SELF DEFENSE FACT: FIGHTING IS HARD. HURTING PEOPLE IS EASY.

Going toe-to-toe, blow-for-blow with someone who is bigger, faster and stronger is an incredibly iffy proposition. Unless you have the conditioning to go the distance (to outlast the struggle and have the ability to “take a punch” or twenty), the physical strength to overpower him, and enough fighting skill to bob, weave, block, counter and grapple with him, it’s just a self defense fact that you’re going to lose.

If fighting is hard, being any good at it is even harder.

Being a good fighter requires a huge amount of dedication, time and effort to build your athleticism and skill. You need to “weaponize” yourself by getting on the bigger, faster, stronger curve and pushing it as hard and far as you can. You need to get in the ring, get knocked out and choked out in order to practice and perfect the craft.

By comparison, simply hurting someone is easy.

How easy? Easy enough that one of our Master Instructors has a 6’4″+, north-of-300-pound relative who doesn’t have a spleen anymore because his five-year-old nephew ruptured it during a roughhousing session.

The right amount of force to the right body part at the right time and you end up with a grown man who very nearly didn’t make it to the hospital in time.

If you’re going to fight someone, know what you’re getting into (another self defense fact). Hopefully you’ve prepared yourself accordingly and have the superior athletic ability and skill. But if your life depends on the outcome, why even roll those dice? It’s much easier to simply hurt people.

And that’s why it’s so important to ask yourself before entering into any altercation: Do I want to fight that guy? Or simply hurt him?