Clausewitz applied to singles combat

[stridingcloud]

I think this is the right place to post this.

I know a lot of Bullshido members are from the military and are familiar with the works of Carl von Clausewitz. So I'll jump straight into it. Can the concepts of Total War and Limited War be applied to a personal level? As Total War represents the the most ferocious and lawless form of mass combat, I think that the so-called "street fight" can be equated as the small scale equivalent. And therefore, Limited War would take the form of kickboxing, MMA, K1, etc.

First, is this a fair equivocation of concepts?

And second, since a lot of non-pressure tested martial arts claim that their effectiveness stems only from confrontation on a street level. Are there any examples of armies or military engagements where an army trained solely on theory overcame a truly battle-worn army?

[wetware]

Are there any examples of armies or military engagements where an army trained solely on theory overcame a truly battle-worn army?

Here's where you're going to run into problems. Outside of guerrilla warfare/ insurgency or mass conscription you don't really have untrained combatants. However, in these cases there seem to always be individuals within the larger organization tasked with training the newbs and getting them up to speed, whether you want to call them sergeants, officers, cell leaders, team bosses or whatever. So in any engagement the green troops are side by side with more experienced troops who have trained them in both theory and (limited) application if for no other reason than the fact that training those around them increases the leaders chance of survival.