death

[swan104]

I'm not sure if I fear death or pain more...

[Jkd_SiLaT]

"Life isn't short, it just seems that way because we die forever"

[Crouchtig]

i don't conciously fear death. i see it as like sleeping: youve had a whole day in which to do things, its been fun but now your tired. why not end the day and go to sleep? (replace day with life and sleep with death).
But on an instinctive level, i have evolved to avoid death wherever possible.
I try desperately not to die but i dont really fear death.
its more fun to live than to die
but if your going to die anyway why not now?

im afraid that was all a bit fragmented and unorganised.
thats how my brain works
always jumping about

[mr. bond]

of course we do fear death, but we can't get so wrapped up in the possibility of death that we can't go out to a bar because there may be a drunk with a knife that could kill us or we can't walk down a street at night without fear.

in a combat situation, you have to keep your mind on the combat itself and not the possibility that you may die or be injured.

[Black Swann]

Hi Guys

This is kind of the thing that got me into martial arts. Back when I was younger I was jumped on in the street by a few older lads, drunk of course who found it prudent to put me into hospital on a ventilator for a few weeks and physical and emotional scars to prove it.

I can definately identify with this thread. If not for this I would not have taken up Karate, Aikido, Jiu Jutsu and Tai Chi. Having seen what defeat, ridicule and helplessness had to offer I hated it and decided to do something about it.

I feel more alive when I am training than at any other time. Anyway im going to stop blithering on now...

Thanks for reading....

[Keeper]

Black Swann,

good luck in your training and in life. The martial arts can take you far (as you know).

Keeper

[jukado1]

fear of death.

There is a differance between "fear of death" and "awareness of death" the awareness devlopes (common sense) boy, is that ever an oxymoren, awareness causes us to wear a seatbelt when driving a car, or look both ways when crossing a street. but when you drive a car do you sit there white knuckles on yhe steering wheel, or do you concentrate on driving? if you ask a race driver, they know the dangers they face, but when driving they commit to concentrating on driving, if they were focased on the danger they face, they could not safely drive, they totaly commit to driving at that point. in self-defense and fighting we need that same focas.

[grubbogoppoly]

I personally don't believe that death is what most people fear. It is the things associated with death that most people fear. Are you afraid of death or the knife stuck in your gut. Just a thought.

[Kingston]

...i can tell you this. If there was NO chance that a knife in my gut would kill me...it would probably make a good party trick!!

Fearing a knife in your gut is fear of death in my opinion.

I dont think people fear death of old age though....its more the premature death. Perhaps a violent death is more frightning.

Allot of people relate pain and death....."it hurt so much i thought i was going to die"

Lets face it, allot of the time pain/feer/death all happens at the same time.

It is hard to die without some kind of suffering before hand. Mental or physical.

It is possible to overcome to fear of death....but in those cases, it is a trial of will power (and one that is an on going struggle) or there is some force that is more powerfull then your fear of death that is guiding you.

This could be a depression, or sence of honor or duty.

[grubbogoppoly]

No. .Not really. .The knife in my gut is separate from death. If I have a knife in my gut am I dead? No. You are dead when you cease to breathe anymore(loose definition). Yes the knife in the gut leads to your death. But, I don't fear that part I fear the part where I have an intense pain in my gut. Not like those butterflies in the stomach lol.

[adacas]

Well I for one am afraid of death. I know its coming I know its inevitable but I can't help but feel that there has to be something I can do to avoid it. I like that part. I like the fact that when a tough situation comes I would not just sit there and accept it but I would keep trying to overcome it. I guess that is hope. Also fear of death really isn't bad so long as it doesn't interfere with everyday life. A soldier going into battle is afraid of death but he does not allow it to interefere with what he is doing. The fear of death keeps him alive by not letting his senses go dull but when you fear death too much though it will interefere with your reflexes and thought process. Someone who wants to die seems like a zombie right before they walk in front of a bus. Just read about all of the descriptions of the Vietnam War when wave after wave of vietcong deliberately ran into opposing fire. The looks on there faces were emotionless and still. They felt that death could not possibly be any worse than the life they were living and so did not care too much and felt that the glory they thought they would receive after their death was more than enough. This is also part of the mentality of a suicide bomber. Lets face it their lives suck. They feel they don't have much to live for. So why not off themselves and get their faces put on a piece of canvas for all of their troubles. While a man who does not fear death seems like the ultimate weapon he is more likely to make a mistake much like a man who fears death too much. A balanced man on the other hand who respects death will get the job done much better. I am not quite there yet but perhaps with time I can get there.

[grubbogoppoly]

I never said that I wanted to die. Simply said I was not afraid of it. There is a separation. I still have the survival instinct. I just do not fear death. When the time comes for me to die then it will happen. I will do everything in my power to try and stop it. Not because I am afraid of death. But, because I value my life.

[Stigma]

Originally posted by reyjrar
...Even more enticing was the appearnace, or disappearance of scars on the subjects faces between personalities. Some ppl may think this is all freaky and disturbing, but for me it is proof of the amazing powers of the mind...

To me it sounds more like the amazing powers of bullshitting... But of course, by all means, if there is any real evidence or scientfic studies to back this up, feel free to correct me (with a link to a serious article or something). Certain things just arent physicly possible for the human body to do, such as this example...

[Stigma]

I think a lot of people here confuse "fear of death" with self-preservation. Lets do a very simple breakup of different types of people in a given situation.

You are cornered one evening on your way home by a bulky person wielding a sizable (potentially deadly) knife. The person is obviously high on some drug, and you quickly realize that talking sense into him, or just surrendering your wallet won't do you any good. While you desperatly try to assess the situation he lunges at you with (what you percieve to be) intent to kill. You have a split second to react before he reaches you.

A "normal" person would either panic (be overwhelmed by fear), be useless, and probably get stabbed. Likely a result of never having to had confront such fear before in our modern lives.

Other "normal" person that could keep their cool would try to defend themselves. While either trained or untrained in a martial art, a normal person would fear the blade, not only because it would cause pain, but also because you know it would be deadly to get stabbed by it. This fear would cause the person to hesitate, and play all his movements safe, likely keeping his distance from the blade whenever possible. In the end this would reduce his chances of defending himself, and likely he would also end up getting stabbed.

A person with no self-preservation instinct (who is mentally disturbed IMO), would just shrug his shoulders and accept death, or perhaps just ignore the threat completely instead. He would likely also end up stabbed (unless the weird unexpected behaviour would have confused the agressor enough that is).

A person who has "no fear of death" would act like the calm and collected normal person, but hewould not be inhibited by the fear of pain and death. Instead he would accept the possebility of beeing injured or killed as an inevitability in this case, and be able to fight at his full potential. When he dosn't fear the knife, the effect of the knife is also lessened a great deal. He dosn't throw his life away, he WANTS to live, but he does not let the natural fear hinder him.

IMO this is what many try to achieve.

[Kosh]

Originally posted by eXcessiveForce
If you forget about consequences then there is nothing you cannot do.

A person who lives by this philosophy is truely a dangerous individual.

A person who lives by that phylosophy is by definition a phsycopath.

...and if you fight as though you are already dead...why would you fight? You wouldnt care either way. If you truely had no fear of dieing there would be no motivation for anything - you will probably argue that a love for life keeps you alive. But how can you love something yet have no fear of it being take from you?