In another in her Fight Write™ series for Writer’s Digest, Carla Hoch dispels 10 myths about fighting. “Most of these legends come from the screen,” she says. “While movies and TV may try to imitate the reality of a fight, the ultimate goal is to entertain the viewer, which means some things have to be exaggerated or simply made up.”
Here are some doozies:
- Myth: Women Fighters Fight Differently Than Men. “The fact is, trained fighters are trained fighters,” Hoch says. “So, if your character is a trained female fighter, she will not do ‘girl moves.’ She will do moves that suit her size—not gender.”
- Myth: Technique Beats Size and Strength. You wish. Technique can help you hold your own, but size and strength still give an opponent a significant advantage.
- Myth: You Don’t Feel Pain When You Fight. Adrenaline lowers the pain response, but that doesn’t mean pain doesn’t register. In fact, most submission holds are based on pain, Hoch adds. “If the pain response was gone when people fought, submissions wouldn’t exist,” she notes.
- Myth: You Feel Fear as You Fight. However, adrenaline does dull the emotions. “So, when you say that your character is fighting and filled with fear at the same time, biology isn’t on the side of that being true,” Hoch writes.
- Myth: You Can Drive Someone’s Nose Bone into Their Brain. No, you can’t.
Read the rest of the myths at the link.
