How To Fight

Violent Acres ^ | 12/20/06

[LibWhacker]

The summer I turned 6 years old, some of the neighborhood boys started bullying me. Back then, I owned a pair of cabbage patch kid roller-skates and my favorite activity was skating around the block singing nursery rhymes at the top of my lungs. One day, a few boys in the 8-10 range thought it would be pretty humorous to push me around and watch me flail. I tried to run from them, but I couldn’t skate faster than they could run. They taunted me for a while and then knocked me down. Angry, humiliated, and with two freshly skinned knees, I did what any 6 year old girl would do in my position.

I went home and told my Dad.

My Father was an ex marine and always preached the benefits of learning self defense. Unlike most parents, he had no interest in calling the parents of my bullies to ‘open up a dialogue’ or some other such tripe. Instead, he planned to teach me to kick a little ass.

My Mother balked at this idea. She didn’t think little girls should be fighting. Little girls were supposed to have tea parties and then play dress up. Fighting was for little boys.

“What if someday a vicious serial killer kidnaps her?” my Father asked, “Do you want her to die weeping and begging for her life? Or would you rather she have the courage to wrench the knife from the killer’s hand and stab him in the throat?”

He paused, mid tirade, and said to me, “If that ever happens, V, stab and twist. Stab and twist.”

With my Mother temporarily mollified, My Father took me into the back yard to teach me how to fight.

Nervously, I explained to my Father that not only was I outnumbered by the boys, but they were bigger and stronger than I was. There was no way that I could beat them. My Father merely brushed my fears aside. He said that while they had the advantage of size and strength on their side, I could develop my own advantages. Here are some tips that he gave me:

1. Always Respond to Threats with Complete Confidence
Sometimes all it takes to make a bully re-think pounding you into a pulp is to make it very clear to him exactly how unafraid you are of a physical confrontation. When a bully threatens you, he is trying to invoke in you some fear in which he can feed off of. If you respond to his threats with confidence, even eagerness, it will give him a pause. If he doesn’t chicken out right then and there, he will enter the fight with a slight feeling of unease. His apprehension is your advantage.

2. Fighting Dirty is Fighting Smart
A fist fight isn’t the same as a karate tournament with judges and points. Your opponent is trying to hurt you, so don’t let some silly moral argument prevent you from kicking the little b****rd in the nuts. Throw sand in his eyes, kick him in the back of the knees, bite him, or punch him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. If he’s got you pinned down and you happen to see a rock out of the corner of your eye? Don’t be afraid to grab that rock and smash his face with it. There is no shiny trophy waiting for you at the end of this fight, so everything goes.

3. Talk Some Sh!t
Nothing will rattle your opponent faster than you screaming a steady stream of s*** at him while you’re engaged in combat. The crazier you sound the better. If you can’t think of anything tough to yell, yell nonsense like, “I’m going to eat your eyes!” If you can’t think of any nonsense to yell, just plain scream. The second your opponent suspects that you’re a freaking lunatic he’s going to get scared. Fear causes people to make mistakes.

4. When You Lose, Claim It Didn’t Hurt
Sometimes you’re just outmatched. But even losing a fight can be used to your advantage. When it’s over, feel free to spit blood in his face and tell him that it ‘didn’t hurt.’ Laugh when he walks away. You might have just gotten your a** kicked six ways from Sunday, but I guarantee you that anyone watching that fight will think twice about ever messing with you in the future. No one wants to f*** with the crazy kid who feels no pain.

Armed with my new tips and tricks, I laced up my skates and headed out to face the jungle that is childhood. When the boys confronted me again, I dared them to mess with me. One ballsy kid lunged towards me with the intent of pushing me down. Quickly, I kicked that kid squarely between the legs with my skate. He crumpled to the ground as I hysterically screamed at his friends, “I’LL EAT YOUR EYES! I’LL EAT ALL OF YOUR EYES!” Terrified, those boys got up and ran like Hell. I’ve never felt so empowered in my entire life.

In retrospect, I think my Father was just trying to teach me a little something about fear and courage. Back then, and even more so today, it became quite popular to advise your children to: Run. Hide. Look away. Go get someone bigger. Be afraid. As a result, modern children and adults alike are easily paralyzed by fear and have no idea how to defend themselves.

After reading certain articles on my website, I’ve even seen people comment, “What is she going to do if she says the wrong thing to the wrong person? She’s going to end up getting hurt or killed.”

I feel sorry for those people. So paralyzed by fear of what might happen, that they lack the courage to stand up for themselves or for someone weaker. I refuse to live my life afraid to say what I feel or do what is right because there might be some mysterious villain lurking in the shadows who is bigger and stronger. Better to be dead, than to live your life afraid.

Besides, I could just as easily spend my life acting meek and compliant only to still end up with a bullet in my head. However, because my Father taught me courage, it’s not likely that I’d go down without a fight. Who knows? I may even end up wrenching a knife from some psycho’s hands and stabbing him in the throat with it.

Of course, I’ll remember to stab and twist.

[BIGLOOK]

I was a Navy brat and when young the 'townies' would way lay me and others from the Navy housing on the way to school. My dad wasn't around, out at sea. Learned very quickly that bullies didn't like being hit back so while they would shove and body punch to intimidate, a hard punch to the nose would get me out of trouble every time. If there were 3 or 4, a well placed head shot on one would back all of 'em off.

Real trouble happened when I got to school and found that there were 3 or 4 witnesses against me.

[TomSmedley]

ping

[starbase]

Interesting thread vis-a-vis our email discussion. And thanks for the book review, I'll definitely get a copy of that one!

[starbase]

Most serious martial artists know that once a practiced technique (or series of techniques) become an automatic reflex, then that's when they are truly available for your self defense, and they become a reflex after you've been practicing a good long time.

For some serious, heavy theory on, not just martial arts, but what your own attitude, expectations, and purpose should (or must) be, get a copy of Stephen Kaufman's translation of the Japanese classic, The Book of Five Rings, by Sensei Miyamoto Musashi.

Musashi was the "Sword Saint" of Japan, and although he killed guys for a living (Samuri) he was very religious and philosophical about it.

His book is full of thought provoking wisdom, like he says "You can only fight as well as you train", and "I really must insist that constant training is the only method to achieve the way of the warrior", and he can surprise you with this reasonableness, like "there is nothing wrong with withdrawing quickly from a situation if you believe that you truly cannot win", and "when fighting against a group, identify who is the loudest and most violent, and defeat him first, the move on to the next most violent, the next, and the next. keep your center moving and do not allow yourself to be surrounded by them or they will overwhelm and defeat you."

And there's lots more, it's just 100 or so pages long, but reads like your grizzled old Pa telling ya like it is. Some months I try to read 10 pages each day for the first 10 days of the month, it's the kind of teaching you can read over and over and get something more each time (which he himself states). He constantly stresses that the sole purpose of using martial arts is to destroy your enemy at the time it is necessary, any attitude less than that is flirting with defeat (very Japanese mentality, no?)

I, for one, found reading the book greatly improved my technique in every way, not because he addresses techniques (he doesn't) but because you're just so damn serious after reading it that you do everything with more conviction and energy.

[SWEETSUNNYSOUTH]

You are right about that.

[SWEETSUNNYSOUTH]

It ain't over yet!!!

[SWEETSUNNYSOUTH]

Couldn't help themselves, They enjoyed it!!!

[SWEETSUNNYSOUTH]

Good thing we fight together against liberal whackos.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Stephen Kaufman's translation of the Japanese classic, The Book of Five Rings, by Sensei Miyamoto Musashi.

Good advice. The martial arts are movement meditation and training the mind first is essential to training the body.

My sage teacher once told me it is always the weaker man who threatens.

[starbase]

My sage teacher once told me it is always the weaker man who threatens.

Hmm, very insightful. A Buddhist teaching states "Learn this from the waters, the small brook prattles constantly, but the mighty river flows silently. Those things which are empty are noisy, while things which are full are quiet."

[Manic_Episode]

Some FReeper has a tagline that says:

Be polite and be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

This works the best...

[freema]

I taught mine the same. The only one to ever get in trouble was my baby girl. IN KINDERGARTEN no less. I'm such a bad mamma. I tried not to laugh. The little puss that took her pink puppy is now in the JROTC.

But now, she practices on Marines.

; )

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

This is the very best...

http://www.karambit.com/karambit_training.htm

[durasell]

https://www.gavindebecker.com/books-gof.cfm

[starbase]

This is the very best...

Well that definitely looks impressive!

[USMCVet]

Another example of how the Marine Corps develops character.

God bless the United Staes and success to the Corps!

[Hot Tabasco]

Of course, I’ll remember to stab and twist.

...and don't forget to eat his eyes! Or at least one of them just to teach him a lesson.......

I'm keeping an eye out on this gal....

[zook]

bump

[SauronOfMordor]

This works the best

At your age and state of physical conditioning, sure, go for it

For older guys like me, I'll go for a few rounds of .45

My sensei's favorite phrase goes along the lines of "the purpose of martial arts is to allow you to survive the first seconds of a surprise attack, and enable you to create the time and distance to allow you to get to your weapon"