Several female fighters of my acquaintance have a serious difficulty in both tournaments and melees. They find it nigh impossible to act with the “Killer Instinct”. They love the fight but cannot make the kill. Or they seem to be so absorbed by the action that they forget about winning. Men, normally have no trouble with this situation…we are hardwired to conflict. In fact, we have difficulty avoiding it. Men tend to forget the fighting (as an abstract) and concentrate on winning. Women are not naturally geared to conflict and I am having a hard time training the “Killer” into my students. What do you suggest?
Baron Hamish MacLeod
Eichling Says:
Kolfinna has requested that I write the response to this question, because she has never had trouble with this aspect of fighting. For her, asking about “Killer Instinct” is like asking a fish about water. On the other hand, this has always been a difficult part of fighting for me to attain, which qualifies me to at least discuss it.
There is a broad range of internal viewpoints among the top fighters in the SCA. These perspectives run from one Earl who imagined his ex-wife’s face in the helmet of his opponent, her hair flowing out behind, to another fighter of equal rank who approached a Zen-like state of tranquility when he fought at his best.
Your question of how to release the “Killer Instinct” in your trainees may not be the best one to ask. May I rephrase it to: How can I get the best focus among my students, increasing their probability of winning?
I am not a “Killer” sort of a person, and indeed am philosophically resistant to trainers who attempt to tell me that this is the only route to success. Yet I am sufficiently skilled to have been offered the accolade. (No. I have not yet accorded myself the right to accept that offer.)
I do not try to kill my opponent. I try to fight beautifully, gloriously, perfectly. I do not even particularly try to win; I try to be so good that I cannot lose. I fight at my best when I fight against a tough opponent who loves to fight as much as I do.
My advice to you, Your Excellency, is to train your students to go to the top of whatever mindset is naturally theirs. The pigeonhole of “Killer Instinct” is too small to encompass all of the top fighters in the SCA.
Patrick Says:
My chivalry demands that I maintain empathy for my opponent. However there is a reason the concept of using the “killer instinct” is so well know. Because it works!
I had to find a way to balance these concepts, to dehumanize my opponent without objectifying them to the point that I forgot their welfare and damaged them negligently.
For example, we can still have empathy for the lamb, and yet slaughter it for our dinner table. Taking care not to unnecessarily hurt or cause pain, yet consume it for our position on the food chain.
I apply this philosophy to my fighting by dehumanizing my opponent for the fight without losing empathy for them using the following analogy:
Treat your opponent they way you would treat your brand new $1200 damask steel sword. Of course you are going to swing the weapon at a wood pell to try the blade (come on you know you want to…).
However you will only hit as hard as is necessary and as often as is necessary and only in the way necessary to accomplish the goal of testing the blade and feeling the experience of a real sword fight/strike.
You must still hit the wood pell realistically, as if you were fighting for your life or life of those you protect. However you will not try to hit flat with the blade, with excessive force or pound repeatedly like a maniac.
