I am a fan of MMA.

 

No wait… I would say rather that I am a fan of some of its fighters.

 

There are some fighters, representing the Martial Arts at its finest in MMA.

 

There are also some fighters who represent the revolutionary primordial ooze at its finest instead. But that’s good because it serves as a great measuring stick for the difference between the Martial Artist and the barroom brawler.

 

There are many characteristics, which can and should be used to measure the Martial Art spirit of an individual. I would like to speak of one in particular, that being the mentality one should have when going into a fight.

 

(For you Social Combat Artists out there, the fight need not only be physical as you well know. Facing any challenge would require the same list of needs a physical fight would.)

 

As a back drop for this pre-fight mental prep, I would like to use the upcoming fight between Penn and Pierre, widely considered two of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.

 

I am also going to do something, which most bloggers and columnists are way too scared to do. I am going to make a definitive prediction.

 

I believe that BJ Penn will win this fight hands down, and I base it upon the hearing of one particular thought as expressed by the fighters.

 

There has been a lot of hype leading up to this fight and I have had the opportunity to hear a lot of things being said by both fighters and their camps. One thing however, interested me more than anything else. During each fighter’s interview, they both touched upon their goals for this fight. I will some up both fighters’ goals as follows:

 

Pierre: Intends to be a legend.

 

Penn: Wants to beat Pierre.

 

These factors, in my mind, are really what it boils down to. A good fighter has to be practical. He must understand clearly the task at hand and accomplish it. BJ seems to have a clear grasp of what he wants and needs to do. He needs to beat Pierre… period.

 

Pierre wants to be a legend, and well, who doesn’t. But a true fighter is not wrapped up in the dreams of fame or glory when they go into a fight. A true fighter sees the hard cold facts and then pounds them till they yield to his will.

 

People don’t turn themselves into legends. That’s the fans job. The more grounded a person is, the more amazing his accomplishments will seem to those spectators who wont and don’t risk the simple hardships and reality of battle. A good fighter doesn’t see the glory but rather a straightforward task to be accomplished.

 

I think BJ has the right focus and Pierre has lost it.

We’ll just have to wait and see.       

As we all know, Israel is embroiled in a battle against a ruthless terrorist enemy. This is not the first time Israel has had to contend with a culture possessing absolutely zero regard for human life.

Their lessons were hard learned, but learned well. So much so, that Israel’s strategy and doctrine for urban warfare has been adopted by the US for their war in Iraq.

It should be noted that this urban warfare strategy was designed to achieve the pinpoint striking of terrorists, avoidance of civilians (even though sometimes the difference between terrorist and civilian is often dictated by the number of guns free to go around), and all this while attempting to minimize the risk to their own soldiers.

This strategy is to be distinguished from Israeli strategy’s biggest detractor, Europe, whose past urban warfare strategy clashes greatly with that of Israel’s, having a far greater emphasis on the local, civilian populations. You know… really trying to get to know the people on a more personal level by way of rape, pillage and murder.

And this brings us to a very pressing matter for Israel, and that is the need for Israel to engage the enemy on a second front.

“Are you nuts?” you ask.

Well please hear me out before attacking me with your disproportionate responses.

 

Israel, although being far superior, militarily speaking, to its hostile neighbors, and despite having had pulled off some miraculous military feats over its short modern history, has been losing a battle of public opinion, image and political standing, throughout the world since the early eighties. Whether mainstream Israel was initially unaware of this or recklessly chose to ignore it, is a moot point. In the early nineties, a small number of Israeli “elite” who saw themselves as the dinner party refuges of the world due to Israel’s stance toward its hostile neighbors, chose the land for piece approach to win the accolades of their high society role models. It is not difficult to see where that has gotten us, and this small contingent’s desperate calls for more of the same is finally falling on the mainstream publics terror frustrated, bitter at having been used and mislead, ears. The right wing’s strong standing in Israel’s polls for the upcoming Israeli elections are proof positive to this welcome about face of the Israeli street.

 

Israel has now begun to fight back in this media war with all the ingenuity that characterizes its military prowess. A newbie to the game to be sure, but they’re learning fast. With a new IDF YouTube channel uncovering the human rights crimes of Hamas, as they make their way through the civilian booby trapped neighborhoods of Gaza, and the control of media exposure for the deliriously nostalgic, sixties-antiestablishment, agenda driven, international press, is a very good start.

However, all of Israel’s media and public relations offensives have been directed against the Palestinians themselves. There is another enemy being ignored, the self-proclaimed moral barometer of the world, i.e., the Left.

The Left take many forms. Most notable is the international, mainstream media outlets like the BBC and CNN, but there are also many players in the academic and entertainment worlds (funny how academia and entertainment go so well together), as well as anyone looking to be apart of the trend driven, removed from reality, world of the intellectual elite (hence the name).

Here is a breakdown of a typical exchange on the battlefield of public opinion:

1)            The Palestinians accuse Israel of human rights atrocities.2)            Israel responds (often too tentatively but they are getting better) either that it is really the Palestinians’ fault, or that they will look into the matter.3)            The Left jump into the fracas and support the Palestinians that Israel is guilty.4)            Israel reiterates to the Left that it is the Palestinians fault.

What you have then is Israel vs. the Palestinians, the Palestinians vs. Israel, and the Left vs. Israel. Mud is flying at Israel from two directions, at the Palestinians from one, and the Left is getting off scot-free. The thing about mud is that it sticks. No matter what you’re wearing, if enough mud is thrown, you’re going to get dirty.

It doesn’t matter how many times Israel exposes the accusations against her to be viciously contrived, the damage builds over time. The fact that the Palestinians are accruing (much deserved) mud as well would be enough if it were not for the fact that an unscathed ally were sticking up for them. It is high time the Left pay the price for their addict like fixation with, and romanticizing of, the murderous, suicidal terrorist and his crusade against the western establishment.

In war, as in any contest, the best defense is a good offense. Should Israel manage to put the Left on the defensive. Should the agenda driven journalist operate with the fear of being labeled a fraud, and the academic of being accused of murderous collaboration, and the Hollywood/Rock star of being perpetuators of human injustice, then we may just be privy to seeing truth and civility and general good, begin to prevail in the battle for society’s soul.

 

When I hear of people like UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon, attacking Israel for using disproportionate force against their palestinian attackers, it really burns me up.   

As a martial artist, I find it completely irresponsible of people, without any combat experience, judging what should be considered appropriate force or not.   

There was an infamous incident in my community where a man walking home at night was attacked by three teenagers.  He was thrown to the ground where the attackers proceeded to beat him where he lay.  The victim happened to have a gun, which he wisely opted to use, and shot his attackers. The attackers did not die but were in serious condition and some are maimed to this day. The victim is in jail, and if I am not mistaken, serving out a four year sentence. The judge ruled that the victim used disproportionate force, more then what was necessary to defend himself.   

Really?   

And just what are your credentials to form such an opinion Mr. Law man?   

As a martial artist I am aware that if those boys accidentally did something right, and stomped on the temple or neck, in the right way, they could have easily killed their victim.   

Are we suggesting he play the odds that they would not hit him where and how it could be lethal. Well, to do that he would have to know how many stomps the three attackers were planning to execute before he could make a guestimate with his life.   

Perhaps he should have asked them.   

“Excuse me, I know your busy and all, but if you could stop stepping on my face for just one moment and tell me how many times you plan to stomp on my head, I’d really appreciate it. Just throw out a round number.”   

How could this judge tell what kind of force a situation would require, when the closest they ever got to combat was probably watching the protagonist get slapped in the face by his would be girlfriend in some chick flick.   

I believe, that just how you would need an expert witness to assess if a defendant was temporarily insane or suffering from some sort of medical condition, which would explain the defendant’s actions… You need an expert in combat to asses what kind of force a self-defense situation would call for, and if the defender was acting properly in their choice of action. 

What the “disproportionate force” rhetoric is basically saying, is that if your attacker is incompetent, then you have to defend yourself incompetently as well or teach him how to attack better. Just so long that evil has a fair shot.

I wonder what our moral overlords at the UN would have said to the ever heroic and unforgettable response to bully’ism… “That’s not a knife…now that’s a knife!”

“Uh, excuse me, Mr. Crocodile. That knife is not regulation size. You’re gonna have to find something a little smaller if you want to save your little heroin over there.”

Enough with the artificial morality of equal force.

THIS ISN’T A SPORT HERE PEOPLE… IT’S LIFE AND DEATH!   

In most cases I would say, you can’t judge a fight if your not a fighter.    

However, in Israel’s current battle with the palestinians, even someone with a PhD in stupidity could see that Israel is more than justified in its response to the evil terror unleashed upon her.    

Perhaps Secretary Moon is simply disappointed that many of the palestinian rockets just aren’t killing Jews.    

Maybe if we all color coordinate and form a bull’s-eye in one of those fields where these rockets often, miraculously fall, he would feel we were giving the palestinians more of a fighting chance.    

We could make a day out of it…bring some hot dogs…sing some peace songs.      

The truth is, Israel has been using disproportionate force. If they really wanted to be proportionate they would have to fire indiscriminately at palestinian civilians instead of pinpointing combatants. Not only that, but Israel would have to keep this up for eight years with the palestinians holding back, to let Israel catch up.    

If Israel is guilty of anything, it’s of being criminally negligent in the defense of its own citizens by waiting eight years to do something.    

The next time the UN Secretary General opens his mouth to support murderers and condemn the innocent…   

 I’d like to see somebody Ban-Ki his moon with disproportionate force.