[devante]

do u know the difference between the two, what do u feel is the difference between the two; i took up training to learn how to defend myself. But i feel i more or less learned how to fight, which is alot different; i think later on i learned self defense, but early on i was learning how to fight.

[IronShogun.]

Theres a major difference in defending yourself and knowing how to fight. Defending your self = kicks to the balls, head buts, sucker punches, improvised weapons, stuff that any dude can do.

Knowing how to fight = right straits, combinations etc...

Defending yourself is doing what ever it takes naturally to come out on top or alive.

[dvermillion15]

Originally Posted by IronShogun.

Theres a major difference in defending yourself and knowing how to fight. Defending your self = kicks to the balls, head buts, sucker punches, improvised weapons, stuff that any dude can do.

Knowing how to fight = right straits, combinations etc...

Defending yourself is doing what ever it takes naturally to come out on top or alive.

Exactly, thats basically how I look at it.

[Ifight4Beer]

If you have to pull a blade, Id say the best defence would be a good offence hence fighting but Im big on throwing a bottle at their head and and geting the fuck out of their. Lose and you die (or yer messed up) win yer probably going to prison for at least a year or so....unless you live in texas (home of the self defending cowboys)

[wheelkick]

Very good points here. Learning to fight to me means facing a high skill level opponent. That is where most techniques are able to be utilized. In a real life self defense situation, simpler is always better. Attacks to the eyes,groin, throat,knees ect. They take the least skill but oddly enough are the most effective.

[deckingdutchman]

The main difference to me is regulation. When you're in a fight, it's organized, whether there are real rules or not, and you're not fighting for your life or your family.

When you need to defend yourself, it's usually dark and you're usually up against multiple attackers, and you don't know if they're armed or not. If you lose you die. And your body wants you to run away, which makes it harder to get into a focused fighting mode.

What's hard about defending yourself is the adrenalin and other shit you get going through you. The skills you need for fighting and self defense are basically the same, but it's a lot harder to get yourself to do those things in most self defense situations.

[Never_Back_Down]

Originally Posted by IronShogun.

Theres a major difference in defending yourself and knowing how to fight. Defending your self = kicks to the balls, head buts, sucker punches, improvised weapons, stuff that any dude can do.

Knowing how to fight = right straits, combinations etc...

Defending yourself is doing what ever it takes naturally to come out on top or alive.

Are soccers kicks considered defending yourself or fighting

[Ifight4Beer]

Originally Posted by Never_Back_Down

Are soccers kicks considered defending yourself or fighting

depends on if u use a high pitch yell while you do it

[Bubble Boy]

Fighting is getting in a fight with someone who wants to fight you.

Self defense is doing everything you can to get away from someone who wants to kill you.

[Semper Fi, Sam]

I think the difference is initiation. If you go into it knowing what you;re getting into, its a fight. If you knock the guy down and move to re-initiate, it's a fight. If first chance you get, you get the F outta there, it's self defense.

You need to learn to fight to have decent self defense though, in my opinion. Self-defense is just a type of fighting, just like organized prize-fighting is fighting. It's just using your skills in a different manner, namely preservation of one's self, instead of for personal gain or emotional expression.

-Sam