[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
The art of fighting w/o fighting.
Now normally I would be a smartass and say only that. But…really…truly… learn to put yourself in situations where you won’t have to fight.
The people that I know that can whoop the most ass, rarely have to use it outside of their job… ie, professional fighter, police officer, Army Ranger, bail enforcement, etc.
I know you believe you’re not looking for shit to happen but, it could be a subconcious desire (why you found it important to tell us you put someone in the hospital for example) or simply not choosing the right atmosphere to be in.
If you’re going the kind of place that someone wants to swing a barstool at your head you need to find a classier joint.
point-blank. period.
Fighting outside of a sanctioned event or it being your job (police officer) is not cool. There’s nothing noble about it. It does NOT make you a badass. As a matter of fact it makes you a DUMBASS who can’t resolve conflict with the most lethal weapon he has.
It also means you can’t decipher and de-escalate situations. Which is pretty easy once you get used to it.
Even further it probably means that you have far too much ego involved in your life decisions and I guarantee that means more people are making decions for you (indirectly) than you think.
Take control of your life.
Avoid the fight.
Basically I am interested in learning how to fight,
Thats cool.
so I can end fights quicker if they arise,
This better be one drastic ass situation.
enter them with more confidence, and generally keep myself from getting too hurt.
Avoiding them all together solves this easily.
Ok now that I sounded like a after school PSA or the black dude from Never Back Down.
There are so many MMA schools around that its getting silly. If you just want to defend yourself any of them will suffice.
Give us your location and we can probably reccomend a few.
Normally I would say a good progression is Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling (preferably at the same time if you could start in high school and try out for your team in say 9th grade or so), and then jiujitsu.
Muay Thai Plumb will help you gain the kinesthtic(sp?) sensitivity that can carry you in wrestling and jiujitsu. It’s that “touch” that is the important thing, that will carry you through each sport.
Sidebar
Imo GOOD thaiboxing schools have had a pretty decent emphasis on boxing (not just dutch style MT schools either)… I’ve seen a lot of thai guys with GREAT hands… so maybe a specific boxing coach may not be needed but I’d find one anyway far to many nuances to miss.
end sidebar
Now if you can do me a favor, tell me a reason you want to learn how to fight other than to beat someone’s ass. Because no offense intended but you really sound like the kind of person that most guys who CAN fight make fun of.
But thats ok because a lot of us WERE that guy. I’m just trying to give you a fast forward lesson on what you should be pursuing the martial arts (hell even taekwondo and shit) for. [/quote]
Alright, fair enough. I wrote this kind of late so a lot of this didn’t come across the way I wanted it to. Certainly I could have avoid some, or even a lot of the fights I’ve been in. However, I have avoided a lot, I have been flat out attacked or had friends of mine in close proximity flat out attacked several times. As far as avoiding places or situations, I’m reasonable. I sure as hell don’t roll up to a dive bar in East Oakland on a Friday night looking like a white douche bag frat boy, but at the same time I’m not going to avoid going to chill with friends at the local pub because some guy might be drunk and decide that he has a problem. Truth of the matter is, the last serious fight I was in I got jumped right on my own goddamn patio and got my head stomped into the cement. That is not a night that I look forward to repeating.
Think what you may, but I really hate to fight. The only “fighting” that I’ve ever taken pleasure in has been wrestling or boxing matches with friends. Honestly any street fight, bar fight, fight on the playground growing up, whatever you want to call them, I’ve been absolutely terrified. For instance, the bar stool thing I brought up. That guy came within inches of smashing a bar stool on my head I was scared to death, and ended hurting him pretty bad. The fear didn’t stop with the end of the fight though because I was detained by bouncers and the police and paramedics showed up. I figured I was going to jail for sure. This whole thing was started by this guy’s girlfriend, I didn’t even know he existed until I was dodging the bar stool.
The brings me to the first reason for wanting to learn how to fight that is not beating ass. Getting away from fear. Knowing how to fight would probably actually keep me out of fights. Knowing that I would most likely win if things were to come to blows would allow me to defuse situations more calmly. There would be no reason to throw the first shot to get the upper hand or start to get involved in an escalating shouting match. Another reason for wanting to study a martial art is that I have always admire the discipline and conditioning of martial artists.
I hope this helps, I didn’t mean to come off as a jackass.
