Where I Sit - An Editorial Comment Enjoy and stop back again. They are not the same at all because of the basic philosophical difference between fighters and true martial artists. True martial artists do not train to fight, they train to STOP a fight. That is understandable considering how few students actually have the opportunity to train with highly skilled martial artists. In order to understand the difference between the two philosophical camps, one must first understand why people fight.
People fight because they feel they HAVE to fight in order to survive.
A trained fighter may be the most vicious person to ever walk on two legs. He has honed his bag of offensive techniques to a level where he can beat just about anyone in a fight. His idea of defense is to hit his opponent with a strong, potentially lethal offense. Years have been devoted to honing, training, practicing and increasing the speed and power of these select techniques and developing a few favorite combinations and tactics. His defense is to overpower the attacker with his own attack.