sifu Jason does prepare people for competitions, including MMA, if they request it, but he makes it very clear that that isn’t really what the style is meant for, and is not the setting in which it’s most effective.