Sǐ Lì 死力

## Death Force

Death force, Chinese vocabulary.

Pinyin: Sǐ Lì

Interpretation: Refers to the strength of the whole body; use the greatest strength.

See "Han Feizi·Foreign Reserve Says Lower Right": "Juelu is born from merit, punishment is born from sin, and the minister knows this, he will do his best instead of being loyal to the emperor."

## Force of mortality (死亡力)

In actuarial science, force of mortality represents the instantaneous rate of mortality at a certain age measured on an annualized basis. It is identical in concept to failure rate, also called hazard function, in reliability theory.

(1) [all one's strength]: The strength of the whole body.

Lower mortality.

(2) [with all one's strength]: Use all your strength.

If the emperor gallops into the servant camp during the military parade and sends an order to punish rape, the servant will be able to do his best to remedy the situation after the gentlemen. ——Qing·Liang Qichao "Tan Si Tong Biography"

## As a Martial Artist

“*To win any battle, you must fight as if you are already dead*.” - **Miyamoto Musashi**, Book of Five Rings.

  Death Force is the ultimate will to commit all of one's accessible strength, skills, resources, experience, tools and knowledge in order to forgo morality. The will, skills, mental clarity and confidence under pressure to still be able to fluidly perform violent or "immoral" actions, is often studied and scrutinized in modern times usually in the circumstance for professional fighters. Being able to step in to the cage, and to make a career out of fighting, injuring yourself and others. To sacrifice some privacy among many other things "normal" people do not fully understand, To take the risk of defeat in the face of mass media.

This obstacle does not just occur for professional fighters who focuses this context on Martial Arts, There are also Militaries & Law Enforcement who ask similar questions every time a trigger is pulled in discretion. Countless other careers critical to a first world civilization where people must risk their life at much higher statistics, often relying on a number of skills & tools to survive; Oil, Deepsea, Loggers, Miners, Pilots, Ironworkers, and scaffolders just to name a few. In order to perform successfully in these jobs, There needs to be a method for accepting potential Death. Along with the vices, stresses, anxieties, and depression that might follow.

   *“We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many many long months of struggle and of suffering.*

*You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God*

*can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalog of human crime. That is our policy.*”

- "**WINSTON CHURCHILL**", May 13, 1940

  It takes tremendous courage, bravery and thought to step into the cage or battle willingly. There are many automatic human biological responses ingrained in every human facing conflict. Closing eyes, Turning away, Jelly legs, Incontrollable shaking, Excessive covering, Panic. These are the biological reactions from an unconditioned fighter. Becoming comfortable with threats takes time to develop and is not intuitive. Even with the immense popularity of action media, and with technical MMA becoming recognized worldwide, There are many cases of techniques being performed by amateurs successfully enough to cause immense harm, Such as Heavy haymakers, overzealous bloodchokes to a sloppy double leg takedown on concrete. Ignorance, Negative mental states, Narcotics, Rage, Stress, Peer pressure can temporarily allow any one to temporarily exhibit "Death Force", but without the training, cognitive clarity and pressure confidence, It is extremely difficult to keep that mental state while maintaining real composure for long periods of time.

## Balancing Dark Thoughts

There is no easy way to pretend developing the will to fight violently is not an unpleasant process. Different people develop different habits and routines in order to mentally prepare, and decompress. From Hannibal rallying his army for ambush after crossing the Alps, to screaming Drill instructors and Coaches hurling obscenities, The need to urge, and push a fighter (or army) to push on and fight violently has not changed.

It is extremely rare to be born with a killer instinct; But as an serial killer cannot resist the urge to commit evil, A Killer Instinct in itself is not necessarily evil and often required for most competitive sports. Once developed to a point, there is often a self revelation, and period of reflection, and so the instinct can be "turned on and off at will". Developed further under guidance, The Killer Instinct can be done in opposite fashion. As Muay Thai circles call "Playful Instinct". Karate calls this [寸止め] (Sundome) as a general rule, Outside competition, should stop a punch before it hits the opponent’s body deeper than his/her skin to prevent injury.

This is different from the usual "Light Sparring" and "Hard Sparring", Now scrutinized when some gyms regularly having escalated hard sparring sessions that usually leaves the less experienced with injuries, frustrations and PTSD instead of developing improvements gradually and with healthy balance. It is noted that many famous Boxers, such as "Iron" Mike Tyson who reportedly paid large amounts of money for hard sparring sessions, To perfect his instincts and technique against paid human punching bags without risking injury himself. In this day and age, In a potential confrontation, There is always need for discussion of the laws & repercussions of the area. A light shove is now "Assault & Battery", and bloodchokes labeled as "Attempted Murder" in some U.S States. With a very fine line regarding when it becomes self-defense to having a short amount of time to defuse a potentially stressful situation, Martial Artists who successfully understand "Death Force" should always use their discretion and reasoning to thoughtfully control and maintain it.

## In Practice

There is a certain level of intensity, and tunnel vision like focus when a task or obstacle is presented. To dissect the problem and prepare for it, study what happened or is presently happening, as well as the near future. This process can be applied in all situations. Between two Professional Fighters, who both understand Death Force, With controlled cognitive dissonance, It becomes an intense mind game and a art form of successive reactions and violent rhythms and patterns.

Reading Feints and tricks requires a calm but accelerated mind, capable of reading and studying pattern whilst defending yourself. The tell tale sign of a focused and articulate fighter is the cold, faraway stare. Dissociation, Pain-Catastrophizing, Detachment as well as Adrenaline & Cortisol management to absorb blows and reading the opponent. Fighters who effectively reach this state of flow are often said to be "In the Matrix".

Part of Huajin is to fluidly understand and chain movements accordingly, and the planning of counters and game plans for every scenario and situation. There also many "weak spots" of the human body, being able to Redirect impact to less vulnerable areas in the moment, and notably "Rolling with the Punches" The idea of rolling with punches is to move ones head in the same direction as the force of a blow as you receive it, thereby taking off much of the force. A straight punch generally reaches maximum velocity at around 80% extension - so most competent punchers aim to put their opponent on the end of their punches rather than muffling their strikes by starting from too close. Unfortunately at 100% extension the punch stops and becomes worthless. What men such as the great Muhammad Ali, Wilfredo Benitez and Niccolino Locche did so well was to know which range they were in even better than their opponent. If they were close enough to be hooked, they were too close to hit with powerful straights, so they knew what would more than likely come naturally to the opponent- if they were far back it was as easy as moving a little further back when the opponent jabbed.

## Sources

https://steve-rowe.com/2017/08/24/cognitive-dissonance-in-the-martial-arts/

https://eoeamericablog.wordpress.com/2021/06/25/what-your-style-was-originally-supposed-to-be/

https://chinesemartialstudies.com/2021/04/01/fighting-styles-or-martial-brands-an-economic-approach-to-understanding-lost-lineages-in-the-chinese-martial-arts-3/?fbclid=IwAR2oHgW8SDhrVNUWfUhDkcC2eb\_OGNky4nxPxCNRHLHnh5X\_HgC\_HZQhX6I

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/10/24/3547786/anderson-silva-and-the-art-of-rolling-with-punches