Whats More important In Fighting...

[Cryozombie]

Having great physical skills... or Great Strategy?

In order to live thru a confrontation, is it most importat to be a great fighter, or a great tactition?

Can a less skilled fighter beat a trained fighter most of the time if his knowlage stratgey is sound, and he can adapt it to the situation at hand, or will a better trained fighter prevail more often thru sheer physical skill?

 

[Tgace]

winning

 

[Cryozombie]

That doesnt answer my question.

 

[Tgace]

Well, my comment would be that a "confrontation" and "fighting" do not always go hand in hand. I suppose an interesting discussion would be about when a confrontation begins and ends. And what "winning" entails.

 

[Cryozombie]

Well, my comment would be that a "confrontation" and "fighting" do not always go hand in hand. I suppose an interesting discussion would be about when a confrontation begins and ends. And what "winning" entails.

true, but those are different concepts than what I am curious about.

See, Sun Tzu, Musashi, etc... they place a lot of emphasis on strategic victory, and it got me wondering... would the "Thinker" beat the "Bruiser"

 

[Tgace]

If the "thinker" thought about ambush, instead of a mano y mano fight, yep.

I think it depends on the circumstances and on the arena. In a ring, perhaps size and conditioning will win. Even in say the US military where weaponry, technology etc. give us the edge, physical condition is still very important in terms of movement, load bearing, endurance in battle etc. but its just part of the puzzle. A combat "professional" needs to be a generalist more than a specialist IMO. Size you cant control, all else you can, just dont make the mistake of making yourself feel good by only sticking to what you are good or comfortable at.

 

[Tgace]

Also, we as humans didnt gain our dominance over other species due to our size, speed, strength etc.

Just something to think about.

 

[Martial Tucker]

Having great physical skills... or Great Strategy?

In order to live thru a confrontation, is it most importat to be a great fighter, or a great tactition?

Can a less skilled fighter beat a trained fighter most of the time if his knowlage stratgey is sound, and he can adapt it to the situation at hand, or will a better trained fighter prevail more often thru sheer physical skill?

Not to sound flippant, but in my mind, if you are not a fairly good tactition, by definition you are not a great fighter. Unless the size/skill levels are quite different, I would put my money on someone who has average to decent technical skills, but a great mind for strategy against someone who was technically better, but had no clue as to strategy. There are many documented examples in the boxing world of "upsets" that resulted from the underdog "fighting a better fight", which basically means, "fought smarter".

Can you say "Rope-a-Dope"?

 

[BlackCatBonz]

If the "thinker" thought about ambush, instead of a mano y mano fight, yep.

I think it depends on the circumstances and on the arena. In a ring, perhaps size and conditioning will win. Even in say the US military where weaponry, technology etc. give us the edge, physical condition is still very important in terms of movement, load bearing, endurance in battle etc. but its just part of the puzzle. A combat "professional" needs to be a generalist more than a specialist IMO. Size you cant control, all else you can, just dont make the mistake of making yourself feel good by only sticking to what you are good or comfortable at.

that last phrase is very true.

my only exposure to physical threats took place when i was a doorman in a nightclub.
i had confrontations every night that i worked but i dont know how many of them i would call fights. if you could define the word fight as a physical or verbal struggle between 2 or more people, i would say about 80% of my confrontations were a fight......but that is why a bar has bouncers.
ive only been in 3 confrontations that i felt i was in over my head and the confrontation took too long to get under control, that is when physical conditioning was more of a factor over strategy.
i approached every situation i had as if i was in real danger and had to be on my toes, this is not to say that i was overthinking, but sizing the situation up from a strategical point of view.
ive never been in a fight on the street when someone attacked me, who knows, i'd probably get my clock cleaned....or not.

 

[Andrew Green]

Both + guts

Can't win without any one of them.

 

[Sapper6]

i would consider being versed in fight strategy a skill.

great fighter or tactician? kinda one in the same to me.

fight strategy will prevail everytime over brute physical strength, i don't care who you are. i've never bought into the whole, "but he's a big 'ole dude" thing.

 

[arnisador]

One-on-one, physical skills will out. The thinking part comes in in the preparation before the conflict.

 

[Don Roley]

Spirit. Or as someone else put it, guts. But it is not quite guts. And it is definately not the swaggering attitude you see a lot of people use. It is more along the lines of an acceptance of what may happen and a desire to come out of it despite that. Or maybe just do the job and die in the process. I would rather face a deranged killer with a knife in his hands than a mother who thinks I am a threat to her child.

 

[Bigshadow]

Spirit. Or as someone else put it, guts. But it is not quite guts. And it is definately not the swaggering attitude you see a lot of people use. It is more along the lines of an acceptance of what may happen and a desire to come out of it despite that. Or maybe just do the job and die in the process. I would rather face a deranged killer with a knife in his hands than a mother who thinks I am a threat to her child.

I have also heard it termed WILL. Who has the most will to impose their will on the other. I think that is why military forces try to keep their moral high. It affects the will of the soldier. I think it is the same thing that keeps people alive when others give up hope and die.

 

[Grey Eyed Bandit]

"Tough seldom wins over sneaky and nasty."