Fight to Win or Fight Not to Lose?

You hear a lot of martial artists, cops and soldiers discussing  how important it is to keep an "offensive mindset" in personal combat.  

You hear from others who maintain that you should not strike the first blow -- you should avoid, evade and keep your defenses intact.

But which is really the best mindset for self-defense?

Let's take a look at what the U.S. Marine Corps  -- a group that has some expertise in the area of fighting -- has to say on the subject:

"The offense and defense are neither mutually exclusive nor clearly distinct; as we will see, each includes elements of the other.

"The offense contributes striking power.  The offense generally has as its aim some positive gain; it is through the offense that we seek to impose some design on the enemy.  The defense, on the other hand, contributes resisting power, the ability to preserve and protect oneself.  Thus, the defense generally has a negative aim, that of resisting the enemy's will.

"The defense is inherently the stronger form of combat.  Were this not the case, there would be no reason ever to assume the defensive.  The offense, with its positive aim, would always be preferable.  But in fact, if we are weaker than our enemy, we assume the defensive to compensate for our weakness.  Similarly, if we are to mount an offensive to impose our will, we must develop enough force to overcome the inherent superiority of the enemy's defense."

U.S. Marine Corps Book of Strategy

Hmm.  The Marines think that defense is "inherently" stronger than offense, especially if you are weaker than your enemy.  If we assume that your attacker is going to be bigger, tougher, stronger, meaner, and have the element of surprise -- then adopting a defensive strategy is probably a good move.  This would be the fight-not-to-lose school.  If your defense is strong enough then the attacker may be forced to withdraw simply because time is working against him...his chances of being caught increase as you successfully defend against his attacks.

But, the other school of thought -- the fight-to-win faction -- says that to drive off an attacker or to get them to quit attacking, you're going to have to deliver some pain at some point.  Otherwise, why wouldn't the attacker just keep attacking, even if your defense is superior?  You have to put the opponent at risk and make him adopt a defensive posture.  

So, should you fight not to lose or fight to win? 

I think a good determinant is going to revolve around a number of items:

• Your mission.  Are you a cop charged with pursuing and arresting a subject? Are you a soldier on a combat assignment or a peacekeeping assignment? Are you a protection agent charged with the safety of a person?  Are you a citizen going about normal, routine activities?

• Your training.  Are you an ex-Navy SEAL?  Are you a boxer?  An Aikido practitioner?  Or, again, are you a citizen that has no formal training?

• Your physical attributes.  Are you considered a young, large, athletic person?  Or an older, smaller, couch potato?  Are you a fast-twitch person or a slow-twitch person (I'm referring to your body's bias towards speed and strength or towards endurance)?

• Your temperament.  Are you fiery and aggressive by nature?  Are you calm during a crisis?  Or are you passive and shy by nature?  Do you have a heightened sense of justice?

There are numerous attributes and conditions that could change depending on the circumstances.  For example, a small, passive person could become an absolute tiger if something supremely important to them was sufficiently threatened.  This could be the mother whose children are in danger.    It could be the normally quiet, shy person who ends up performing heroically when they are outraged by the situation.

But, generally, I would contend that the offensive mindset is going to work for the person who:

• Has a distinct mission to subdue, arrest or destroy bad guys;

• Is highly trained in an offensive art or system;

• Is physically strong and fast;

• Is aggressive.

I would contend that a defensive mindset is going to work for those who:

• Primarily responsible for protecting others (either professionally as close protection operators or non-professionally as family members);

• Has training in an art or system that is primarily defensive oriented or has little or no training whatsoever;

• Is limited physically in areas of strength and speed due to factors like body composition, sex or age;

• Is more restrained or less aggressive by nature.

But, in the final analysis, you need to have the ability and the option of moving fluidly from defense to offense in any encounter.  There are concepts like evasion, counterattacks, pre-emptive strikes, immobilization, incapacitation and, yes, even the employment of lethal force that the well-prepared person needs to be able to employ.

Hey, we never said this self-defense thing was going to be easy! 

Brad Parker