Quite often people try in their minds to pigeon-hole this martial art or that martial art into a certain category. Take for instance if you said BJJ is all grappling and sport oriented. If someone said that they would actually be incorrect. Brazilian Jiujitsu certainly has that within its system but it also has a formidable self-defense base and also (with the good practitioners) a military portion of the art. (just look at our own army combatives) You could easily post many similar instances with other systems I just used BJJ as one example. I am always amazed when people try to pigeon-hole IRT into a category. Some have said it is all about Self Defense. Others have noted that it has a decidedly military bent to it. While others have said you could use it for sporting martial arts, etc. I tend to look at Instinctive Response Training as a comprehensive martial system that the practitioner decides what they want to utilize it for! Some might utilize it overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan. (which has been done) Others might utilize it for Self Defense purposes on the civilian side or in law enforcement, corrections, etc. (also been done) While others might utilize the techniques in a grappling tournament, point tournament, MMA, etc. (been done as well) I know several practitioners utilize it for personal wellness and transformation. (I do that to) IRT is what the practitioner makes it to be. Once you have the fundamentals you can take it any direction you choose! For me that is mostly for Self Defense purposes. For other practitioners they have utilized it differently. But here is the kicker it can be utilized for any of the above and more! You cannot pigeonhole a Martial System that is comprehensive. When done right they can be used in a variety of ways by different people. Instinctive Response Training is a system with a wide range of personal growth involved. It also utilizes weapons in a very dynamic way and has a full component of empty hand training ranging from kicking, hand strikes, trapping hands and joint manipulation and of course grappling. Take it any direction you like and understand that you really cannot pigeonhole it into one category!
There are simply “no absolutes” when it comes to Instinctive Response Training. No absolutes in what it is and “no absolutes” in the training itself. We may do something a certain way and yet there are so many variations in what we do, to say we absolutely do everything one way would be wrong! Sure we have certain characteristics in some areas but to say we only do it a certain way would be incorrect. I have always lived with the idea in my training that there are “no absolutes“. No absolutes in the way I train, no absolutes in the way I teach and no absolutes in the system. Train, train and train some more and explore. Once the foundation is laid, take it any way you want and learn, expand and grow. Live with the idea that you have “no absolutes” in your training and you will be amazed at where you can go!
The Instinctive Edge™ 
Try telling people you train Taijiquan 🙂
Hey Tim, I understand completely!!!