Flinching at moths
One of the most ridiculous automatic reactions I’ve seen people do is to freak out when a moths goes near their face. Moths are literally one of the least threatening creatures on the planet to humans. They can’t sting you, they can’t bite you, they don’t have any poison, and probably one of the only ways that they could physically harm you is if you eat too many of them and find out you are allergic to consuming large numbers of moths.
But while a moth cannot physically harm you, I’ve seen people flinch at the sight of them, run away, and potentially put themselves in harms way trying to escape the thought of a totally harmless creature touching them.
I admit that I would also rather not have a moth flying in my face, and I don’t really want to deal with cleaning up a smashed moth. But as much as possible I try not to take any sort of extreme reaction to a moth “bothering me.”
Ineffective attacks
When I practiced traditional karate one point of frustration I had was the fact that fast but largely ineffective attacks were praised and rewarded. If you are in a tournament and someone is able to throw a fast, controlled punch, roughly directed somewhere at your torso and then get out of harms way then a point is awarded. When I did traditional karate I sometimes thought to myself that if they followed through on that technique, would I really be injured?
I stopped training in traditional karate in 2011 and started focusing on full contact styles. After becoming more conditioned and meeting people who practice traditional karate, I’ve asked them to try hitting me with a reverse punch (one of the stronger punches in traditional karate). Not only were they largely unable to locate any vital points to strike (even when I stood stationary), but their punches were not actually that strong and some of them even hurt their wrists due to inexperience with striking something that does not yield.
I’m not saying traditional karate is bad by the way. When directed properly traditional karate is fantastic at striking vital points around the face and throat. One of these strikes is usually enough to end a fight, but if that first strike doesn’t put down an opponent they might find that they’ve stepped into a range that their opponent is very comfortable in and they need to get out ASAP.
Part of becoming a good martial artist is learning about when to react to a threat and when to react to something that isn’t a threat. (Get out of the way of face strikes. Know that body strikes are not always effective).
Lies and truth
The concept of 虚々実々 (kyo kyo jitsu jitsu), which literally translates as lie lie, truth truth is something that was introduced to me by a kendō expert. In kendō a lot of small movements are made to trick your opponent into thinking an attack is coming when actually it isn’t. The point is to try to psych your opponent out into flinching, or defending against an attack that isn’t coming, and then using that moment of weakness to follow up with true attacks.
This isn’t a concept that is unique to kenjutsu. It is something I practice in karate as well. Sometimes I will deliberately twitch my shoulder to make my opponent think that I’m going to throw a punch, and if they move their guard to defend against my fake punch, then I’ll hit them with something else. I also sometimes throw deliberately weak attacks as distractions before following up with a heavy punch or kick.
Last week I was doing a lot of high punches to my opponents shoulders to force their guard up before hitting them with a body uppercut. The attacks that had no intention to take down my opponent were lies I wanted them to flinch at, and the truth came in the form of the body uppercut that found its mark thanks to my opponent being distracted by the lies.
Don’t give them what they want
Your opponent wants you to flinch. Flinching makes you vulnerable. It’s exactly what your opponent wants. They can throw something at you to create a moment of weakness and then finish you off with the real attack.
I do a lot of body conditioning and I know for a fact I can take a punch. In a real fight you want to be hit as little as possible (and you definitely want to guard your head), but sometimes knowing when to absorb a feint or distraction allows you to turn your opponents strategy against them.
If you give them exactly what they want by flinching, they win. But if someone throws a weak, distraction attack at you, you have two real choices:
Ignore it. Their “attack” isn’t really an attack
Press your advantage while they are throwing ineffective techniques at you
I don’t know if any of my readers have ever had their fist headbutted by someone who could see through a feint…but I have. And I can tell you that it is absolutely not fun.
Final thoughts and take home messages
This article is about martial arts…but it’s also not about martial arts. This is applicable in many areas.
In life, sometimes people are going to try to throw you off by distracting you with trivial matters until you make a mistake. Once you are distracted they can press their advantage and crush you while your guard is down. Don’t let them do it.
The more you get used to people throwing things at you, the more you learn what is real, what is fake, and what you can endure regardless of the intent.
Don’t give your enemies what they want. Toughen up, roll with the punches, and strike back when you have the advantage.
Osu!
Thank you very much for reading. If you enjoy my work please share it with someone you think would also enjoy it.
If you aren’t subscribed, please sign up to keep up to date.
If social media is more your thing I’m active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
And if you are looking for ways you can support my work please check out the page below:
Osu!
Cover photo:
Hi, just became a paid subscriber. Still can’t access your paid articles!