I have a narrow definition of honorable that includes a sanction by a trusted authority (coach or referee). Generally limited to the weapons you get in mma. But I wouldn’t get on a high horse about HEMA or Lethwei. There would also be an objective that turns it from combat to a combat sport so that you have a goal you can achieve (e.g. the 10-10 round system in boxing where your goal as a boxer is to make your opponent lose a point every round or get KO’d).

1. This preserves the fighters so they can keep doing it. If you’re trying to learn or make a living, you have a significantly shorter time to participate if you get a bunch of elbows to the back of the head or you always walk away missing a small digit.

2. Fighting is fun and as martial artists in any sort of community, being brutal doesn’t reflect well on the rest of us. How many people believe that their first course in BJJ is going to be them being used as a rag doll by some asshole and avoid it?

3. I don’t think it’s an effective means of self defense. If you’re losing a fight - say they have you mounted, if you grab at their groin and it doesn’t immediately end the fight, your hands that are down by their junk aren’t protecting your eyes and you’re now losing a fight with an escalated level of violence. Also, you know how boxers have maybe 50% accuracy punching the head, the thing they train to do? How much of the head is composed of eyes? What if they close them with a natural reflex when your hand gets close? It’s a small and unreliable target and more likely than some mortal kombat finisher, you just upset a person 100x more and put yourself in a higher level of danger. It’s one thing to get KO’d and wake up next to a dumpster with a cracked tooth and rib, it’s another to wake up blind with a cracked pelvis (both situations might be lethal, but one of them is more highly associated with morbidity). Biting exposes the back of the head and the teeth and the focus on your face also leaves your groin open (which is now a prioritized target). If you flinch upon retaliation, you have a super exposed head (with eyes) and a compromised position because you had to sacrifice posture to get your head in position to bite. In the end, the only way to win in self defense is to make your way back home. It doesn’t matter at all how injured your opponent is or how justified you would be in striking them. There might be a situation where escalating force in the middle of a fight gives you that opening to escape, but more likely you’re just inviting your opponent into deeper waters and preventing what could have been a deescalation - even a temporary one where you could have ran.

4. And I learned this from you comrades, if you want deterrence, use a weapon. Have friends with you. Avoid dangerous situations. SAY YOU’RE SORRY WHEN IT WAS THEIR FAULT. GIVE THEM YOUR WALLET. You just prevented 95 % of the fights you’re likely to encounter. Brandishing a weapon just prevented another 4% (or caused you to die by the sword - I hope you had a good reason). Most things are preferable to violence because it’s chaotic, scary, and can cause morbidity and mortality. Fighting for your bodily autonomy, I would argue, is a niche case compared to the number of fruitless fights that you could otherwise prevent or flee from. But for those, an honest to God weapon like pepper spray, a knife, or a gun would set the tone appropriately.

5. “but what about praxis?” I’m some dumb asshole, don’t ask me about praxis. I’m a shit poster on a website that’s an off shoot of an offshoot of a podcast by a couple of film geeks. What do I know about what’s worth fighting for?

But you should get into honorable combat. Wrestling, boxing, judo, kickboxing, muay thai, and BJJ are all incredibly fun and rewarding. Nothing made me more adamant about not wanting to do dishonorable fighting as much as a greater understanding what a fight entails.

Because if a person is beating the shit out of somebody and is technically winning, the “loser” still being able to do severe damage makes it harder to look like they’ve won.

We are above animals. Our hands are tools, and our teeth for eating and talking. Do not ignore that humans have our minds as our greatest weapon.

To use them as an animal does is to become less than human. You are a savage beast and society should treat you as such. You have forsaken your true gift to “gain” what even a rodent possesses.

It is not only dishonourable but inhuman.

even monkeys aren’t predators. what allowed humans to hunt was the invention of sharp sticks, and even then there was mostly gathering

If you’re tearing flesh you’re now out to kill is sort of a reason. Fights aren’t generally attempts at murder.

If it’s that kind of fight by all means though

Edit: oh cool everyone else is on the same page with that already. Good