Self defense 90% of the time

[Reklats]

Yesterday we sparred pretty hard- starting on our feet, grappling and striking allowed. We wore gloves and headgear, so the injury:fun ratio was low, everyone had a good time and learned a lot.

 

Anyway, the point: I blocked a kick and jammed the middle finger of my left hand pretty badly. It didn't phase me too badly at the time, but today it hurts a lot to bend, and I really wouldn't want to make a fist with that hand. A lot of people do martial arts for self defense, but how often does that training leave you more vulnerable than if you did nothing? My injury was incredibly minor, but think how many times you've seen people limp out on a sprained ankle or wrist, or with broken fingers or toes.

 

I figure I'm only A-game healthy like I'd ideally want to go into a fight about 90% of the time. Do any of you feel the same way?

[Jiyn]

hmm i dont like starting fights like in the street or in school but if you mean about fights in karate or whateva martial arts you go to then yes i want to go into them about 90% of the time aswell.

[Dijita]

Same with Jiyn. I wouldn't want to fight on the street. But I enjoy fighting at martial arts. Sparring is fun, and it's hard work, but you learn a lot. I also like tournements, even though I'm usually very very sore for the next few days. The injuries will happen, but hopefully you learn how to minimize them to just minor bruises and such.

[Fat Donkey]

Don't even sweat it man, from experience I can tell u that as soon as the action starts the adrenaline will pump so fast that u don't feel a thing. Afterwards is when u feel like a Mac truck ran over u. The pain u experience in practise is one of the biggest advanntages to taking MA's. U develop a tolerance for it and it doesn't cause u too freeze up when u get hit. U work through the pain and keep fighting. I've seen big guys freeze up after getting a full slap in the face because they can't process the pain and consequentl lose because the other guy has time to inflict punishment. I think thats why Muy Thai fighters are so succesful in contests and street fights. Not because their techniques are so superior to other styles, but because they can accept the punishment and keep going.

[Northren Ogre]

I agree with Fat Donkey(although those words together seem wrong in a bad way), that you really don't seem to feel much in the heat of battle. Afterwards you will feel every torn muscle, every srcatch,bruise, you name it it's gonna be sore. Adrenaline is a great thing.

[shotochem]

"Pain is Joy"

 

I can feel your Joy .

 

Im pretty much the same way. unless Im really hurting I give it a go and feel it the next morning.

[SevenStar]

Most of you guys aren't getting what' he's saying. He's saying, people start training for self defense, but If you train in a hardcore style, you will sustain some injuries. people who only do forms and light contact fighting won't understand, but thai boxers, grapplers, kyokushin guys, etc. know the feeling very well, as do several okinawan stylists. When you get hurt, you are more vulnerable on the street. So, if you get attacked, then what? you are training to fight, but you can't fight as well if you are limping, have a hurting hand, etc.

[aefibird]

Aye, it's a bit of a bad one that - most of us train for self defence and to prevent getting injured but actually often end up becoming injured by the thing we're doing to try and stop injuries.

 

I think that we just all have to accept that injuries come as part of the territory with Martial Arts and that a few injuries sustained in the dojo/dojang/gym/ring/whatever, are a bit of a small price to pay to be able to have a better chance of holding your own out on the streets.

[White Warlock]

Well, when i took down that guy i mentioned in that other thread, i had just 6 hours earlier pulled out my back. In addition, i was getting physical therapy for my shoulders and am up for knee surgery.

 

Point being, i practice and beat myself into physical disability, but am not easily beat. Essentially, despite my injuries, i could walk circles around the majority of Joes in the street. Had i not practiced and subjected myself to the potential for injury, what's to say i wouldn't have gotten injured in other ways... and be in an even more 'susceptible' state?

 

Actually... nothing. The truth is, most of my injuries were initially due to auto/motorcycle accidents, and not the martial arts. My lower back went out that night because i carried some huge, freaky odd-shaped pieces of furniture up two flights of concrete stairs, knowing full-well my osteopath had just performed manipulations to it earlier in the day and told me to lay off it. My shoulders were exacerbated due to not stretching before having to help hoist about a hundred boxes, each weighing 50lb+. The knee was initially damaged in my first skiing experience, then later exacerbated when a kid got overzealous during a wrestling training session, and dislocated it.

 

The real question is... do you want to play it safe, but not gain skills necessary to protect your life, or are you willing to accept some injuries, knowing you're not only increasing your overall ability to defend yourself from far more life-threatening injuries, but also making yourself more complete? After all, the goal in a conflict is to stay alive, not to stay uninjured.

 

Last, even with all my injuries that day, i felt nothing, nor was it likely that any of the injuries i held onto would have prevented me from performing near to 100%. And... my 100%, without attempting to sound too egotistical, is far more than Average Joe's 100%.

[nyiaca]

I jammed my pinky finger once during a block and it hurt like crazy.

 

What I learned was that I can't be sloppy doing a block or a punch. In a street fight, if one actually did the half-assed blocks and punches that one does in sparring, you'd wind up hurting yourself. It's like the movies when someone cries that their hand hurts after they punch someone--that's true in real life unless you make a proper fist.

 

So, I wouldn't say you're better off not practicing self-defense, your learning that you should use proper technique to be effective, which after hurting yourself, you'll probably concentrate on. When sparring though, it's easy to forget, for me at least, but I do try to remember.

 

Although, I am assuming you jammed your finger because of improper technique, maybe that's not he case.