My brother did a bit of Krav Magar… and from what he said his instructor did emphasize hitting quick, dirty and by surprise. That if you get into some situation in a crowded place that you just send a knee to the groin then kick the guy on the floor and get out like you haven’t done anything.
The few fights I saw were teens rolling around the floor… the only time I ever used the little martial arts I have was when a kid grabbed my shirt jokingly and my reaction was to spin his arm around without thinking. I think martial arts are about muscle memory and being able to react quicker and a bit more effectively. Better than being in “shock” and standing around dazed.
Heh. After I started judo in college, I took a little traditional Japanese jujutsu during summer break, until I found the instructor to be too irresponsible to ensure my safety. One fun thing I learned was a move in respons to an overhand, horror-movie-type stab. Basically you block in case you can’t move out of the way quickly enough, but if you can you turn the block into a slap on the top of the wrist holding the kife. The effect is to cause the assailant to stab himself in the groin.
Back at college some guy heard I was taking judo and, as people almost always do, he asked me what I’d do if someone pulled a knife on me. I asked like how, an overhand stab? He said that would be good, so I told him to come at me w/ his imaginary knife. It worked perfectly: he punched himself in the nuts and collapsed to the floor. It was hilarious.
Quite funny… I’ll try it out the next time someone pulls out a knife 
Unless it’s real, in which case running like hell might be a better idea. 
A friend of mine says he is quite good in Run-Fu… its hard to catch him…
I was watching an Extreme Martial Arts marathon on Discovery. Now I have to believe a lot of it was BS (like being able to crush a mans skull like a coconut). But one thing I did notice was that during the sparing, no one does the flying spin kicks and other aerial crap.
I’ve seen quite a few bar fights using the “drunken” style (usually two fat meatheads shoving and swating at each other.).
I’ll never forget a lesson I learned in school. Our coach was a big, tough S.O.B. In class one Monday, he said that he’d taken his wife out to dinner in Denver over the weekend. Someone stepped out of an alley with a knife and demanded his wallet and his wife’s purse.
“Do you know what I did?” he asked the class. We all cried out our guesses as to ways he had beaten the punk up. He said, “I gave him the wallet and purse. He had a knife! It wasn’t worth getting stabbed over.”