I've learned a lot from my dad. I suppose we all do! But in conversation today, I was reminded of a real gem. I'll share this brief conversation from yesteryear with you. First, a little background:
My father grew up in a very rough area - in his words, "we had to fist fight to get on the school bus, and we had to fist fight to get back off!"
He was a boxing 'golden gloves' champion... and he served a career as a prison guard (retiring as a day-shift Captain of a maximum-security prison. Not only that, but he retired as commander of his prison- region's Emergency Response Team - think, a prison version of SWAT).
The man was and still is a fighter - still in better shape than most 20 year olds.
And here's the point for today...
I remember him once telling me:
"Pat. If you ever have to fight, you FIGHT. You hit him hard and keep hitting him again and again until he's on the ground. As many hits as it takes. You might have to hit him in the face 20 times in a row. But you hit him until he starts falling, you hit him as he's falling, and you hit him until he's on the ground. As fast as you can swing - both hands. And if he tries to get right back up, you hit him again. Do NOT let him get up. Kick him if you have to. There's only one reason a man tries to jump back up after he's been hit. If he gets the first hit, you'll probably lose; if you let him get up he's gunna be madder than you and you'll probably lose."
Now, my dad wasn't someone you argued with, but I was a bit surprised. His wisdom wasn't exactly how I thought most fights went at that 'tender young age'.
So I said: "Is that fair? Fighting like that?"
He said: "Right now I'm not telling you what's fair! I'm telling you how to win fights. Do what I said if you want to win, don't do it if you want to lose."
He only ever told me that once, but I remember it perfectly. Many other times, he would say, "You never, ever, ever start a fight. You finish fights - you never start one. If you start a fight, you already lost because if you win, you're a jerk, and if you lose, you're a fool. Never start a fight. Only finish them."
...but that lesson on the importance of INTENSITY and of 'sealing the deal' in winning a fight is priceless, as you'll soon see when you and I take a much more ACTIONABLE and PRACTICAL and HANDS-ON dive into what it's like to actually ENTER INTO and SURVIVE and WIN INSIDE OF unplanned violence.
Yes, my friend. It's coming. Something big is coming. Stay tuned.
Poster Comment:
When we worked concert security and there was a fight, you had to jump into the middle of it and break it up. You had to be ready since sometimes they would turn on you for breaking up their fight. That job didn't pay enough to get my butt whipped, so I wouldn't let anyone do it to me.