Monday, March 06, 2006

Training for Sport vs Training for Combat

From Tony Blauer's Spear Tips Newsletter (free email subscription). His site is at http://www.tonyblauer.com/.

In my training I am always preparing for the 3%’r. That sociopath who’s intent is to kill or maim you, someone who might not be feeling any pain due to adrenaline or the effects of drugs. When training my students for this most dangerous of individuals I needed a reframe. I needed words that would convey the correct mindset in my training. Two phrases emerged. Subdual Fighting, and Survival Fighting.

To subdue is defined as “to conquer and bring into subjection, to bring under control especially by an exertion of the will.” It is something we do to our opponent. As a police officer, when I encountered resistance, I had to subdue more suspects than I had submit.

Consider this deeply, if the person you are fighting has no intention of submitting, you must subdue him. It will take an imposition of your will over that of your opponent to win. How does this change the way you look at your “favorite” tactic? How does it affect the way you train? How does it affect the way you teach?


I recommend you read the rest.

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