That's an interesting difference. Thanks for sharing - something to ponder on.
Why do you like fighting?
- Thread starter Jenna
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I wish I could figure out why MA doesn't bring out my competitive side. I loved playing competitive sports, and when you get me into a sports setting where I have someone to compete with, I tend to like the competition. But never really with MA. And less so in other things every year, it seems.
The desire to humiliate and the fear of embarrassment... then I feel bad later. I think we all feel bad after we fight. In the moment, I get enraged and go ballistic, next thing I know I'm stomping on someone's head. Then when I get home I think of the look in the persons eye. I can't describe it. It's like fear and humiliation and pain all at once. The look haunts you. I don't like fighting for real. In a tournament it's one thing and you can just slaughter the guy and forget about it, but in real life... no thanks.
drop bear
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I don't like street fighting it is just a mean spirited exercise. But i do get a chemical rush from winning a fight.
I have found it is also a bit emotionally toxic to avoid a fight. Again i assume that is chemical.
So there is these two opposing forces working. The mental idea of making someone worse off vs the physical reaction.
fighting does make me completely present in the moment which is supposed to be zen or something. So if i am sport fighting and i am not destroying someone but helping to build them it is a pretty positive experience.
I have found it is also a bit emotionally toxic to avoid a fight. Again i assume that is chemical.
So there is these two opposing forces working. The mental idea of making someone worse off vs the physical reaction.
fighting does make me completely present in the moment which is supposed to be zen or something. So if i am sport fighting and i am not destroying someone but helping to build them it is a pretty positive experience.
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I've never really thought of it as fighting. Fighting to me is non-sports competition. The type of stuff a person does when he or she has an enemy that is trying to physically cause harm is fighting. All of the other "fight-like" activity falls under training or competition. It's a way for me to test myself physically, emotionally, and mentally in the areas of hand-to-hand combat. Nothing in the world makes a person feel safer than the physical ability to over power someone or to physically come out on top in a physical competition. Nothing is as more satisfying to fail in physical competition and then rise to be better than the person who defeated you the first time around. Then there's where I am now with my sparring and training. I get happy when I can "make kung fu work." it means that I understand what I'm doing at a higher level of understanding than me just knowing the forms. When I spar, I assume my opponents are trying to out do me. But for me, sparring for me is less about my opponent and more about me. It's less about me hitting them and more about me being able to say "I finally understand how to use this kung fu technique and how to be successful with the technique."
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This topic needs to be pinned. Everyone so far feels the same about fight-like training and competition vs Violence. We all do martial arts. I think something like this will be good for parents who think their martial arts will make their kids violent.
Fighting can be in different levels.
1. battle field.
2. street.
3. police/security work.
4. tournament.
5. unfriendly challenge.
6. friendly challenge.
7. spar/wrestle in class.
After you have trained single leg for many years, when you can use that technique to take 7 different opponents down in tournament, the amount of "fun" can keep you smile in your dream for many nights. Even money won't be able to buy that kind of fun.
If you break someone's nose in the street, you may have to hide yourself in Amazon jungle for the rest of your life.
There are big difference between tournament (sport) fight and street fight.
1. battle field.
2. street.
3. police/security work.
4. tournament.
5. unfriendly challenge.
6. friendly challenge.
7. spar/wrestle in class.
After you have trained single leg for many years, when you can use that technique to take 7 different opponents down in tournament, the amount of "fun" can keep you smile in your dream for many nights. Even money won't be able to buy that kind of fun.
If you break someone's nose in the street, you may have to hide yourself in Amazon jungle for the rest of your life.
There are big difference between tournament (sport) fight and street fight.
I don't know this can be called as fight or not. A guy tried to pull a girl into his car. The girl was screaming and asked for help. I walked over, got that guy in a neck choke from behind. The guy let go the girl. The girl ran toward east. I let go the guy. The guy ran toward west. Nobody got hurt. I still feel good about what I did that day after so many years.
Midnight-shadow
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Remembering that particular event has made me think again about my feelings on violence and fighting in general, as well as question my own abilities. So far I've been in 2 situations where someone intended on hurting me and I couldn't bring myself to fight back. Both times were in defence of my own life, so I wonder what would happen if the violence was happening to someone I cared about. Would I be able to step in and help defend them? I'd like to think I would but I don't know.
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
I don't like fighting. At times it may be unavoidable, but I strongly dislike it and have been very successful in avoiding it and finding other options. I don't like to get hurt. And I don't like to hurt others, I get no joy from it.
Danny T
Senior Master
Having been associated in the sport mindset, personal protection mindset, and military kill or be killed mindset;
Enjoyment?
Combat Sports...Yes. Enjoy it immensely.
Violence against another...No. However, if it comes down to it, I'll do it in a hard beat.
Mentally there are major differences in sport, lawful personal protection, and military.
Physiologically the repercussions within the body are the same.
Same tension and anxiety, adrenaline rush, surge of strength and lack of pain, same heart pounding, same euphoria and then crash when it's over.
drop bear
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Seriously. Tuck yourself in first.
Flatfish
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Interesting from my point of view.I have never been competitive (enough) in any sport I ever played. Just was in it for the fun. In MA it's different for a reason I can't quite put my hands on. Maybe it's because it's more personal, I.e. another person hitting you? Sparring within my school is not necessarily part of it. I know what most folks can do and how I stack up. But I am excited (and nervous) to go to tournaments and see how my training stacks up to folks from other schools. Not so much a personal thing but more kind of a validation of my training?
This.
KangTsai
2nd Black Belt
Sparring/controlled - no different than a game of Murican football.
Real - depends how easy of a time I'm having.
Real - depends how easy of a time I'm having.
thanson02
Blue Belt
Until recently, no.
I grew up on the farms and my dad belong to what I called the "cowboy" generation (pre-baby boomers). We saw a lot of westerns, particular John Wayne movies, and listen to a lot of country music growing up because that is what my parents were into. One thing that got drilled in our head was you never start a fight but you always stand your ground or people will walk all over you. That and having nothing but brothers, we got into fights all the time with each other and we were always expected to stand our ground, no matter what. Luckily we never put each other in the hospital, though there were a few times where we probably came closer than we should have. There is always anger tied to it and it always left a bitter taste in my mouth. This mentality was further propagated by my first Taekwondo instructor and to be honest, despite getting some good kickboxing practice, a good portion of my experience with him was more negative than positive.
All the baggage that was tied into my previous training made the work I did in my current martial art more difficult when actually came to application. However a couple years ago, I ended up having a paradigm shift when it came to my sparring application which got me to relook at how I approach conflict.
When I put my mind to something, my friends tell me that I am one of the most tenacious people they've ever met. Previous to this paradigm shift, I had to fight through all the previous baggage I had just to be functional in the ring. But one night I was on my way to class with a whole bunch of stuff running through my head and it dawned on me that for as tenacious as I am for everything else in my life, I never took that tenacity and applied directly to my sparring. The idea never even occurred to me to take that approach, so I figured I'd give it a go that night and see what happens. What happened was that my performance increased dramatically, I was able to pull off moves that I hadn't been able to do prior to that, and I got nothing but compliments from my training partners in my instructors. On top of all that, after training was all done, I had the luxury of crashing at the Dojang that night and sitting on the mat, I felt a sense of calm and peace that I had never felt after of sparring match. Above all things I felt clean.
So do I like fighting? The way we did it growing up, no and I will never go back to that again. But what I'm doing now it's much better.
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Psilent Knight
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I enjoy the competitive aspect of testing myself against someone else, I enjoy testing the skills that I worked hard to develop and I enjoy testing the art that I teach.
I have only been in a couple of real world fights and while I didn't enjoy them, I don't regret them. Those guys were dicks and threw the first punch.
I have only been in a couple of real world fights and while I didn't enjoy them, I don't regret them. Those guys were dicks and threw the first punch.
What I really don't care for are people who enjoy the hell out of street fighting. They look for fights, and always find them. I pretty much understand their physiological background and quirks, but I do not have much apathy, nor tolerance, for them. In any protective services field, or in police work, you run into these people on a pretty regular basis. When you tangle with them you are trying to control, they are trying to hurt. It's always a pain in the butt.
It sucks when you cross paths with them in private life. And if you're well trained it still sucks, because you're supposed to be above all that.
But it must suck really bad to actually be them.
It sucks when you cross paths with them in private life. And if you're well trained it still sucks, because you're supposed to be above all that.
But it must suck really bad to actually be them.
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