Hand-to-Hand Combat: It takes more than just “he punched, she kicked.”
1. Physical Accuracy
Leverage & Technique: Real fights aren’t just about strength. A smaller fighter can drop a bigger opponent by using balance, angles, and momentum (think judo throws, joint locks, sweeps).
Range Matters: Fights transition—long range (kicks), mid-range (punches), close-range (elbows, knees, grappling). Switching ranges is realistic.
Breathing & Fatigue: Real fights gas people out in seconds. Characters don’t trade a hundred blows like a Marvel scene. Show them panting, arms heavy, desperate.
Injury Consequences: A single well-landed strike can change everything—broken nose, dislocated shoulder, busted knee. Don’t have your character eat ten hits and shrug it off unless they’re superhuman.
2. Sensory Detail
Sound: Flesh on flesh is a dull thwack, not a sharp crack. Bone breaks? Wet snap. Breathing becomes ragged, teeth grit, knuckles scrape concrete.
Pain & Body Feedback: A hit to the ribs feels like fire spreading across the chest. Blood fills the mouth metallic, vision blurs after a head strike.
Environment: Walls, tables, gravel, furniture; fighters use what’s around them. Getting shoved into drywall or a counter is as devastating as a clean punch.
3. Psychological Realism
Adrenaline: Tunnel vision, shaky hands, slowed perception, explosive bursts of strength.
Intent: Not every blow is meant to kill. Some fighters try to incapacitate, intimidate, or escape. Make the why of their fighting influence the how.
Fear vs. Training: An untrained brawler swings wild. A trained fighter stays tight, efficient, economical. That contrast alone can tell the reader who they are.
4. Writing Style & Flow
Clarity over Chaos: Avoid blow-by-blow play-by-play (“He punched. She blocked. He ducked.”). Instead, group actions into beats that flow.
Example: He lunged, fists hammering wildly; she stepped inside the swing, and jammed an elbow into his ribs. The air rush out of him in a brutal wheeze before he could recover.
Pacing: Keep sentences shorter, sharper, when the fight is intense; mimics adrenaline. Then expand after a takedown, when the moment stretches.
Character Voice: A soldier’s internal narration won’t match a street kid’s. One notices openings and guard drops, the other thinks in scrappy desperation (“Hit him before he hits me”).
5. Things Writers Screw Up (Don’t Do This)
❖ Endless choreographed exchanges with no fatigue.
❖ Ignoring injuries until convenient.
❖ Making every move clean and elegant. Real fights are messy, clumsy, brutal.\
❖ Forgetting recovery: sore knuckles, bruises, limps after.
⚔️ Pro Tip: Watch real sparring or self-defense breakdowns (boxing, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, BJJ). You’ll see how fights collapse into chaos fast, and how even trained fighters don’t look like Hollywood superheroes.
Check out 👉 Bad vs Better Fight Scene 🎬🩸 for more!
