ChrisHein

I'm going to put something out here that is really a curiosity to me, and maybe I'll get an answer.

So whenever I talk about weapon stuff and Aikido, people are quick to tell me that you should always run when facing a weapon.

Why is that?

Not that I fault the logic, but what they really seem to be saying to me is: well if you're both unarmed then you should kick the snot out of them.

If you find yourself in ANY kind of fight, you should avoid it. I understand that a weapon fight might cost you your life, and that is why people are quick to say you should run. But it should go without saying, in my opinion, that you should avoid all fights, whether your life depends on it or not.

Training and fighting are two very different animals. Because you train in archery doesn't mean you want to shoot people with arrows. I know lots of people have this super fantasy that one day some punk will cross their path and they will defeat him with their martial skills. This fantasy is no less ugly then getting stabbed, or having to stab someone.

Hurting people, and being hurt is never cool. So when people respond with: "you should run", it seems a little redundant to me. We are all talking about training, not fighting. If you feel the need to respond with "you should run" then every thread you post in should be prefaced with "you should run", because you should always run, unless you can't.

Mr. Yap, I'm not picking on you here, I hear the "you should run" statement a lot. It always makes me wonder why people are stating that now, when they don't state it every time we talk about martial arts.