Self Defense or Macho?

My take on this is;

A lot of people don't want to hurt anyone and have peaceful lives. For them, knives will always be tools, and never be weapons.

However, fighting is "cool", knife fighting is "cooler", and it's good sport. Peaceful people have long enjoyed combat sports, and they are good training in case you ever need the skills for the real deal.

My only problem arises when you have people who haven't been in any/many real fights but claim to be masters of defense, or people who just get "over the top" on the macho thing.

 
"A lot of people don't want to hurt anyone and have peacful lives. For them, knifes will always be tools and never be weapons."

I don't want to hurt anyone and feel I lead a peacful life. However, I do believe that if a situation presented itself, such as defending my wife, kids, someone in a parking lot that I don't know, or myself, that I would indeed hurt someone using what ever weapon (hands, knife, firearm, or big stick) that would suite the situation. At that time my knife would change from a tool to a weapon. My gun, from a sporting arm to a weapon. My hands from a body part to a weapon.

I have not studied martial arts, but do not intend to act as a coward if a threat is iminent. I beleive that all the advise given by all the "experts" as to "give them what they want" is a bunch of crap.

Search out Jeffery Sniders "A Nation of Cowards" on the internet and read it.

I hope I didn't stray too far from anthony's original intended point.
 
The same essential criticism could be leveled at many human activities. Survivalism, Martial Arts, Combat Shooting, Hunting, etc. If you sift through the posts in the "tactics and training" sections, I dont think you will find anyone claiming that they want to get into a knife fight. The need for survivalism, combat shooting, and martial arts is disconcerting. That does not mean that it is invalid, or not real. That someone has an interest in these things reminds some souls that life is not always safe and gentle, and that it is sometimes 'scary.' So they want to do away with reminders of 'scary' thoughts. This also is where the anti-gun argument comes from.

There are many motives for studying and practicing combat skills. For myself, preparedness and the personal gratification I get from learning a skill are foremost. Other motives would be exercise, and some primal psychological connection with weaponry.

I dont want to play 'sports' they are BORING. I dont want to jog, do aerobics, or hang out with the boys at the gym, ITS BORING. Knife and combative training is FUN, and potentially VERY USEFUL. But I PROMISE that I DO NOT want to get into a knife fight, under any circumstances. I also promise, that if I have to, to protect my life or that of a loved one, I will not hesitate to use a weapon against another 'human being.'

Knives are easy to carry, and for the most part legal, so they are a valid self-defense tool. No way around it, thats how some people view knives, because it is a valid use of the tool.

Not to be antagnonistic, but in my time on this forum I have noticed several posts criticizing the 'tactical' or 'combative' connection to knives. What gives? It is completely valid and authentic, and historically significant. I don't see anyone posting in the tactical forum questioning the validity of 'knife collectors', 'game skinners' or 'whittlers' or whatever else people use the tool for.

I dont hunt. I own many guns. I belong to the NRA (tho sometimes I wonder why). I own guns because I enjoy shooting and tinkering with them, and I appreciate their history and self-evident appeal as objects. BUT my primary reason for owning a gun is because other 'humans' have guns, and I really do not have much faith in the benevolence of human nature. So you could say that the main reason I own a gun is in case I have to shoot or kill another human being some day. If this makes people want to legislate or lobby or object to my having a gun, then its all the more need I feel to have a gun, because they want to take away my ability to defend myself against 'humans' who would threaten my life or liberty.

As far as what the 'general public' thinks...who is the 'general public.' It sound conspicuously like the 'they' of paranoids. I could never structure my life, much less my conscience based on the sensiblities of the 'general public.' The 'general public' are the same people who eat the garbage they serve at fast-food places, and wait in line all day in the sun so that they can pay $$$$ to sit in a sweaty crowd and watch other people throw a ball back and forth.

My knife is a tool. My weapons are tools. If this hurts someones feelings, then I strongly sugguest they wave their magic wand and make malice and misadventure dissapear. Then I'll take up handball or macreme or something.

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"The snake that cannot shed its skin perishes.
So do thinkers who cannot change their opinions;
they cease to think."
-NIETZSCHE
 
I agree that machismo gets more people into an altercation than to prevent an altercation to begin with. I work Federal Law Enforcement and carry a pistol and a knife on a regular basis, however, I pray i never have to use either one in an altercation. I believe the pen is mightier than the sword, and an individual can generally be talked into or out of anything. I believe in an altercation my first attack must be made with my witts and abilities to remain calm. communication is the key, not violent actions or reaction
 
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