Can YOU Be Beaten?

This is why I only fight senior citizens.

I fight kids, then I can show off my kicks to the head!

When I get into altercations it's as the person who has to stop them, I can't go into them with the thought I might 'lose', I have to win if that's the right word, at any rate I have to prevail over the people who are breaking the law. I can do that by various means, not necessarily through violence and I'm not alone which is a bonus obviously!

Fighting competitively is fun and I think a great many fighters, certainly a lot of the ones I know aren't out to prove in the first instance that they are the best fighter on the day though that is very satisfying, the main thing is to prove to yourself you can do it. I think it's a useful thing to do to have at least one full contact fight in the ring/cage whatever to prove to yourself that you can keep your head, act calmly while the adrenaline is flowing and can think what you are doing while fighting. Not quite the same as being attacked but close enough for you to reassure yourself you can have a damn good go at defending yourself. If you win it's cool but if you don't you'll still be pleased with yourself so as they say it's a win/win situation. Whats amazing perhaps is the bond you form with the person you've fought, you end up grinning at each other and going off for a pint!
 
Can *I* be beaten?

Hell yes, happens all the time. :)

I'm taking this to mean "beaten" as in, "generally considered to have lost an encounter". In that case, yes. I've been beaten in point sparring, kata and technique competitions, and even short story contests.

If you mean "beaten" as in "thumped upon", yep, had that happen too...my instructors can be pretty good at that, although never in a mean or non-instructive way.....

If you mean "beaten" as in "thoroughly defeated", then *that* hasn't happened yet. I'm still standing, for now....the only thing that will ever TOTALLY defeat me/beat me is Death himself....and I've come out ahead a couple of rounds now. In the end, though, I think the sneaky bugger is gonna get me. In fact, I'd place odds on it.....but I'm preparing for it to be a pretty long matchup.... :)

Eh...back to training.

Peace--

--Tonbo
 
Tough guys huh?

Nah just well trained one was an inside student of Tung Ying Chieh, one was a student of Ip Man and the other I have no idea who he learned from but his Hapkido and cane skills impressed the hell out of me and he's the youngest at about 65 and I am not messing with any of them :anic: I want to live to be a senior citizen :D
 
Can I beaten?

Sure.

Will I beaten?

Don't know, don't care.

But know this... If it's for real -- it'll cost you to beat me. And you'd be wise to have a plan to kill me. Because if it's real -- that's what it'll take to beat me.
 
Is it prudent to admit there will always be an opponent capable of beating you?

Yes

Or does such an admission lessen your chances of defeating that opponent should you ever encounter him?

No

Thank you for reading :)
Always,
Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Jenna

DAMN!!!

I just thought of this and I wish I had posted it first as my answer

"I Don't waste my time with it. When it comes, I won't even notice. I'll be too busy looking gooood."

:D

whach you know about this Haaahn cat?

Maan!...you come right out of a comic book.

I know at least 2 Chinese and one American senior citizen you might want to avoid :D

I'll add another American and raise you one Japanese.


To the OP.....

This is why we train in the mindset of your opponent WILL be bigger, stronger, faster and have better technique than you do, so, your skills have to be the very best they can be at ANY given moment and the only way to get that is to train, train and when you are tired of training...train some more.

Michael
 
Nah just well trained one was an inside student of Tung Ying Chieh, one was a student of Ip Man and the other I have no idea who he learned from but his Hapkido and cane skills impressed the hell out of me and he's the youngest at about 65 and I am not messing with any of them :anic: I want to live to be a senior citizen :D

This is why I walk around with a grenade.
 
I tend to think though that if being attacked one should really try to win. The consequences of my not winning concern me quite a bit.
You are most correct, and it all boils down to the way we train. What is put into our training, will come out in the heat of battle. I don't dwell on win or lose, but in self defense, stopping the threat by any means, is determined in training. It is kind of like, at the shooting range, all shots are in a kill zone. With this type of practice, I don't concern myself while I carry, because if we train properly, the job will get done while we are there watching. Hands on, same thing. :)
 
In my case its realistic, there are lots of guys who can take me. Than again, I know some things that work very well, one never knows...when facing an opponent it is good to have confidence, but not false confidence.
 
I can't be beaten. I could beat an armed Brock Lesnar with my hands tied behind my back and blindfolded.
 
I fight kids, then I can show off my kicks to the head!

When I get into altercations it's as the person who has to stop them, I can't go into them with the thought I might 'lose', I have to win if that's the right word, at any rate I have to prevail over the people who are breaking the law. I can do that by various means, not necessarily through violence and I'm not alone which is a bonus obviously!

I understand what you're saying, and I would never advocate going into an encounter witht the thought that you might lose, that's just liable to become a self fulfilling prophecy. I do think , however, that we all have to acknowledge that we can be beaten, it keeps us from getting careless and sloppy, and keeps us fighting hard.
 
I understand what you're saying, and I would never advocate going into an encounter witht the thought that you might lose, that's just liable to become a self fulfilling prophecy. I do think , however, that we all have to acknowledge that we can be beaten, it keeps us from getting careless and sloppy, and keeps us fighting hard.


Absolutely but the thing is the police shouldn't be beaten if you see what I mean? For the police to lose it means the bad guys win and that's untenable. However as I said too we aren't hopefully on our own in these situations.
 
Can I be beaten?

To within an inch of my life....but that usually costs extra....

:D

Peace,
Erik
 
I am very grateful for all your posts, even you naughty people mucking about in my classroom discussion! Yes I see you down the back there haha!!

Well yes I too had thought it prudent to admit; I too accept that it is statistically highly likely that there was an opponent harder and faster etc than I. In other words, yes, there is almost certainly someone out there who can take me..

Yet..

There are two things that bother me bout this:

1. If I have admitted that I can be beaten [no matter how probable] then have I not weakened my own psychological position from the get-go?

2. The other issue that bothers me quite a lot is what then am I supposed to do when I meet this opponent who has me matched and bettered blow-for-blow? What am I supposed to do then, having realised that THIS is the opponent we considered; that THIS is the opponent who is my defeater; that THIS is my Waterloo? Then what?

I would not for a moment suggest it wise to program ourselves into thinking that there is nobody who can beat us. What I am concerned about is what do we do when we meet this opponent that we KNOW; that we have ADMITTED to ourselves, we cannot possibly defeat?

Thank you all again,
Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Janna
 
1. If I have admitted that I can be beaten [no matter how probable] then have I not weakened my own psychological position from the get-go?

I don't think so,I think that it keeps you from getting careless and sloppy, and makes you fighting harder to avoid it.


The other issue that bothers me quite a lot is what then am I supposed to do when I meet this opponent who has me matched and bettered blow-for-blow? What am I supposed to do then, having realised that THIS is the opponent we considered; that THIS is the opponent who is my defeater; that THIS is my Waterloo? Then what?

You fight harder and make him pay dearly for the priveledge of beating you. You make it a pyhrric victory, make it so costly for him to win that he might as well have lost. You fight until you can't fight anymore and you make sure that anyone who sees him knows he's been in a fight. Like the saying goes, "When two tigers fight one is crippled and one is dead" . If you survive the encounter you make damn sure he'll think twice before he wants to try it again, and you learn from it and realize that just because you were beaten this time, if there is a next time, the outcome doesn't have to be the same.
 
Jenna, there's always a chance that you won't defeat an opponent, if it's in a competiton you just grin and as I said go and have a drink with them, get some tips as to why you didn't win.
If however you are being attacked and you feel you aren't going to win it's that desparate then you vow to make them pay dearly for their 'win', I will go down fighting using every dirty trick and move I can, getting every piece of evidence I can if I am not able to convict them myself. My life is bought at a very dear price. I also know as I probably shouldn't say this but if I'm attacked there will be people coming after them that they won't beat.
 
I am very grateful for all your posts, even you naughty people mucking about in my classroom discussion! Yes I see you down the back there haha!!

Well yes I too had thought it prudent to admit; I too accept that it is statistically highly likely that there was an opponent harder and faster etc than I. In other words, yes, there is almost certainly someone out there who can take me..

Yet..

There are two things that bother me bout this:

1. If I have admitted that I can be beaten [no matter how probable] then have I not weakened my own psychological position from the get-go?

2. The other issue that bothers me quite a lot is what then am I supposed to do when I meet this opponent who has me matched and bettered blow-for-blow? What am I supposed to do then, having realised that THIS is the opponent we considered; that THIS is the opponent who is my defeater; that THIS is my Waterloo? Then what?

I would not for a moment suggest it wise to program ourselves into thinking that there is nobody who can beat us. What I am concerned about is what do we do when we meet this opponent that we KNOW; that we have ADMITTED to ourselves, we cannot possibly defeat?

Thank you all again,
Yr most obdt hmble srvt,
Janna

Just because your realize the possibility exists doesn't mean you accept that you WILL be beaten, just that you CAN be beaten. Just because it's possible doesn't necessarily mean it's probable at any given instant. Different variables will affect the outcome of any contest.

For instance, you most likely don't care as much about winning a sparring match as you do about living. Therefore, in a given circumstance where your life is at risk your will to live, willingness to do "less than human" things to your attacker, will-power, etc. will impact the outcome.

Successful defense boils down to a lot more than just the basics like skill, physical strength, or training. The bottom line is you have to be willing to be more nasty and dirty than the guy trying to kill you.

I'm not sure if my rambling makes sense to anyone but me, but what I'm trying to say is accepting the reality that you can be beaten doesn't mean that you're a defeatest. It doesn't mean you will be beaten either.

It's humble, practical, rational, and logical to accept the reality of the possibility because if you didn't you'd get too comfortable and not train nearly as hard and then you WOULD most likely be defeated from becoming slack.
 
Sure I can be beaten. Part of the reason I managed to stay out of any fights (apart from luck) is that I actively try to avoid them because I -know- I am not Bas Rutten. I could probably beat some, and be beaten by many more.

I also don't have the desire to -win- a fight if I should get into one. My desire is to get out, get home and survive. Fighting is not about winning but about not losing (in my humble opinion). Every fight I don't fight is one that I didn't lose.

The knowledge that there are better fighters than me out there also insures that I do not get into a fight cocky and overconfident, if I should ever get into one.
 

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