Lose your temper, lose your fight
“Keep your temper. Do not quarrel with an angry person. It is foolish and an exercise in futility. Give him a soft answer. It is commanded by holy writ, and furthermore, it will make him a lot madder than anything else you could say.” — Prairie Rambler
“An angry mind is a weak mind. A weak mind soon becomes a sick mind.” — Peter Ragnar
Throwing profanities, especially in a confrontation, betrays weakness — of mental, verbal, and physical skills — yes, the physical skills. Good fighters — strong people — are calm, confident enough not to lose their temper.
Take a police officer using “strong talk” for instance, “Get up against the f***** car or I will blow your f***** head off,” to intimidate an adversary (not necessarily a suspect, just someone the police officer wants to intimidate). Well, in addition to the thing about anger, loud talking worsens perception and thus reaction time. Consider this quote: “It’s difficult to shoot at the same time you’re talking; usually your mouth has to stop before your trigger finger can start” (Street Survival: Tactics for Armed Encounters by Adams, McTernan, and Remsberg, 1980). What goes for the trigger finger, goes for any one of your limbs.
This subject continues in Self-Defense Tip #52 — More on Temper in Self-Defense.
Self-defense tip from Thomas Kurz, co-author of Basic Instincts of Self-Defense and author of Science of Sports Training, Stretching Scientifically, and Flexibility Express.
Self-Defense Moves
To learn how your natural reactions can instantly defeat any unarmed attack, see the video Basic Instincts of Self-Defense.
Defend Against Weapons
To learn how the typical street weapons (club, knife, razor) are used by an experienced streetfighter and how to practice with them, see the video Self-Defense: Tools of Attack — Club, Hatchet, Blackjack, Knife, Straight Razor.
Mental Toughness
To learn mental techniques that let you calmly face any threat and act rationally in the heat of a fight, click here.
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