Why I Love Fighting

Lots of reasons, really.

I´ve done enough different types of fighting, in enough places, with enough people, that I love all sorts of different things about the noble art of beating people up.

I like the ridiculous quasi-fighting of Capoeira, with its rules that emphasise beauty of movement and not getting your spotless white pants dusty by falling over.

I like doing back somersaults in wushu, even though they´re basically a bit stupid. I like doing layouts (where your body´s totally straight, non-gymnasts) even more, although the only person I´ve ever seen hit someone with one was a CG version of Spider-Man (when he fights Mary Jane´s muggers, comic fans).

I like the feeling of snapping someone´s head back with a perfect jab when I´m boxing, especially they´re windmilling in and trying to hurt me. See also: hitting them with a really good leg shot that bruises up their thigh right where it´ll slow them down.

I like Brazilian Jujitsu because it´s the complete opposite of boxing, not about reactions and speed so much as it´s about outthinking and controlling your opponent. Because someone can be nailing you with the same move again and again, but if you learn the right counter to it, suddenly it won´t work any more, and that´s brilliant.

I like the camaraderie and respect that fighting creates between the people who do it, because you can´t really spar with anyone for any great length of time if you honestly think they´re a dick.

Lots of reasons, then. But one main one: because fighting makes you feel like you can do anything.

Not just because you´re good at beating people up, obviously. I´m semi-good at beating people up, but only if they aren´t much bigger than me or armed with anything, and since I only weigh 75kg and the sorts of people who might like to hurt you tend to carry around things to do it with, that discounts quite a lot of people I might get in a fight with. There´s a self-confidence that goes with knowing you could beat up a layman or fairweather fighter: definitely. But there´s more to it than that.

Here´s the thing: fight with enough people, in enough places, for long enough, and almost nothing else scares you. Once you´ve taken a few shots from someone who isn´t going to back up or let you get a breath, talking to new people at a party is absolutely nothing. Once you´ve walked into a classful of people who want to strangle you or sit on your chest until it feels like your ribs are caving in, no yoga seminar or pottery workshop is even remotely intimidating. And once you´ve gone from being the person who gets sat on, hit, strangled and dead-legged to the person dishing it out - or at least making the competition take you seriously - any other challenge should be simple.

I haven´t played many other sports at any kind of serious level. I can just about appreciate the difficulties of catching a good cros-court volley on the rise and smashing it into the opposite corner for a match-winner, or bending a free kick over a wall and past a goalie. I don´t know if they make you feel like that.

But I suspect not.