The (young) women black belts at my studio -- ah, I meant to mention hip structure; thanks for reminding me. Yes, that's another base difference that is occasionally relevant. (Though really, without some fantasy trick making the fighter super-fast, roundhouse-kicking several inches above your own head is almost always a tactically bad move.)
Strength: the grizzled veteran will almost certainly be stronger, but he also almost certainly will have taken a beating over the intervening years that slows him down and stiffens him up compared to the upstart. But he's also going to be more experienced; Shihan (owner of our dojo) may be literally twice my age, but he could kick my ass with both hands tied behind his back, in his sleep. It's all a question of how those factors balance out.
Endurance: I'll probably be doing a post just on the topic of how long fights last.
Ruthlessness: yeah, my first move in a real fight would be to try and kick the knee out. I don't run very fast, so if I'm going to get away, I need to slow my attacker down. And that's a place where you can do enough real structural damage that adrenaline won't be enough to keep the target going.
Good call on the pain tolerance; that should definitely go in the list above. I have a friend whose nerves are literally not as sensitive as most people's; it takes a lot more pain to give him pause. (But that is a very mixed blessing: pain can be a sign that you're about to injure yourself. If you don't get that sign, you might do something you really shouldn't, without realizing.)
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yati
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Date: 2011-01-06 08:59 pm (UTC)Strength: the grizzled veteran will almost certainly be stronger, but he also almost certainly will have taken a beating over the intervening years that slows him down and stiffens him up compared to the upstart. But he's also going to be more experienced; Shihan (owner of our dojo) may be literally twice my age, but he could kick my ass with both hands tied behind his back, in his sleep. It's all a question of how those factors balance out.
Endurance: I'll probably be doing a post just on the topic of how long fights last.
Ruthlessness: yeah, my first move in a real fight would be to try and kick the knee out. I don't run very fast, so if I'm going to get away, I need to slow my attacker down. And that's a place where you can do enough real structural damage that adrenaline won't be enough to keep the target going.
Good call on the pain tolerance; that should definitely go in the list above. I have a friend whose nerves are literally not as sensitive as most people's; it takes a lot more pain to give him pause. (But that is a very mixed blessing: pain can be a sign that you're about to injure yourself. If you don't get that sign, you might do something you really shouldn't, without realizing.)