Writing a Story, Your input is welcome...

[J.H. Myers Jr.]

Hello Tribe:

I would like to ask for any all brief answers to this query.

To you, what does the following mean?

"It's not what you fight with, but what you fight for."

This question has a surface meaning that might seem apparent, but for some it might have a deeper meaning.

I appreciate any and all sharing of feelings or ideas.

Thanks.

[J.H. Myers Jr.]

BTW, please don't be shy, or PM me if you are shy.

One liner answers or two paragraphs, either are welcome.

No wrong answers here, just your feeling on it.

[rbibbs]

"Why guys fight" is the subject of countless emails (and a book proposal; I can say no more) between myself and another latecomer (40+) to combat arts. (I can say this much, We haven't come up with the "killer" that would get us on Oprah... but the demo would make for some fascinating daytime television!)

I'd say it's the instinctive, tribal link to our near-past. The Renaissance onward is not enough geologic/evolutionary time for us to have come "completely" under the benign administration of civil law, without lingering yearnings to experience that which our forebears experienced-- combat for survival within the given territories and resources.

In practical terms, fighting (at whatever level, from aerobic boxing to UFC) promotes expansion of the spirit into the physical domain... undeniably that within which we live. That's wholesome. It's the opposite of reliance upon technology and mechanization to subsume ALL of our survival obligations.

In personal terms, in the context of "civilization" as it's packaged and sold to us, fighting is either something you're willing to try, or something you're afraid to try. Why did I try it, for the first time, at age 53? I wanted to be afraid of one less thing.

Rick

[llara]

"It's not what you fight with, but what you fight for."

To me, when it is all over. If you are able to look back at what you've done and feel as if you accomplished something. Then the reason"for" was worth it.

Just my thought on it,

Regards,

Luis Lara

[uprise]

"It's not what you fight with, but what you fight for."

Good one man. Thought provoking at the very least. It's not your outward physical manifestation that matters, it's not your style, your weapon or even your intellect. What matters here is the internal. What is deeper than skin level. What drives you, what moves you, what motivates you. Raw emotion. This is what makes a man more than just a man.

[bob_stra]

To me it means that given the right *reason* you can pretty much do anything, "obstacles" be damned.

But I'm wonderfully naive like that ;-)

[Chuck Kechter]

So many meanings. . . Just a few off the top:

Impassioned belief system
Emotional responsiveness
Physical well being (protection, health, endocrine balance, performance, et cetera)
Sheepdog protocol
Peak performance expression--mind/body/spirit as one unit in the "zone"
Counter conditioning fear-reactivity
Positivistic change (individual, tribal, institutional, social, et cetera)

I'm sure there are probably more. . .

Oh, because sometimes it's the "RIGHT" thing to do. . .

Chuck

[admin]

"It's not what you fight with, but what you fight for."

Addendum: And its not what you fight for, but who you fight, your own or someone else's ego.

-Michael

[Connie Brown]

Well okay you asked for it.

Two things this reminds me of.

One, as the Dalai Lama said once in an interview in my Sunday paper, "never confuse the container with the contents." So I see all fights as the container when the contents is what you really care about. BTW as a women the whole "fight" thing is like, whatever, but "struggle" and "prevail" I DO know about. Don't care if the other guy wins too but -- I Must Prevail.

Second thing is, whatever it means, it is the opposite of lawyers, who love the fight itself (in my experience), even as they are advocates of a position they assume independently of their individual commitment to the position.

[JasonE]

To you, what does the following mean?

"It's not what you fight with, but what you fight for."

I might change this a little to say:

"It's not what you fight with, but WHO you fight for."

I have to fight for myself, all the time, in any kind of conflict.

If someone threatens someone I love, I have to defend them because they are a part of me.

If someone attacks something I believe in such that it needs defending, I will fight, because it represents something I stand for.

Anything worth fighting for is an integral part of me in some way, shape, or form. If I don't fight for them, I am not defending myself.

Not defending myself is to allow my personal integrity to be violated.

It would be the most fundamental betrayal.

The struggle, the act of defending, is more important to my integrity than the outcome. Win or lose, I took a stand and did my best.

The rest is details.

"How much can really know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?"

Tyler Durden

A fight, in modern, "civilized" society, is the rare manifestation of pure will. One should be sure that after they impose their will on another they don't lose their center. The only way to do this is to only fight if someone enters you're circle.

[Scott Sonnon]

Jack,

When I first wrote it back in 96, it came to me as a result of one of my jr. students. The day of the national Sambo championships, he received the news that his father had been diagnosed with brain cancer. The boy was crushed under the weight of something so monumental he could not even begin to fathom its meaning.

Before semi finals, he grabbed my hand and asked me, "Scott, would you win this next match for my dad?" I remember as a child being very swayed by superstition, for instance if I could snap my fingers at exactly the moment the traffic light would change I would be lucky all day, or if I could guess exactly how many cars there were on a passing train, something good will happen to me. I am reminded of this notion of 'making order out of the magical' now as a father myself.

I told him that I would win the match for his father, to which he replied, "Good! Maybe it will mean he will feel better." I realized a little too late that I should not have promised something that was not mine to give with certainty... too many uncontrollable factors determining victory.

It was only a minute later that I was informed my opponent was an US Olympic Team alternate in Greco-Roman wrestling. It was one of the longest 6 minutes of my life at that time - an eternity flashing images of a child's face in the bleachers, desperate for some small display of fortune's grace. In my mind, I didn't have the luxury of losing the match. He wept when I won that match, not out of gratitude, but it seemed... relief, that not everything was totally random and inconceivably chaotic.

A couple years later, when I approached my coach in Russia, Alexander Retuinskih, to compete in Russian-style H2H Fighting competition, he replied to me, "you are only allowed to fight, if you win." It took me some time to wrap my head around this one, but I understand it well now: a real fight is the one from which you cannot run away. In that situation, for whatever reason to you, only victory is acceptable. Just like working for a job in which you do not believe, or have passion, you cannot perform well, so too in a fight whose outcome has little meaning to you... but when you fight for something you believe in, with a passion that drives your very life, you have the strength of ten men.

[sin_goodfellow]

but when you fight for something you believe in, with a passion that drives your very life, you have the strength of ten men.

Nothing you have said Coach Sonnon do I agree with more than this statement. To me it's *purely* what you fight for. Every person on this globe, man, woman, child, has their own distinct morals and ethics. What some would consider a mortal insult, others would laugh off. Yet for everyone, there is something they cannot let pass without a challenge, something they must defeat.

For me, it is only in that one crystal moment, when not fighting would see the ruination of your world, that you truly fight.

[J.H. Myers Jr.]

I would like to thank everyone for their thoughtful answers to this question. More answers and insight are welcome.

This thread gives me a lot to think about too, for which I am very greatful.

thanks.

Jack.

[Jay76]

but when you fight for something you believe in, with a passion that drives your very life, you have the strength of ten men.


Its also Tony Blauers "Be your own Bodyguard Principle" :D :D :D

Very powerful indeed..

Jay

[Glenn Sunshine]

I've been in lurk mode for a long time, but I think it's time to come out of the woodwork again for this. The only time I believe it is worth fighting is when something more than myself is at stake: my country, my family, etc. This includes self defense, because I live in a network of relationships, and I have people to and for whom I am responsible. My wife and my children depend on me, and I cannot let them down--so I must survive. Now, I have never been in a self defense situation, and I hope I never will be. But the main fight I face is one I must fight every day. It is the fight against myself: it is easier to be lazy, to skip training, not to eat healthily, to coast on my job, etc. But I cannot, I must not let myself give in to things which cheapen my life because people depend on me. If I wreck my health, if I am weak, if I give less than my best effort on the things I need to do, then I am not being and doing what my family and my students need of me. So I must fight against myself and for those who depend on me. As the quote says, what I fight with doesn't matter, even if I am fighting with myself. The motivation, the purpose behind it, the thing that is greater than myself that I am committed to, that is what counts.

I hope that made sense.

Yours,
Glenn

[WarpedMind]

Your weapon, technique, method of fighting is not nearly as dangerous or effective as the motivation behind the one using that weapon, technique, or method of fighting.

If you're fighting for your life or simply competing for a medal, the purpose will drive your intensity, focus, and attitude.

Don't believe me? Corner a scared little pussycat with tiny claws for a nice cold bath. :shock: Trust me... there is nothing like it. You will never understand how elastic your skin can be until you try holding a panicking feline. :twisted: