Jowga mentioned (and has mentioned in the past as well), his goal is to learn, not necessarily to win.
I think I need to clarify.
I don't see things in terms of Win an Lose in my training. Even with fighting, winning or losing doesn't take on a big focus. There is only success and failure. Even if I'm not focused on winning, if I can land 10 hard punches to my opponents face with a high rate of success, then what do you think the outcome will be. In terms of Win and Lose.
If I can successfully land 10 hard punches to my opponents face, 5 hard kicks to the ribs, and successfully defend against 70% of my opponent's attacks, then what do you think the outcome will be? Yet I do not think of win or lose. I only think success and failure.
A person who focuses on winning often doesn't calculate success and failure. They only calculate trying to win without realizing that they lack the ability to be successful in offense and defense. If you like, I can upload a sparring video tonight that shows the difference between the 2.
Sparring to learn doesn't mean sparring to win. You are correct about that. However, Sparring to learn does not void the ability win.
Track example, You don't race the opponent, you race the time. If I run 110 meters at 11 seconds and the competition runs it in 10.5 seconds. Then all I need to do is focus on being successful at running it in 10 seconds. If I can achieve a high rate of success with that then I will beat my opponents even when my focus is not to win.
Fighting is the same thing. When you are in a real fight. Do you think "I have to win" Or do you think "I have to hit" "I have to kick" "I have to block"
When you play basketball, do you think "I have to win" or do you think "I have to make my shots"?
If I'm a boxer then I'm successful with punching. That is one path to winning. If i learn to kick then I can be successful with kicking. Now I have another tool in which to win. Every technique that I learn would only increases my chance of success, but only if I'm training to be successful with that technique.
Which, again, is great! I am absolutely not advocating against this. It's how you learn how to use something new. But lets say you spend most of your time doing these, then go to a judo competition. There's a good chance that you'll lose. Not because your technique is lacking, but because you never focused 'purely' on winning before. Performing his own foot sweeps may be his best technique, but he might not be as good at them as he could be, because he spends so much time focusing on other stuff. So he has great breadth, but not great depth into any specific technique. Or the opposite might be true; he might spend a lot of time training his foot sweeps, but all of a sudden his opponents in the tournament realize this and he has trouble transitioning; in this situation he'd have too great depth, but not enough breadth.
I can't speak for others but this is true as you have explained it.
The only difference is that I don't practice to be successful in one thing. Nor do I practice to be successful in the context of one thing. I will use sweeps as an example. When I practice sweeps, I'm also forces to practice other things such as footwork, punches, kicks, feints, timing and distance, which all can be used to increase the success rate of my sweeps. I must be successful in these other things as well.
This teaches what to do, but it doesn't teach how to deploy it. For me this is not training how to be successful with using a technique.
For me training to be successful with using a technique means. You spar with me and do your thing and attack and defend as you please. My focus is to deal with that while trying to create openings, defending, and countering in ways that I can use the sweep. I may punch you to set up the sweep. I may throw a punch to back you up, I may punch to stun you, I may punch to hide my footwork. I may counter with a sweep, I may do a juke move to break your tracking (yes a juke move). I may grapple you then go for the sweep. In order to be successful with that technique, there are other things I must also be successful with.
The way that learned sweeping was 5% drill. Once I knew how to sweep. I spent 99% of my time doing it in sparring against various people. Lots of failures in that process, but it was the quickest way to learn. I've done tons of sweep drills, but none of those drills were bout application. Students at my school used to go from one end of the room doing sweeps. But only 2 people in the school could actually do them in sparring.
1. I could do them, 2 My son could do them. The other's didn't learn until they started doing them in sparring. Lots of failures and that's normal. The others who only did the drills could not do it. This is more like the example of what you speak of above. Not disagreeing with what you are saying. Just sharing some insight on how I train success vs failure. As solid as my MMA sparring partner's footwork is, I was still able to get a high percentage of foot hooks on him. For him, I only had to get him focused on his hand and he'll forget about his feet. I didn't try too many sweeps because my main focus with him is to work on my grappling offense and defense, from the perspective of positioning myself at my weakest point and not my strongest point.
