Fightclub - A writer's guide to fighting, pain and injury

In a fight remember:

Fighting is tiring. This is not an Anime, where a fight is like five episodes long *cough* One Piece *cough*. When you get tired, you get sloppy, unfocused and you make mistakes. Many times a fight is won on the back of an exhausted opponent.

Avoid fancy/flashy moves. They look nice on screen, sure, but I also look better in the right lighting. What do those two things have in common?

They are unrealistic.

The lighting doesn't matter. If you look like a piece of shit run over by a truck than you look like a piece of shit run over by a truck.

Fancy/flashy moves are very easy to counter and only waste time and energy.

Dirty fighting. "If you expect the world to be fair to you because you're fair, you're fooling yourself. That's like expecting the tiger not to eat you because you didn't eat him."

-Chinese proverb

Fighting isn't fair. Throwing dirt in someone's eyes is a normal action in a fight. As is biting, scratching, pulling on the hair, or a knee to the groin.

For example:

Rocky hiding a knife and stabbing Chapa with it, wasn't fair either.

Fighting involves all senses. You must feel the pain, see the opponent, hear the shouting and blows on the skin, taste blood if you're injured, and smell the sweat.

Punching someone hurts. This is basically Newton's third law of motion:

When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.

It means, that to every action there is always opposed an equal reaction

Let's take a car crash as an example.

When car A hits car B, car A will sustain the same amount of damage as car B.

During a fight, you will bruise your knuckles and maybe even dislocate or break your fingers, especially when you're inexperienced.

Just look at Deku from My Hero Academia. That guy had no idea how to use One for All, and always broke a limp, when using it. However over time and through hard training, he learned to control the power.

Adrenaline is a bitch. It makes you alert and gets your heart pounding. It's only after the fight that your pain begins to appear. You might think you're fine, but in reality, you're probably more bruised than a month old apple.

I hit a lantern during longboard downhill last year and had a laceration. Besides the blood running down my face, I felt completely fine. It didn't hurt. I even rode my longboard home afterward, which took me 15 minutes at least. My mom then took me to the hospital and that's where it started hurting. It felt like someone had slapped me with a bus.

However, I got lucky. I didn't have a concussion and only got a few stitches. I went to school the next day and rocked that math test.

This was kinda funny since I had a black eye and nearly couldn't see a thing as it was swollen. My lip was too and I had to use a straw for like a week.

How long it takes for the adrenaline to wear off, depends on your age, gender, height, weight, and the situation.

When my accident happened, I was 15, around 170cm (5ft 7in) and 60kg (132 pounds). Until I felt something at least half an hour passed.

Also, I really hope, that I got my math right.

Shit happens. The only law in a fight is Murphy's law. Murphy's law says, that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

An attacker can trip and fall. Getting blood or sweat in your eyes can be wild cards. An experienced fighter can get fucked up by someone smaller and less experienced than them, because of luck.

The only thing, that can save you from Murphy's law, is the ability to adapt to new situations.

Your body follows your head. If your head gets pushed one way, your body will want to go that way too. Also if you get punched on the head, you're going to be a little dissoriented.

Body mass differences. When fighting a larger person, they will have an easier time forcing you back.

Fighting ground. People with experience will try to be where they are comfortable. A boxer, like I, will always try to stay on their feet, while a wrestler will try to get their opponent on the ground.