TRAINING BEATS FEAR OF FIGHTING

I found blog partner Kathy Fawcett’s latest post about the choice of whether to fight back in real life and the use of violence in our fiction presented some fascinating questions. I thought about commenting, but, as often happens, I had so much to say I thought I’d just keep the conversation going with another post.

Like Kathy, I’ve studied martial arts and self-defense for many years, reaching an advanced black belt rank in two disciplines. I started my study of Isshinryu karate (a traditional Okinawan style) over 25 years ago because I wanted to know how to make the fight scenes in my novels more realistic. Once I got into class, I discovered I really liked learning the history, the techniques, and the choreographed moves of martial arts. And, it turned out, the application of the moves to self-defense was my favorite aspect of what I was learning (and, later, teaching).

I noticed right away that women and girls in martial arts start at a disadvantage in one area. Even in this day and age, we are taught from the time we are small that using physical force to stand up for ourselves is “bad.” We’re not supposed to hit, or wrestle, or push, or yell. It’s not “nice” or “ladylike” to compete in any way physically, especially with boys. Sometimes this message is overt, especially in more traditional homes, but more often it’s subtle, enforced by the children themselves. Ladies, if, as a child, you ever stood on the sidelines of a game of baseball or basketball played by a group of boys, waiting in vain to be asked to join, you know what I mean.

Despite the advances of Title IX in women’s athletics and all the work of feminism, we still see the impact of this in the karate dojo (practice hall). From the youngest to the oldest beginners, females are still reluctant to engage physically with an opponent. Like the woman in Kathy’s example, who feared she would not be able to harm “another woman’s son” who was attacking her, these karate students hold back when punching or kicking, even when the target is just a pad or a bag. They hesitate to grab hold of their partners’ wrists in practicing self-defense for fear of “hurting” them. They say “sorry!” when they land a solid blow in sparring, when they should be grinning in triumph.

Our first task with these women and girls is to train the conditioning out of them that prevents them from defending themselves. We have to remove that false image of themselves as “nice, ladylike,” fragile little things and replace it with a better sense of themselves as strong, fierce, capable fighters. Strong, capable fighters will defend themselves if necessary. And never give up. 

Now this karate student is NOT lacking self-confidence!

It’s vital for us to believe in ourselves and develop that inner confidence. You’ve heard the saying, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog? Nowhere is that truer than in martial arts and self-defense. Bruce Lee, who was a legitimate martial arts legend in addition to his talent for self-promotion on the big screen, stood at a mere 5’2” and had one leg shorter than the other. His size didn’t stop him from defeating opponents much larger than he was. He just never doubted that he would win. 

If you travel through the world with that kind of confidence, you never have to demonstrate your martial skills. No one wants to mess with someone who is in command of her fear, who pays attention to her surroundings, who moves with assurance. The right kind of training can give you that, no matter where you started.

In answer to Kathy’s question, of course I would answer, yes, I wouldn’t hesitate to fight if necessary. That’s the answer I would hope all my students would give, too. But because we’ve trained and developed a confident attitude, I would also hope we would never have to use what we’ve learned.

As for my fiction, my heroes and heroines are all scrappers, even if they have no formal training. They often face circumstances in which they must defend themselves physically—and they rise to the occasion. I try to make my fight scenes realistic, but they aren’t brutal or sadistic. (After all, you try throwing a few punches and see how long you last. Fifteen-minute fight scenes aren’t real.)  And I don’t go for torture porn, either in my own writing or in my reading or watching preferences.

Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, Kathy!

Cheers, Donna

 

 

Tips for Writing Fight Scenes

Fight scenes, like love scenes, must drive the story forward. They must create change either by resolving something or by complicating something. Change advances the story. If your fight is gratuitous, if it isn't serving a purpose, cut it.

Keep these points in mind when creating your believable and exciting fight scenes.

Characterization: How a character reacts to a confrontation depends on who he or she is, what’s at stake, and their attitude or philosophy about fighting. Are they aggressive, passive, do they use force only when necessary? Knowing the character’s background is key. Is your character an experienced fighter? What kind of instruction does she have? What is her skill level? Someone with no training might fight back if attacked, but she won’t use complicated techniques an experienced fighter might use.

Keep in mind there are many distinct systems of combat practices, and each has unique emphases. A boxer fights differently than a karate practitioner. A karate practitioner fights differently than a grappler. A grappler fights differently from [insert your style of choice here]. Does your character have police, military, or combat training? Are they comfortable wielding a knife, a broadsword, a semi-automatic weapon, a raygun, or perhaps a magic wand?

Understanding your characters and their philosophy, their fighting system, and their skill level will allow you to write realistic fight scenes.

Setting: Location, terrain, lighting, and weather conditions are important to consider when planning your fight scene. Avoid describing the setting in detail, though, or your pacing will slow. Include only what will affect the fight. Your character probably doesn’t care if dawn’s golden light casts a warm glow on his opponent’s pockmarked face. However, he does care if the light compromises his vision or depth perception. The character may also take note of his surroundings as he looks for an exit, additional danger, or a weapon to utilize.

Use the location to create unique fights. If your characters are outside a home, they can throw each other into the side of the house, a tree, a car parked in the driveway, the rose bushes, a swing set. This is your chance to create an exciting and unique fight scene. Have fun with it.

Is the terrain rocky, slippery, or wet? Unstable footing may change the way a person fights, or perhaps your characters slip and fall and have to continue battling it out on the ground.

Emotion: Be sure to include your character’s emotional state. What’s at stake? What will it mean if she wins the fight? What will it mean if she loses? Emotion creates suspense. It connects the reader to the characters. It makes the reader root for a character’s success or demise. Emotion can be demonstrated through dialog, physical action, internal sensations, and thoughts. Warning: Too much introspection can slow your pacing.

Action – Reaction: Action comes before reaction. Cause is followed by effect. This is especially important in a fight scene. Blood gushed from his nose when she punched him should be flipped to show the action first. She punched him. Blood gushed from his nose. When the reader experiences the action as it unfolds, they will have an emotional response to the action right along with the characters.

Pacing: Fights are dynamic and fast, therefore, the action should be conveyed quickly. You want the reader to feel they are a part of the fight or at least watching it. Taking too long to describe an action slows down the visual image in the mind’s eye, thus slows the pacing. You can create the illusion of action unfolding in real time by using short and medium length sentences as well as sentence fragments.

Be careful not to structure all sentences the same, as a lack of variation could lead to choppy, robotic and monotonous prose.

Clarity/ Word Choice: Be straightforward and to the point. Describing your fight choreography in minute detail slows pacing. Avoid getting too technical so your fight scene doesn’t read like a training manual.

If you want to showcase a particular technique in the final battle scene, explain it or refer to it earlier in the story, perhaps in a training session. For example, in the original Karate Kid movie, we saw Mr. Miyagi practicing the crane technique. Daniel asked him about it and we learned that, “If do right, no can defend.” So when Daniel settled himself into the crane stance in the final scene, we knew this awesome move would make him a winner. In another example, who could forget the five-point palm exploding heart technique in Kill Bill? If these techniques weren’t explained until they were used in the story, the pacing would halt and their significance would be lost.

Use expressive words and strong action verbs to paint a clear image and to evoke an emotional response in the reader. A fight should create reader urgency to keep them turning the pages to find out what happens next. The reader should feel the excitement and energy of the action, not confusion over the words used to describe it.

Dialog: Combatants are not going to engage in a long discussion while fighting. That can come pre-fight when they are gearing up for the confrontation (sizing each other up and down, posturing, etc) or post-fight when the opponent is no longer in a position to attack. There is room for terse dialog in a heated battle. However, fighters won't waste precious energy and breath waxing poetic in a monolog.
Unless...your monolog's purpose is to highlight one character's arrogance, endurance, and skill over another character's exhaustion. Or for comedic effect as in the sword fight scene in The Princess Bride.  
 

Climatic Battle: The main fight against the villain should come at the climax, and should be the biggest, most difficult fight in the story. If the most exciting fight is with a minion earlier in the book, it makes the climax appear dull in comparison. Many times the main character has to fight the villain earlier in the book, but at that point he/she hasn’t grown yet. The main character shouldn’t be able to defeat the villain until the completion of his/her character arc.

Choreography: Do you want your fight to be a quick exchange of a few blows or an epic battle? If a character wants to sneak up on his victim and quietly knock him out, he might use a choke hold until the victim passes out. For more action and movement, you can choreograph a fight scene with punches, blocks, kicks, and throws. Or maybe your characters are weapon-wielding gladiators. The specific techniques your battle calls for will depend on the character’s training and skill level.

Pay attention to the characters’ distance from each other. If they are further away, they might use weapons or kicks for reach. When closer they can punch, block, and slug it out. If very close, they can uppercut under the chin, into the neck, or into the groin. Elbows and knees are good for in-close fighting. Maybe a character takes the other guy down and they start grappling (wrestling). Arm bars, locks, or chokes can be used either on the ground or standing. The possibilities are only limited to your imagination.

Remember your fight scene must drive your story forward. The fighting must be within character and believable. If you aren’t sure something will work, get out of the chair, find a willing partner, and experiment with your fight choreography together.

What are some of your tips for writing fight scenes?

~K.M. Fawcett
Captive (The Survival Race series book 1)  
A rookie cop and an alpha gladiator band together to escape their alien captors in a chilling race for survival and soon discover freedom isn’t all they desire.