Attack minded

[GJEC]

Love this little gem -

Fairbairn said back in 1942 that the man who is going forward on his toes with an ATTACK minded attitude is the man who is winning; conversely to that, the man going back on his heels is losing! 'Become attack minded, and dangerously so!' Impact with Attitude is the simple lesson here, along with a pre-fight perspective focusing on what you're gonna do, not on what he's gonna do!

Thought I'd share it.

Gary

[meguro]

Bob Breen said something similar at a seminar I took recently. Instead of attack mode he said be the hunter, or cacciatore in Italian, not the prey. This works great if one is a grappler or puncher. Since kicking has been ingrained in my fighting style, I sometimes sit back a little into a more neutral stance; this way I can swiftly kick with lead or rear leg. I do agree about the forward pressure, the mentality that even where your opponent is standing is your ground.

[GJEC]

Fairbairn was a WW2 unarmed combat instructor so his methods were very brutal. No messing, kill and move on. My father was taught the same drills in the Royal Marines in the late 40's, all tried and tested stuff. He taught me but I sensibly decided against using any of it at school and took up karate instead.

But I remember it all well. As the medication I'm on means any encounter is a potential game changer, it suddenly all makes perfect sense.



Gary

[MMX]

Yeah that is what I have been working on with some of the Green and Brown belts that still get a bit of heel.

[wullie]

and another little gem from Fairbairn and Sykes

[GJEC]

Excellent!

I got one of those as a hand me down, had it in a box for years then found it again and it was still razor sharp. Locked away safe now so the kids don't find it with NOT A TOY written on the box.

Gary

[GJEC]

This dovetails in with meguro's road to perfection thread.

Unarmed combat taught the 80/20 rule before anyone else was using it. 80% was about 'intent'and only 20% was about skills. The skills must be effective of course, but not neccessarily extensive.

So many martial arts and combat sports miss the point. 100% of time spent on skill and fitness, hoping that the demands of training will forge a will of iron and body of steel.

But does it? Not always or even not often as the health and safety and commercial requirements keep sanding down the rough edges. The commando's didn't have long to train so attitude was the main requirement.

"Recruit character. Train skill"

Gary

[meguro]

I suppose much depends on how an individual responds to a desperately stressful situation. When you can keep your head, when all around you are losing theirs, and all that. I am reminded by the awful example of terrorists with box cutters- not a lot of technique, but a whole lot of commitment. Wasn't sure which emoticon would be appropriate.

Usually, there isn't call for that kind of commitment in everyday life, unless one is a first responder, and only in that instant will the average guy find out whether he has it or not. I guess it can be trained, but in the you've still got to test it.

[GJEC]

It's interesting, the way some step up and some give up.

We never know what we are capable of until the moment arrives.

Gary

[meguro]

I just viewed this by chance, and it seems entirely appropriate to the discussion. Accepting the inevitable made it possible for this man to act on his training.

[GJEC]

Awesome! Thanks for posting.

Taking the faith in god out of it, we have a man who is highly trained and dedicated that has trust in his training and ability.

His faith then allows him to utilise that, safe in the belief that if things go wrong he'll be in a good place.

Others without faith though manage to trust their training and crack on, secure in the belief that they'll "Make it cost". If they have to go, they'll go down fighting.

So where does that come from? Not everyone has it. Some, like the Iraqi army recently, just leave their weapons and run. Some stay to the end and won't even consider giving up, like the Gurkha who took on 30 Taliban with a stool after his ammo ran out.

If we can find that sort of spirit and bottle it we'll be rich!!

Gary

[shugyo]

Inspiring conversations, here. Thank you!!

[meguro]

No, I didn't take away anything from the God business. . What a dick he would be to pick sides. No one to blame but ourselves for the messes we get into. But on the matter of being attack minded, this soldier is pretty clear that he accepted his death as inevitable. Denial, "oh no, this can't be happening, this can't be happening. . ." wastes critical time and prevents you from doing what you trained for.

The going to a better place business, if it's so good why aren't we there already? I don't buy it. I'd much rather hold on to what I've got now. But in a dare to be great situation, the hero decides others' lives are more valuable than his or her own.. That's something to live up to.

[GJEC]

There's a very good argument that people who go forwards don't even hear the little voice of self-preservation. They manage to shut it out until after the event, or maybe it just doesn't kick in with enough volume to drown out the heartbeat pounding in the ears.

I know I was more scared of letting people down. The victims, my crew mates, spectators, than I was scared of getting hurt.

A character quirk - worrying about opinions

That became a strength - keep going!!

Gary

[meguro]

I think this was posted on theses boards before. In any case, I think it would be a useful dojo exercise to face off against opponents such as these, and also to adopt the chin down, berzerker mode every now and then.