is hitting the pads enough?

Many people believe that pad-work and scenario training alone are sufficient to get them ready for s fight. This kind of thinking reflects a lack of experience in actual fighting.
While pad-work and different scenarios should certainly be a part of your training, simply hitting pads or having someone allow you to strike them in a fabricated situation, pretending to ‘resist’ you is insufficient.
To truly prepare for battle you must understand one thing: you aren’t fighting until there’s resistance. Until then, you are not in combat, you are just rehearsing.
There’s no substitute for full contact sparring. In a real confrontation, you’ll need to overcome something, whether it’s being hit by someone, or dealing with fear. The only way to prepare for that is with full contact.
Train smart,
Sharir R, ICCS head instructor