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There's no such thing as dirty fighting in real situations.
But there is however steering away from techiques that will get you locked up afterwards. If someone starts on me the first thing I'll do is kick them in the groin but I wouldn't strike to the throat unless my life was in serious danger. i.e. I actively wanted to kill them.
Your boxing friend sounds like a retard and should stay in the gym. In TKD sparring the striking zone is limited to above the belt and the front and sides of the body (plus head of course), but if I was sparring somebody, say a kick boxer I wouldn't b***h and moan if they started pounding on my legs, or if a grappler took me to ground and started bending my limbs in unnatural directions. If your friend wanted to box he should have specified that from the beginning and not assumed every other martial art was equally limited in striking area...

I study one of the prettiest (read: wussiest, according to many) martial arts, and there are plenty of groin strikes, even in the forms. They try to call it something else, but eventually they do have to explain what you're supposedly doing to the invisible man.

However, in sparring sessions there do need to be limits. I take no issue with leg sweeps, etc. Trying to kick out someone's knee, however, must be left for "real" fights, as should throat strikes - at least any with follow-through (in which case it's easiest to just keep them out altogether - sometimes your opponent moves unpredictably, and accidents are better if they don't leave anyone crippled/dead). Limits must always be set to correspond to the level of threat involved. Permanent damage has no place among friends and fellow students.

On the street, now, the first thing I'd be aiming for is a knee. Being a girl, most guys would expect me to aim for the crotch first - it's a typical girly reaction - so they'd either be blocking it or braced for the blow. Therefore, I opt for Target of Choice #2: Knee. As the good book (Kabuki: Circle of Blood) says, "If your opponent cannot stand, he cannot fight." Nor can he chase your arse as you haul tuchus to a safe place and call the police. And, if he's armed (god forbid), it's also more difficult to aim while clutching a ruined knee and sobbing. Remember kids, most aggressors don't actually expect to be hurt in an encounter - they look for an easy victim. Therefore, any real injury really throws them.

As corollary to this, if you're actually ever involved in a street fight, chances are you did something wrong. The two most valuable things a martial artist learns are: 1) How not to act like a potential victim, and 2) How not to act like an irritating a** in need of a beatdown.

Well, I fence, and groin is valid target area...
I've tagged an opponent in the crotch many times, as the parries protecting that area are pretty awkward.

Seriously though, anybody who knows anything about knife fighting or blade work knows that stabs and slashes to the throat, groin, temple, eyes, ect. are not only tought, but encouraged. These are areas with fatal arteries and nerves that can be exploited. Many knife fighting drills consist of a slash under the arm, across the throat finished with a stab in the groin. Others consist of slashes and stabs to the neck and throat, or a stab to the temple. Then of course there is your wrist slashes and stabs, as well as the inner elbow, behind the knee and behind the ankle.

I would like to learn to fence but there are no schools where I am I have read up on some things. You reminded me one thing I like are the stabs to the foot that I have seen. I have seen knife fighters cut acros the forehead to keep the person blinded with the blood that runs down.

Well tournaments are a sports thing and things like this are only for realy hurting some one so no you don't do these things in a tournament. I went for a throat strike once when we were doing a drill and my Sifu asked me not to do these things around the newer students. I didn't even think about it the guy that was playing the attacker came at me and I just went for his throat. I blocked and just attacked and if any one is thinking I may do this to some one in any fight because I train my self to do these things I do pull my techniques and would never use such a technique on some one in a fight that was not realy dangerous. This came up once befor some one said if you train this way you may use it in an inappropriate situation.

I'll get you some metal boots for your birthday (if I met you), so anyone jumps you steel toe to the testicular area, ouch!

Oh, I'm very aware that this stuff is only for really hurting people in bad situations, but I mean, it doesn't stop some people from doing so, unfortunately.

I have to admit though, I have a different mindset in tournaments than when we're practicing self defence, so I've never really had the problem of using it in a spar. Then again, I'm sure there will be a time. I mean, I've had moments where I've kicked, when we were only suppose to be punching just because it's instinct. Thus, what I need to train in now is mindset again. After all, just sticking to one kind of way is bound to cause trouble.