Hmmm. I mostly agree but I think the line between sport and combat is a bit fuzzy. IMO martial arts can contain aspects of nonviolent sport, violent sport, mutually consensual non-sportive violence, and "true" self defense.

I agree that feints and combinations get less meaningful the closer you get to the last category, but I don't think they're completely useless, and I think the lines between "true" self defense and mutual violence can be fuzzier than people like to acknowledge.

Put another way - if you're absolutely certain someone is going to attack you in the next 20 seconds and you eye-fake them so you can get a clean first hit in, that's definitely not sport. Is it mutual combat, self defense, or something in between?