There is another principle that is relevant here. It has the same implications and a similar name but is unrelated to the sports science Principle of Specificity. The Encoding Specificity Principle proposed by Endel Tulving [6] relates to our memory and our ability to recall information previously learnt. Specifically it states that retrieval (from memory of a learned item) more readily occurs if the context, bodily state or mood at the time of recall approximates that during the original encoding (learning). Here we are interested in context.

The context within which you learn and recall can have a profound impact on your memory. Thus we have the interesting phenomenon of students who will perform better in a test if the test is conducted in the same room in which they originally learned the material they are being tested on versus students who are taken to a different room to be tested.

A more extreme experiment was performed by Godden and Baddely [7], who gave scuba divers on land and scuba divers underwater a list of vocabulary words to remember. When tested later on their memory for these words, the scuba divers who studied the list underwater actually performed better when they were given the test underwater than those who had learned the list on land, but were tested underwater. And vice versa. This has serious implications as divers have to learn decompression tables in order not to suffer the 'bends'.

This phenomenon is termed the "context effect" and its implication for self defence training is clear. The ability to adapt and recall techniques and tactics will be facilitated by training in environments that approximate those in which these actions will be performed, in other words 'street simulations'.

Military and Police Training

As a parallel it is instructive to observe the effort made to provide realism in professional military and police training exercises. Once basic skills have been acquired, both military and police personnel are put through training that is as close to the real thing as possible and that includes the environment - location, time of day, lighting, weather, ambient noise (sirens, explosions, shouting etc) and obstacles. All while wearing their service uniforms complete with webbing, utility belts etc, not their gym gear.

Yet here we are as martial artists undertaking almost all our training in our open well-lit obstacle free gyms in our loose fitting uniforms only occasionally venturing outdoors to an open park or the beach on fine days. Either we know something that the police and military don't or we are kidding ourselves.

It is unsettling to think that a martial arts student may spend hundreds of hours training in the same benign environment of a martial arts gym and nowhere else. Then the one time he or she will need their skills to save them from injury or worse the environmental conditions will be different and may be radically different. Despite hundreds of hours of training, they will have to adjust to applying their skills in that new environment on the fly in chaotic and stressful circumstances.

Environmental Training

Tactical systems specifically and reality based self defence systems in general are distinguished by their environmental training regime. There is 'normal' practice in the training hall but other times it is in dark or conditions of uneven lighting, in the rain, in carparks, on stairs, in narrow hallways, in cars etc. Additionally training will at times be conducted wearing a variety of clothing. The change in environment and clothing gives the student the opportunity to assimilate to new circumstances. This lessens the stress and hence fear that will occur in a confrontation that occurs in a totally new setting.

The incorporation of environmental training (not a 'day out at the park') as a key part of the overall training program is the mark of a school whose prime focus is on street self defence versus other motivations. If you are serious about street self defence then this aspect of training is crucial, the scientific evidence is clear and unambiguous.

But you don't really have to rely on science to tell you that environmental training is a necessary part of self defence training - it's common sense isn't it?

REFERENCES
[1]. Coaching Science Abstracts available online at http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/coachsci/index.htm.
[2] Abernethy, B. (1991). "Acquisition of motor skills". In F. S. Pyke (Ed.), Better Coaching (pp. 69-98), Canberra, Australia: Australian Coaching Council.
[3] US Bureau of Justice Statistics, Criminal Victimisation in the United States, Statistical Tables 2001, tables 59 and 61.
[4] Jochelson, R. (1997). "Crime and Place: An Analysis of Assaults and Robberies in Inner Sydney". New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
[5] Briscoe, S. Donnelly, R. (2001), "Assaults on Licensed Premises in Inner Urban Areas", Alcohol Studies Bulletin No. 2, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
[6] Tulving, E. (1983). "Elements of Episodic Memory". London: Oxford University Press.
[7] Godden, D.R., and Baddely, A.D. (1975). "Context-dependent memory in two natural environments: On land and underwater". British Journal of Psychology, 71, 99-104.

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