I’ve got a similar background and agree with your conclusions, especially the “you don’t know” part.

I just put in a couple of stories, but think I might have been over-disclosing, so I removed them.

Anyway, you’re right: there’s sports martial arts, and then there’s real fighting. Sports martial arts has rules, and in addition to that, in real fighting, the stakes can be much higher. Not getting maimed is far more valuable to me than a trophy from some tournament.