I’ve been training boxing and martial arts for a few years now.

Striking is not something I’ve done before. The subtleties take some understanding.

Attacking is great with the trainer holding pads. Drilling basic combinations without having any punches come back at you is simple.

It feels great to hit the pad right in the centre, over and over.

Bur being hit is a totally different thing.

Learning to defend punches and throw your own in response is a whole different ballgame.

The fear centre of our brain starts to respond.

“I’m under attack!”, “WTF do I do now???”

Anything we’ve learned, even basic defensive moves, can be hard to pull off as the brain takes over, screaming at us to cover up.

The eyes close as a fist comes towards them. And rarely does anything good happen immediately after this.

Think about this in other parts of life. There’s definitely some similarities.

We get into an argument or any kind of heightened emotional state and the red mist arrives.

We say things we don’t mean to.

We can’t think clearly.

Unless we’re prepared, unless we have a plan, bad things can happen.

The distinction between these two skills, and the importance of knowing what to do when either of them arrives, is worth some contemplation.