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Why We Fight
May. 3rd, 2016 01:36 pmSo, I got to thinking, for various reasons, about combatant intent. I mean, quite simply, taking psycholofy and intentions into account when thinking about fighters in a fight, regardless of what type of combat it is, or what the context is.
It's something I usually talk about when I do”Fight choreography for writers” workshops, and boils down to this: Everybody has different thoughts and intents when they're fighting, and this will have an effect on what they do and how they fight. In terms of writing (putting on my novelist's hat), all your characters are individuals, and whether you're a novelist, comics writer, screenwriter, or whatever, you should keep in mind for action scenes that they'll all fight differently. This applies whether we're talking about gunfights, sword fights, kung fu, X Wings, or anything else: Individuals and groups will all have their own motivations, strategies, preferences.
For example, the assassin trying to quietly kill a target without being noticed is going to fight differently than the chainsaw-wielding maniac. The by-the-book cop trying to subdue the suspect to bring him in for a fair trial is going to fight differently than the soldier trying to break through to an enemy target, or the person just trying to break free and run away unharmed.
It's the same in real life, when we choose what martial arts or sports we do. So now I'm taking off the writer's hat and putting on the martial artist's/fencer's one.
You're probably thinking, but what does this have to do with fencing or martial arts, or whatever combat or sport? Well.... Look around when you go to whichever class or club you go to. Watch what all the different people of different levels of experience and skill do.
Done that? Right. You'll probably have noticed some variations in what people do, especially during solo forms or sparring, rather than in drilling, but you probably didn't wonder why – other than beyond a basic “well, that person does it better than this one.”
Not necessarily.
Why do you do whatever it is you do? Does the person opposite you do it for the same reason? A very similar one, probably, but not likely the exact same. And I think this is something that needs to be remembered: We all fight for different reasons, and these inform our way of fighting. Our styles, if you like.
Think about this: If you're in it to, say, win tournaments, you're going to fight in a way that will do that – power, accuracy, economy of movement, precision... If you're in it to learn what the students of history's great masters learned, then you're going to fight the way the manuals show, or as close to it as possible, with poise. If you're in itto put on a good show for the audience, you're going to be less economical and more flourished. If you're doing it for a workout, to burn off the carbs, you're going to jump around a lot more. If you're trying to get the hang of a new technique or weapon, you're going to experiment with weird moves or stances.
Just because most of these arts and studies have developed into competitive sports doesn't mean everybody is trying to win. If you fight in a competition or tournament then you probably are, but in sparring... Maybe you're just trying to get that move right, or the feel for that new weapon. Unlike in the alleyways and battlefields of history, we're not (at least barring astronomically bad luck from equipment failure) going to actually get killed, so there's – IMO – no shame in not “winning” if it means you're learning and progressing.
A lot of people out there – and this is certainly the case in tradtional Eastern martial arts – are out there not to beat you, but to improve themselves, by beating their own previous best/skill/ability/whatever.
The reason I'm rambling about this today is twofold. 1) Partly because I know I do some of these things – let people poke me with their swords while I try out a new thing, or use a lot more energy to burn off some glucose being the main ones - and 2) Because we all – myself included – judge others who do these things, without knowing why they do it, because we're not telepaths. Admit it, you've all seen somebody do something you don't like at your club or class and thought “they don't get it, they're mad/foolish/saw that on Game Of Thrones.” And we shouldn't do that. We should encourage, chat, and make sure we all enjoy ourselves, whether we view our sparring as study, hobby, or stress relief.
The best thing, I've found – from both sides of the question – is just to chat about “why do it that way?” If there's a reason, no matter what it is, then that's an informed choice, and either the things they do will work or they won't. The things we all do. That way everybody has fun, everybody thinks, and, I think, everybody learns something a little bit too.
And, well, I dunno about you, bu that's why I do this historical, swordy and martial arts stuff...t
It's something I usually talk about when I do”Fight choreography for writers” workshops, and boils down to this: Everybody has different thoughts and intents when they're fighting, and this will have an effect on what they do and how they fight. In terms of writing (putting on my novelist's hat), all your characters are individuals, and whether you're a novelist, comics writer, screenwriter, or whatever, you should keep in mind for action scenes that they'll all fight differently. This applies whether we're talking about gunfights, sword fights, kung fu, X Wings, or anything else: Individuals and groups will all have their own motivations, strategies, preferences.
For example, the assassin trying to quietly kill a target without being noticed is going to fight differently than the chainsaw-wielding maniac. The by-the-book cop trying to subdue the suspect to bring him in for a fair trial is going to fight differently than the soldier trying to break through to an enemy target, or the person just trying to break free and run away unharmed.
It's the same in real life, when we choose what martial arts or sports we do. So now I'm taking off the writer's hat and putting on the martial artist's/fencer's one.
You're probably thinking, but what does this have to do with fencing or martial arts, or whatever combat or sport? Well.... Look around when you go to whichever class or club you go to. Watch what all the different people of different levels of experience and skill do.
Done that? Right. You'll probably have noticed some variations in what people do, especially during solo forms or sparring, rather than in drilling, but you probably didn't wonder why – other than beyond a basic “well, that person does it better than this one.”
Not necessarily.
Why do you do whatever it is you do? Does the person opposite you do it for the same reason? A very similar one, probably, but not likely the exact same. And I think this is something that needs to be remembered: We all fight for different reasons, and these inform our way of fighting. Our styles, if you like.
Think about this: If you're in it to, say, win tournaments, you're going to fight in a way that will do that – power, accuracy, economy of movement, precision... If you're in it to learn what the students of history's great masters learned, then you're going to fight the way the manuals show, or as close to it as possible, with poise. If you're in itto put on a good show for the audience, you're going to be less economical and more flourished. If you're doing it for a workout, to burn off the carbs, you're going to jump around a lot more. If you're trying to get the hang of a new technique or weapon, you're going to experiment with weird moves or stances.
Just because most of these arts and studies have developed into competitive sports doesn't mean everybody is trying to win. If you fight in a competition or tournament then you probably are, but in sparring... Maybe you're just trying to get that move right, or the feel for that new weapon. Unlike in the alleyways and battlefields of history, we're not (at least barring astronomically bad luck from equipment failure) going to actually get killed, so there's – IMO – no shame in not “winning” if it means you're learning and progressing.
A lot of people out there – and this is certainly the case in tradtional Eastern martial arts – are out there not to beat you, but to improve themselves, by beating their own previous best/skill/ability/whatever.
The reason I'm rambling about this today is twofold. 1) Partly because I know I do some of these things – let people poke me with their swords while I try out a new thing, or use a lot more energy to burn off some glucose being the main ones - and 2) Because we all – myself included – judge others who do these things, without knowing why they do it, because we're not telepaths. Admit it, you've all seen somebody do something you don't like at your club or class and thought “they don't get it, they're mad/foolish/saw that on Game Of Thrones.” And we shouldn't do that. We should encourage, chat, and make sure we all enjoy ourselves, whether we view our sparring as study, hobby, or stress relief.
The best thing, I've found – from both sides of the question – is just to chat about “why do it that way?” If there's a reason, no matter what it is, then that's an informed choice, and either the things they do will work or they won't. The things we all do. That way everybody has fun, everybody thinks, and, I think, everybody learns something a little bit too.
And, well, I dunno about you, bu that's why I do this historical, swordy and martial arts stuff...t