Who better to interview about problems writers have in writing hand-to-hand fight scenes? I thought. Luckily, Alan agreed and below are some answers to some questions I asked him on this topic.

PB: In your experience what is the thing that most authors get wrong about unarmed combat?

AB: People try to write fight scenes like the things they've seen in the movies. That makes it all unbelieveable action without any of the visceral emotions and entanglements of actual fighting. Some movie fights are getting better, but not many! Most movie fighting is really bad. People take numerous hits, any one of which would finish a real fight, then they take their turn and so on. Fighting never happens with fighters trading turns - this is a movie technique used for clarity. Fighting is anything but clear! At the end, the hero is often uninjured, which is completely unrealistic. A real fight is a nasty, messy affair and is usually over with in a few seconds. Even a long drawn out fight would rarely take more than a minute, with lots of pausing, moving around and stalemates involved.

PB: How important is continual training to a fighter's success? Or is experience, knowledge and the will to make telling blows sufficient?

AB: Experience and knowledge are the real keys to success, but it has to be tempered with rigorous training. You have to train long and hard to be good at fighting. Going to a martial arts class once a week is a hobby - you'll never be a class fighter. Constantly training, improving yourself and testing yourself is essential. After several years have been spent this way a fighter could probably back off on the training to some degree. The skills stay with you and the experience is forever. But a body can get soft and skills get rusty very quickly.

PB: How important is attitude? Case in point, your character Carlos in 'RealmShift' manages to terrorise and physically dominate many people after releasing himself from hospital. He is still injured, but this does not slow him down. And, yes I do realise there are two sides to this question, so please feel free to answer both.

AB: I think it was Mark Twain that said, "It ain't the size of the dog in the fight; it's the size of the fight in the dog." Attitude is everything. You need the skills and training to back it up, but without the right attitude you're lost. Carlos is a good example. He believes himself to be a weapon, has nothing but contempt for others and is convinced that his skills make him something like a god on earth. That translates into an incredible confidence which can easily be imposed on people. I've stepped on the mat before and known I've won a fight before the first bell. Sometimes my attitude has unnerved an opponent and you just know they're going to lose. In real life, this happens even more. I've avoided fights by attitude alone, where someone has changed their mind about fighting me. But, you must have the training to back up your attitude! Attitude on its own only carries you as far as the first real fighter you meet.

PB: Can you suggest the sorts of clues that an experienced fighter would look for when assessing how dangerous a particular person might be? I'm not talking attitude here, more the sort of physical sign that says, 'danger' or conversely the sort of thing that says, 'amateur'.

AB: Good question.

A good fighter will always look at the body language of a potential threat. How is he/she standing? Are his feet together (no threat yet) or apart, one foot slightly behind (potential threat). Also, how does the person hold his hands? A seemingly placatory hand position or gesture can very quickly be turned into a defensive or offensive guard. If someone is standing up in your face then they put one foot back they are about to launch a punch at you any second. Is the person paying attention to their surroundings? A good fighter will always know what obstacles are around. Are they moving to get the advantage of the terrain? Also, look at a person's face and neck. By their expression and face/neck tension a good fighter can tell if the person is all bluster or serious about meaning harm. Also check the breathing. The calmer the breath, the more a person is controlling their energy and adrenaline. If a person is breathing slow and deep and standing in a non-threatening position, that means that they don't feel particularly threatened, but they are almost certainly coiled inside and ready to act/react.

There are thousands of other things an experienced fighter will look for or recognise (many of them subconsciously) and only years of training and experience can teach a person all these things.

PB: Have you yourself ever been in a serious fight outside of competition?

AB: Once or twice. I had something of a volatile youth.

PB: Care to elaborate?

AB: Not really. :)

PB: Did it teach you anything that you have used in your writing?

AB: The emotions and adrenaline of fighting are unique. You can get close in full contact competition, but it's not the same as suddenly finding yourself really fighting. I suppose I've used those experiences to make my writing more realistic.

PB: What is your personal philosophy about violence and how has your martial arts training changed this philosophy?

AB: My philosophy is a little bit un-PC! First and foremost, there's usually no need for violence. Things can be settled with conversation and understanding. If there's the opportunity to get away from a fight, then do. Run away and live another day. Fighting is a nasty business and you will almost certainly get hurt, whether you win or lose. However, and here's the un-PC bit, some people only understand the language of a good ass-whooping. It's handy to be capable of handing that out if necessary. And here we get back to the attitude thing - the longer I've trained, the better I've become, the less I've had to fight. I can usually stop a fight before it happens and that's a result of all these years of training.

PB: Is there anything else you would like to tell the writers reading this interview about properly representing hand-to-hand combat in fiction?

Don't copy the movies! This is a big subject and difficult to get right without experience. Rather than go out and get into fights for your writing, talk to fighters. Talk to ring fighters like Muay Thai fighters and boxers and ask about their experiences. If you really want to learn about it, then go and sign up with a good martial arts club. By good, I mean one that does lots of pad work and sparring, so that you get to learn about this stuff and practice it, feel it, and then translate that into your writing.

I'd like to thank Alan for his time and suggest that people who want to find out more about his martial arts and his writing have a look at his website where he is also giving away some free serialised fiction.

References:

Alan Baxter's website.

http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/