Do you have it inside you?

Hey folks, I am in an odd mood, so this may be an odd question to some. But my question is, do you have the mental toughness you need to fight? I am not talking about a competition, or a tournament. I mean, a real fight. When the rubber hits the road, do you have what it takes to really hurt someone? I know that there are a lot of bullies out there, but I am talking about us civilized folks. In the nitty-gritty of a live confrontation, can you break something on someone? As a judo player, could you throw someone on hard concrete? As a aikidoka, could you break someone's wrist? As a kickboxer, could you continue to knee a person in the face until they are limp?

The answer should be yes. Do NOT get me wrong, I am not a violent man. But I do believe that if a real fight ensues, one should be prepared to take it to whatever lengths neccesary. If you can control a person with a minimum of violence, great, that is what we hope for. But if it requires taking a person's life, are you able to take it there?

Remember, technical skill is only part of our battle. We need mental strength in order to keep our martial arts alive. Hopefully, the people reading this will never need to use their martial arts skills. But for those of us who do, we need to be able to defend ourselves, by any means neccesary.