After I wrote my guide to fight scenes, suddenly a lot of authors are writing their own guide to fight scenes. I resolved years ago to never say, “I can’t learn from you” – that’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I was very interested in two articles I read recently that emphasized how incredibly tiring a fight really is.
The average Karate fight lasts three seconds. Some idiot takes a swing at you, you block it and counter strike, they run away seriously injured. That’s the overall impressions I’m getting from reading reports. The standard reaction to someone who has no problem fighting is to get away from the fight as fast as possible, before more serious injury occurs.
If a fight goes longer, yeah… The steam is taken out of you quickly. When the cardio is gone, the fight is over. I want you to shadow box as fast as possible for as long as possible. Hit HARD, like you’re trying to knock someone out with each punch.
How long did you last?
five seconds? That’s about average. If you can last 30 seconds of intense fighting, you’re doing really good.
But you’re going to be wiped out afterwards. That’s what a real fight is like.
What surprised me was the same kind of idiot who launches the sneak attacks and then runs away injured is the same kind who found the articles, and left stupid comments, like “you need to do some fighting before you go talking about something you don’t know.”
Um…
The person who wrote one of the articles is a black belt in Karate and also in Kung Fu. I kind of think she knows what she’s talking about.
If you read yesterday’s article, you know that non-contact fighting is usually a part of every Karate class. And if you’ve ever participated in a tournament, that’s a lot of fighting. By the time you’ve won, you’re done.
so here’s something I forgot to put in my articles, and I was reminded reading the other ones.
Getting hit by a glancing technique in Karate is serious. Getting a full on strike is dangerous.
If your protagonist is hit in the elbow or knee by the antagonist, they can’t suddenly recover and fight as if strength is regained, unless you’ve got hordes of nanobots repairing tissue damage and bone damage inside them. Joint attacks are brutal, and you’re done for two months or so. The James Caan movie where he did Kung Fu, you’ll notice he’s wearing a knee brace and an elbow brace long after the fight he was in (I haven’t seen the movie since I was 7 or 8).
So, forget the dramatic recovery after someone’s elbow is smashed in a fight. That kind of damage can last for life.
Drama is required in fight scenes – but be realistic!
