Strategy and Martial Arts - If Sparring Is Part of Your Practice

I have to admit, I'm fascinated by the parallels between Tae Kwon Do (or any hand to hand combat style) and general principles of military strategy.

It shouldn't be surprising, but many of the concepts of military strategy are really useful to the hand to hand combat practitioner (wiki). If you read through this wiki, you'll probably see some concepts which resonate if you've sparred before - surprise, security, simplicity, for example.

Something which may get lost is the difference between a controlled setting, like a match, versus an uncontrolled setting, such as an attack on the street. Of course, there are many things a sporting opponent may not do, such as punch to the face, throw or take you down, employ weapons, etc.

In military strategy, this would be your theater or context, combined with your objective - are you training for self-defense or for fitness and fun? For sparring? In each case, a different set of rules apply.