would you do powerful or speedy strikes if in a real fight

[JusticeZero]

In a fight, you don't think "I am going to strike hard" or "I am going to strike fast". You just move, and hope that the skills you have been drilling are effective.

There's a video game I played that seems to make for a good analogy. You program in all the strategies and gear on the spaceships, then you push a button and they get in a fight and you can do NOTHING but watch. Afterward you can describe what you did. In the moment, you just have to hope that you gave your spaceships the right tools.

Every high stress time-crushed situation i've experienced has been like this to some degree. You can explain what you did and why, but every bit of theory is monday morning quarterbacking, and pointless.

In all honesty, the exact location of that voice in your head that ponders these things seems not to be so much the core of your thinking and leader as it is the narrative written by the secretary who takes the minutes. It has characteristics not so much of executive function as of memory encoding; in other words, that internal dialog that you think of as "you" who makes all these theories and discussions is in actuality part of the the process of indexing and filing away the history that describes what you have already done for future reference.

When your head is ringing because you've just been punched in the face is not the time to be calling up the historian to dig through the archives. It's the time to put drills into action and make lots of snap decisions and hope that the historian can make sense of what happened afterward.

[bushido_man96]

Great explanation, Justice.

[Harkon72]

I would try and use appropriate force to defend myself; in Kumite, control; but in a life threaten-er; no mercy. ;

[jaypo]

I would hope it plays out like in The Last Samurai- the confrontation ends with Tom Cruise replaying it over in his mind after it happens.

I'd say that I would hope my techniques wind up being effective- a perfect combination of speed and power. I would use my speed to set up my power. But I would use what I've been taught. My first instinct if I had to attack while prepared would be a leg kick. Not many people on the street are equipped to handle a muay thai type leg kick without it affecting their ability to defend themselves. If I'm a victim of some kind of sucker punch, I'd probably use an evading technique and use my training to close the distance and cause as much damage as fast as I can. When the threat is averted, I'd halt my attack.

Basically, I'd do as much damage as possible in the least amount of time. Speed would be used to set up power. Unless I have the time to think about it. Then I'd get creative!

[sensei8]

Great explanation, Justice.

Ditto!!

[Spartacus Maximus]

The answer to this question is not as clearly defined as the question. In a defense situation, reaction time is more important than how fast you can do a technique. If you are trained to read an imminent attack you only need to be quick enough to meet it or avoid it. Once you have done either of those the only limit is your imagination. Power is also relative to the specific situation.

Personally, my idea of defense is to hit with all the power I can muster and keep hitting until I have an opening to run or until my attacker can no longer threaten me. Whatever happens first.

[Wado Heretic]

The one that hits! Seriously, is it a bad technique if it hits and does the job?

Joking aside; speed and power are relative to one another when it comes to striking potency. Faster is usually more forceful, unless it ruins timing and the arm just ends up going out by itself without the body following.

From a technical point of view; I think the better question would be does one strike from what position they find themselves in, or do they assume a proper position to strike with power from first.

If it is a straight up fight, be it street or ring, than one will find the time to make such decisions. In self-defence, you will have to work with what the situation gives you.

Most of my "fights" have been when I have worked as a doorman so I can't really go punching people despite karate being my chosen art.

From empirical experience when I have thrown a strike my main concern has been to actually do something with it so I'd err on saying I'd opt for powerful. Somewhat like Musashi's comparison of the slash to the cut.

[cheesefrysamurai]

In a fight, you don't think "I am going to strike hard" or "I am going to strike fast". You just move, and hope that the skills you have been drilling are effective.

There's a video game I played that seems to make for a good analogy. You program in all the strategies and gear on the spaceships, then you push a button and they get in a fight and you can do NOTHING but watch. Afterward you can describe what you did. In the moment, you just have to hope that you gave your spaceships the right tools.

Every high stress time-crushed situation i've experienced has been like this to some degree. You can explain what you did and why, but every bit of theory is monday morning quarterbacking, and pointless.

In all honesty, the exact location of that voice in your head that ponders these things seems not to be so much the core of your thinking and leader as it is the narrative written by the secretary who takes the minutes. It has characteristics not so much of executive function as of memory encoding; in other words, that internal dialog that you think of as "you" who makes all these theories and discussions is in actuality part of the the process of indexing and filing away the history that describes what you have already done for future reference.

When your head is ringing because you've just been punched in the face is not the time to be calling up the historian to dig through the archives. It's the time to put drills into action and make lots of snap decisions and hope that the historian can make sense of what happened afterward.

Nailed it! well said.

[Archimoto]

In a fight, you don't think "I am going to strike hard" or "I am going to strike fast". You just move, and hope that the skills you have been drilling are effective.

There's a video game I played that seems to make for a good analogy. You program in all the strategies and gear on the spaceships, then you push a button and they get in a fight and you can do NOTHING but watch. Afterward you can describe what you did. In the moment, you just have to hope that you gave your spaceships the right tools.

Every high stress time-crushed situation i've experienced has been like this to some degree. You can explain what you did and why, but every bit of theory is monday morning quarterbacking, and pointless.

In all honesty, the exact location of that voice in your head that ponders these things seems not to be so much the core of your thinking and leader as it is the narrative written by the secretary who takes the minutes. It has characteristics not so much of executive function as of memory encoding; in other words, that internal dialog that you think of as "you" who makes all these theories and discussions is in actuality part of the the process of indexing and filing away the history that describes what you have already done for future reference.

When your head is ringing because you've just been punched in the face is not the time to be calling up the historian to dig through the archives. It's the time to put drills into action and make lots of snap decisions and hope that the historian can make sense of what happened afterward.

Perfectly put

I recall my grandmaster being asked the same question and he answered the question with a question, he asked the student: "what would you like for lunch exactly one year from now? A lot will depend on your setting, who you're with, and how you're feeling." He closed his response by urging students to train, practice, he reminded everyone that there's more to martial arts than just self defense, to keep an open mind, and if ever face with a physical situation, and if you've practiced all of the above, to trust your instincts!

[ps1]

Clinch to avoid all striking, maybe use a knee strike to soften, throw to ground, create distance between me and attacker (i.e., get away)