So, who would win in a fight, you or ….?

A fellow instructor of mine started receiving calls from a prospective student not too long ago. The caller would ask lots of technical and “If I did this… what would you do?” type questions. Said instructor answered these queries as best he could for a while, but at the end always admonished the caller to come out and try for themselves. This exchange built up over a couple of weeks to this question: “So, could you beat up Chuck Liddell?” My friend, fed up with this and without a moments pause, said simply “Hell No!” The response was, “Then why should I waste my time studying with you?”

Why indeed?

I suspect that all of the instructors here at PATHS (and most martial arts instructors and students throughout history) have heard some variation on this age old question. If you like, you may insert Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Mas Oyama or any other martial arts luminary, past or present into Mr. Liddell’s position. I’m sure he would not mind. To respond in the affirmative would indicate an colossal ego (how could you possibly know?) and a negative response may make you seem less than confident in your abilities as a fighter. The problem here, of course, is not the answer- it’s the question. Much of the time it is simply untestable (insert Bruce Lee as X) and in any event the premise is faulty. The unstated premise of the question is a classic false dichotomy. The only possibly relevant questions on the subject would run something like this: Did you fight X? If so, under what conditions? Under those conditions, did you prevail?

I know for a fact that the instructor in question is a very capable fighter and teacher. He has profound skill in western boxing and several good martial arts systems. He is tough as nails and very large. I have been on the business end of his skills many times and have nothing but respect for him. So why did he say “No!” so quickly and emphatically? The reasons are many, so allow me to infer a few of them, based on my own experience with such questions. Chuck Liddell is a monster (in a good way-no offense, Chuck!) . He is young(er), in phenomenal condition, and he trains many hours every day to be the best professional ring fighter he can be. To throw this instructor (or myself- my answer is also No!) into a ring with him would be, in all likelihood, a violent farce. We don’t emphasize the same tactics in our training, we don’t specialize in ring craft, and we are not full time fighters. Oh, we train a lot, but not as much as someone who fights for a living. It would be an insult to people like Mr. Liddell to say we could step into his arena and present any real threat to him. Pro fighters like him dedicate their lives and sacrifice their bodies to be the best at what they do.

People like myself and the instructor in question train differently and for different reasons. We train to enhance and protect our health. We train to preserve the systems we have learned. And yes, we train to fight. But not against equally matched professionals in a ring environment; we train to fight against whomever might seek to do us (or others) harm in an uncontrolled violent situation. We train not to win, but to survive. There are no rules in our systems against thumbs in the eye, attacking the weakest points, using the environment to our advantage, or grabbing a chair, knife, or even gun to improve our odds. Does our training guarantee that we would win in uncontrolled fights? No. But it does increase our chances. And in the end that’s all you can expect of any system.

Even the weakest and most pacific among us may find ourselves in situations where we MUST fight to survive and/or insure the survival of our loved ones. In such a case I (or most other people) would fight 10 Chuck Liddells if necessary, using every tactic and weapon at my disposal, and every dirty trick to attempt to achieve the goal- survival. Of course, against 10 Chuck Liddells, the odds of my winning would be long to astronomical proportions. But who cares? In such a situation, one has no choice but to fight. And since we are not aspiring professional fighters, that’s the kind of fight we train to win (i.e. survive), and that is more or less what the systems we teach are oriented towards.

Luckily for the rest of us, folks like Mr. Liddell are not very likely to attack us in a dark alley unprovoked. The instructor in this story and myself are confident that we are doing everything reasonably possible to prepare ourselves for anyone who would do such a thing. And if such a situation never arises, we are still not wasting our time. We are maintaining our health and our sanity to enjoy as much time as possible with those friends and loved ones we would die to protect if such an unfortunate situation did arise. And that is why the vast majority of martial artists in our world today train. IMHO, that’s a good enough reason.

You may wonder how my friend answered the caller’s question, “Then why should I train with you?”. Already frustrated with this guy he said, “You shouldn’t!”, and hung up the phone.

Your thoughts?