Winning Mindset

[ShoriKid]

Champions don't subscribe to a losing mindset for a reason.

True - its very counter-productive.

I think along with the "no one wins a fight" mindset, we see too much of worrying about not hurting someone too much. When you worry about not hurting someone too much, you can second guess your actions, and it can cost you time and position. I've had this happen to me not long ago, and I won't let it happen that way again. When it comes down to it, your safety is what is paramount.

Bushido_man,

You're really hitting on something here too. I hear things from some other martial artists and read from instructors about dealing with an attack without hurting the attacker. We should be concerned with our own safety first. The only way we should become concerned, in my opinion, with the well being of the aggressor involves a use of force ladder/continuum. Was the force used justified given the violence of the attack? That's it.

Concern with not hurting an attacker makes dealing with them orders of magnitude more difficult. I've dealt with drunken friends and family members before when they became violent. It's really, really hard to do much without inflicting some kind of harm.

[sensei8]

Effective techniques dealt to an attacker will hurt and are suppose to hurt, and I want it to hurt. However, even ineffective techniques are bound to hurt depending on the deferring parameters.

We're taught to use our MA only when it's appropriate; being attacked is quite appropriate and I've no qualms about unleashing as much retributive wrath on my attacker as possible and as quickly as I can.

What I do to my attacker is retributive justice, and in that, whatever I do do to my attacker should only be considered by myself as proportionate punishment. Will my punishment for my attacker match the "crime"? It doesn't have to, and if it doesn't by some stretch of ones imagination, well, I don't care; that's up to the courts to decide, should the courts become involved for whatever reason(s).

Is that violent of me?

[ShoriKid]

Violent sensei8? Certainly. And wholly and utterly okay with me. Heck, I condone and approve of the opinion myself! I've always believed that the aggressor has taken the option to go to violence. I might initiate action, but they made the choice. Once they've made that choice, I'll oblige in every way possible.

[JusticeZero]

I prefer to disentangle the level of damage from the goal when possible. "I wasn't thinking about whether or not that kick might kill him, I was thinking that that kick would work really well to make some space so that we could get out the door and into a crowd."

[yamesu]

...."I wasn't thinking about whether or not that kick might kill him, I was thinking that that kick would work really well to make some space so that we could get out the door and into a crowd."

I'm going to remember this one

[barrypardue]

Never give up and do your best and you will never lose!