The fighter's attitude

[slart]

ok guys, I have a question for you. When you fight, do you follow the japanese philosophy of no-mind or are you from another school of thought where you become a wild animal?

Personally, I spent years in McDojos doing the no-mind thing. In the last few months I have being playing with the dark side and doing the wild animal thing. I get that wild look in my eye and just go for it. In many cases it really spooks my opponents and many times I can get a result (especially with those who are not used to it).

My instructor thinks I should forget the Zen nonsense and get used to working with that kind of intensity. I keep questioning this as I find control of my strikes alot harder to achieve and sometimes my training partner gets hurt. Also, sometimes I get clocked by the guy with a sharp shooting jab who finds the hole in my guard because I wasn't paying attention. Finally, it chews energy big time.

Has any one else been here? What did you decide to do?

[totality]

um...fighting is a thinking game. physical chess. you can't expect to win if you don't know what you're doing. and i'm curious, how do you know what your eyes looked like if you were sparring? ;)

[Yukimushu]

I've been thinkin about exactly the same thing... they say " You shouldn't hate your enemy" but no one ever won a fight by loving the guy he was fighting...

I think the whole thing works in principle, but when fighting with aggression, you have such attributes as adrenaline which is a natural reaction which increases speed, strength & also known to dull pain.


I've had the same experiance though, i was doing stupid point stop sparring with a friend in kickboxing and he was getting pathetic weak kicks on me which counted as a point, which then p***ed me off; i felt something bubbling inside, and my performance and strength increased, i pushed him 6 ft back and he fell over the 1st time, then the 2nd i got a nice jab and cross on him.


From what ive seen, read etc: the only thing with getting aggressive is that you risk loosing control of yourself... but you read alot of stuff which is good on paper and principle... but stupid when its applied to a situation.

I'm no pro tho... so i dont know... im gunna bookmark this post as i'd like to see what some people say! A very good post though.


One of my boxing instructors was saying " ya really gotta hate the guy, hes trying to hurt you! hes trying to knock you out!!! be angry at the pad! ".

[Hannibal]

If you are going to fight, fight from love not hate.

Not love for the guy you are facing but love for your partner, family, friends and what they would feel if you were badly injured or killed. I find that training and fighting with this focus gives you the necessary "survival instinct" without making you into a remorseless killing machine who ends up in court because you couldn't control yourself.

[Syd]

I like the Bruce Lee principle which states that while you should have emtional content while fighting it should not be anger. The major theory to which I adhere is that you should not be thinking about the outcome of the situation but rather be open to the fight organically and allow it to take it's
course however abstract it might be. I believe what he mean't by this is that you will be better able to focus on the moment and all possibilities by this approach rather than being constantly threatened by events which exist outside your expectation.

You want to be C backed Gorilla and thats all...

[Yukimushu]

Originally posted by Syd
I like the Bruce Lee principle which states that while you should have emtional content while fighting it should not be anger. The major theory to which I adhere is that you should not be thinking about the outcome of the situation but rather be open to the fight organically and allow it to take it's
course however abstract it might be. I believe what he mean't by this is that you will be better able to focus on the moment and all possibilities by this approach rather than being constantly threatened by events which exist outside your expectation.

You want to be C backed Gorilla and thats all...

I also am a fan of the principle you've just stated :) im supprised you didnt mention the "rag doll" peice he once wrote :)

Here it is for whomever wish to listen: (well... read...)

" You must be like a rag doll. No fear. No anxiety. No doubt can enter your mind. There is no time to regret once a fight has started. You cannot change you mind or question yourself in the face of action. Do not be concerned with escaping safely! Let him smash your flash, and you fracture his bone. Let him fracture your bone, and you take his life. Lay your life before him. "


I was reading that some Filipinos developed a belief system where they believe that the outcome of the fight has already been decided by some higher being. With this in mind, they go into the fight with the attitude of going all out. And since they believe the outcome has already been decided, they have no hindrances preventing them from giving it all they got.

Interesting... but i do believe we have to utilise our animalistic killer instinct non the less...

But im no pro...

[slart]

Totality writes:

"i'm curious, how do you know what your eyes looked like if you were sparring"

because my training partners tell me afterwards. More than once I have had: "You had that crazed look again before you went for the shoot (or straight blast or what ever ...)""

You know I am starting to think that this wild man stuff is just a tactic to scare off the less experienced guys and give me an opening. To a more experienced guy it is probably viewed as an opportunity to capitalize on the potential mistakes.

[Yukimushu]

It's a pitty no one with any serious compitition experiance has helped us with this matter as im still really interested in what some of the more experiance fighters could contribute...

[Guerilla Fists]

When I was a practitioner of Judo I competed in the Nationals and to get to that level you had to acheive a certain amount of clarity. Judo isn't one of those styles you can be terribly aggressive with. I mean to say an aggressive and wild mentality does not help in the fight. But now that I've moved on to a striking art I feel comfortable going ballistic when fighting. It just flows out from you.

[Trent Tiemeyer]

"ok guys, I have a question for you. When you fight, do you follow the japanese philosophy of no-mind or are you from another school of thought where you become a wild animal?"

Neither. I never subscribed to the "no-mind" philosophy, and wild aggression isn't suitable for all situations. By reading my opponent, I decide which approach is appropriate.

[totality]

and often times for trent, that approach is stealthily allowing his opponent slam him into the mat, to gain better position sometime in the future. :D sorry, couldn't resist. cool picture.

[Trent Tiemeyer]

You son of a...

:woo:

[Omega]

Wow, beside Trent here how many of you guys have actually ever fought? I suscribe to the no mind theory. I'm pretty sure on a small scale you guys do to.

Let me put it to you this way. Do you actually think of everything when you ride a bike? (lean left to turn left, pedal the bike). No, you just think of it and there it is.

Same here, an opportunity presents itself, I don't think about the technique, the technique is just there. If you think too much bamm you get hit. That's why a lot of beginners have deer in headlight syndrome, they're thinking about getting hit rather than allowing there body's to move naturally......

Practice a move over and over until it becomes natural, and no don't practice with only partners willing to cooperate. That will allow you to get into the "no mind" set.

[totality]

i've been in plenty of fights. although i've yet to participate in a sanctioned event.(a bit difficult to find events as a 15 year old in cheyenne, wyoming) that should be rectified april 17 at kick down 10, however. :D