The votes are in and the winner of the weakest creature on the planet is…….HUMAN BEINGS!
When it comes to physical ability, the human being is one of the weakest and most physically pathetic creatures on the planet. Turtles have shells to protect them. Tigers, lions and bears have sharp teeth and claws. Birds can fly. Even our household pets are more physically adept and agile than we are. To make matters worse, we destroy what little abilities we have with our vices. We inhale cigarettes to hinder our breathing and immune systems. We gorge ourselves with junk food as we sit in front of a tv avoiding physical exertion unless absolutely needed. And we poison ourselves with alcohol to further impair our abilities. To each their own, I’m not innocent of these things myself, but it leads you to wonder; how the hell did we get to the top of the food chain?
What is it that we have that no other creature on earth seems to have? For most of us, it’s our intellect. I say most of us because I’ve seen some animals outsmart humans on more than one occasion! No matter how fast, how strong, or how deadly the creature is, humans have always been far superior in handling these creatures by use of our intellect. We set traps, we build weapons, or we are simply smart enough to stay away and not get attacked.
So what does this have to do with martial arts? Everything. Without the intellect behind our new found physical abilities we are doomed to either injure ourselves or needlessly injure others. We must also understand that our physical bodies have limitations, while our minds, arguably, do not. If we don’t train our intelligence alongside our physical abilities, then our physical abilities will never reach their potential. I’ll repeat what I wrote in a previous blog (golf, book shelves and martial arts), you must ask “why” before fully understanding a technique and its use. We must constantly be aware of what separates us from all other creatures on earth and cater to it.
A good martial artist knows how to physically defend themselves in a bad situation. A great martial artist knows how to stop a fight before it starts. This is where the mental side conquers all. Most of us fight out of fear. We fear that if we don’t, we will get hurt. We fear that if we don’t, others will think less of us. We fear that if we don’t throw the first punch the other person will and we won’t get a chance. We fear that if we aren’t smart enough to fight back with our intelligence when the argument reaches a boiling point, so we fight back with our fists. We fear that if we don’t stand up and get in the face of the guy talking to our girl, he’ll steal her away from us. Most who get into fights are insecure, mentally weak, and lack confidence. Through martial arts training we gain confidence and we learn about ourselves (strengths and weaknesses). We prove ourselves to ourselves. When we know and understand our capabilities, we no longer need to prove it outside of the training center. With this knowledge comes the confidence and calmness to not get caught up into arguments that could lead to physical altercations.
So train your strength, train your speed, train your fighting skills but don’t forget to train the most powerful attribute of all, your intelligence.
No we aren’t the weakest We can sweat which makes us run longer than anything and we can think to escape or fight and we can kill many many animals like dogs with fists and kicks also we are not the weakest sloths are
you are correct sloths are weak and desperate animals which have only one defense which s climbing trees sweat helps us to run furtherer and we can strategies our plans and hit the enemies weak spots but i think koalas are also useless.
sweating can also be a downfall because we lose alot of water. and dogs can run way farther than us.
(if they are a species bred for running suck as a greyhound. but I do agree with the sloth thing
special dog breeds like greyhound do run faster than us an not further than us but the waste of water is true but it is better than having nothing 🙂
We’re stronger than slugs and earth worms those creatures can’t fight at all
we aren’t waek. and what dose winter have to do with r staneth
I feel like were not so weak at all because we can create air crafts and guns able to kill prey from up to miles away. Because of that we managed to be the apex predator of all apex predators. Think about the rockets we have made that can fly all the way to the moon. Think about how we are most likely the first planet to ever have life so complex. I honestly don´t think we´re as weak as this article says we are. But still the majority of people are on their TV all day watching movies and eating hot cheetos.
a couple things that are unique about us is our hands, our hands are the most useful tool we have. With hands so curious there is a catch though… It allows people to kill each other so easily! One thing I will say is compared to some life we are weak. Tardigrades are an example of something that is much more hardy than us. They can survive in the marina trench, in volcanoes, and even in space.
Really sorry about my bad grammar and punctuation 🙂
I got a little carried away when writing this…
Sir or Mam i totally agree with you
Ok so basically, whoesver wrote this is not thinkg that much. We create airplanes, we can manufacture guns, which can kill things or seriouly injure what ever it is more than a mile! Also small dirty bacterias can even fight with us physically, and other smal insects such as earth worm, caterpiilar, and more, they can’t even fight! Which means whoever wrote this is a nitwit period.
I assume you just read the first line and not the entire blog post. I stated that humans are “one of the” weakest. I did so as a partial joke to set up the point of the blog post. The rest of the blog post addressed EXACTLY what you stated that in which you thought I missed, the fact that our greatest asset is our intelligence. I literally wrote that we build weapons. I would suggest reassessing who the nitwit is.
It is not a JOKE! Humans are the weakest creature on Earth; this is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH! Do you know why we are weak? If we know why we are weak, we will go to the Ultimate Reality, our Creator, and hence obtain the knowledge of our purpose of existence.
You must be dense
You must be dense
For any future readers looking to comment, it seems I need to address a few things:
1. Thank you for reading! (assuming you read more than just the first line before commenting)
2. Forgive the lack of writing skills I had back then.
3. This is not a scientific, heavily researched article on how humans are weak. It’s a martial arts blog attempting to teach students that we need to train our intelligence just as much as our physical skills in regards to martial arts and self-protection.
4. Note that I stated that humans are, “one of the” weakest creatures on the planet. And note that this was done as a partial joke to set up the focal point of this blog post. The focal point is that it’s our intelligence that has lead us to dominate the planet, not our physical skills.
5. Read a better written version of this and all blog posts in my recently published book, “A Martial Artists Guide to Failing Your Way to Success – The Dan-Do Method”! You can get your copy (or ebook) on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Martial-Artists-Guide-Failing-Success/dp/1630620262 Or stop by my studio for a copy!
Again, thanks for reading and commenting, but please be respectful.
you are crazy we can still kill many many animals sure a lot of animals can kill us but that does not mean we are soooooo weak
Hi Cameron, I assume you didn’t read the full blog or other comments/replies, but please do. Note that this isn’t a scientific study, it’s a martial arts blog and it was essentially a joke to set up the point of the blog that our intelligence is what separates us from all other creatures on earth.
axolotl very weak
Not sure what this is in reference to, but merry axolotl very weak to you too!
Beautiful and insightful thoughts and writing.
Our own thoughts about ourselves, be they about low confidence, unsuredness, ‘not good enough,’ that others may have instilled in us, will cause weakness in mind as well as body.
This can be overcome by using our minds and bodies and learning and doing the work a masterful teacher offers.
We tell ourselves there is no room for excuses and remember Nike’s helpful, positive, and inspiring admonition to “Just do it.”
There is no stopping us, then.
We do not start out knowing how to do what is needed. We take charge of our own mind and bodily growth in strength while using our brain’s intelligence, through the diligent work of master’s teachings.
We listen, learn, practice, and do.
All the best to all who take this on.
You can do it!
We can do it!
Thank you for the kind words, Nannette! Glad someone actually read past the first line, haha.
Of course!
You know about what you speak. : )
Idk what you’re saying man but a Karen is one of the strongest creature on the planet. A Karen can one shot a bear with a single face slap and it will blow it to the sky. Never mess with a Karen, they’re extremely powerful and can literally kill anyone.
I completely disagree. We are actually by far the weakest even in terms of physical ability. We can squash bugs, crack tortoise shells by throwing it, and even crushing a snake with one foot that will completely destroy it There are billions and billions of creatures in this world, and out of all of that, you’re accusing one of us as the weakest creatures? Think again.
First, we are known to survive in different and devastating climates, like the harsh winters and exasperating droughts. Our ancestors back then have so much durability back in the Ice Age. We were clearly in that stage for nearly 2.4 million years yet we survived. Despite the clothing that we wear depending on the temperature, studies have shown that humans are known to survive from Antarctic temperatures all the way to absurdly high temperatures such as the Death Valley. Bears, Tigers, Wolves, Hippos, any of those animals would not have such an advanced temperature range survivability.
Next, we have high stamina capacity. No other animal has ever outrun against a human in terms of endurance, except for a few animals like pronghorns, ostriches, and even horses. What really makes us special is the fact that we have a feature on our body called sweating. Basically, sweating allows us to cool off while we’re running, while other animals such as dogs rely on panting in order to sweat. That means in order for those animals like dog to do that, they’ll have to stop at longer intervals while humans can cool off by also running. As a bonus, we don’t have fur on our body and therefore we take that advantage to run more comfortably and more efficiently. It would also be harder for hotter temperatures to stop us from running as we experience naked skin instead of worrying about a lot of fur that takes away our energy consumption and weight.
Furthermore, we are known to live in almost any habitat. We can live in forests, rain forests, tundra, deserts, mountains, plateaus, under the oceans, and even ascend to space. We are capable of living almost anywhere that is comfortable, except for oceans and space probably. But even so, there are still some humans living in those areas, such as marine biologists and astronauts. Also, some of us even have plans to live on another planet in the near future.
There are tons of reasons why we are by far the weakest in physical ability, such as bone strength, enduring diseases and infections, or even managing our diet and digestive systems. However, I completely understand that this is meant for the purpose of teaching amateur martial artists and not for biological researches, but it’s important to note that misinforming people can shape around those who weren’t informed before. The main purpose of this comment serves just to prevent more misinformation. Anyway, don’t make this too big of an issue and just enjoy with what you’re doing so far. Plus, many of the people who disagree with you have either horrible reasoning or don’t understand what’s going on.
Seems as though you spent quite a lot of time reading the other comments and writing up this comment. Wish you had spent just a little more time on actually reading my entire blog and not just the first line. If you would have, you would have read that I’ve addressed much of what you have stated in your comment and realized that the first line is meant humorously and to set up the actual point of the blog post, which is that our greatest asset is not our physical strength and agility, but our intelligence and cleverness of defeating all that has stood in our way, even if more dangerous, stronger, larger, quicker, etc. Please read to the bottom next time, it will save us both time.
Mr.B, Mr.M here. Howdy. Fair article. Too bad the people that commented, clearly didn’t read it. At least not all of them. I’m supposing there are some folks out there that never received a high school diploma, and this doesn’t bother them, and they choose to do nothing about it. I’m assuming the concept of “tongue in cheek” is also just as out of grasp for some folks. As you succinctly stated, “to each his own.” If you ever need one of these folks, for say manual labor, such as mowing your lawn, or painting your house, they’re out there right now commenting on articles and such, without ever reading past the title. Seems maybe they get tied up a lot with the assumption that no one else is as intelligent as they are, or that they already know everything about everything. I could be wrong. As we as a species have only studied 4% of our own oceans, I’d hardly be one to claim we really know much of anything. We can know experience however, and share it with others without pretense. Then again What do I know? Well I could say I know HKD to the 2nd degree (heh heh heh), but that’s irrelevant in this discussion. It’s too bad when the insight of the intelligent is lost to collective proud ignorance. I only hope your collection of students pays better attention. Sometimes helping folks that need it but don’t know it can be frustrating. Good thing the world has classy patient instructors like you and other Mr. B, cause lord help these folks somebody’s gotta be the one that helps them learn and comprehend. Maybe you should filter your comments. It’s kinda cringey lol. Not that its your fault. Public schools, smh.:)
Remember kids, there are organizations across the country that offer GED services free! Peace out.
I would also like to add that chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, apes in general and monkeys have hands. Hands with opposable thumbs. Hands that allow for the intelligent use of tools, with the ability to use tools with strength or intricacy or both. Supposedly they had them before us. Monkeys and apes use their hands to destroy the hands and face of other apes and monkeys respectively, which is why martial arts like Silat and Kali adopted the ape philosophy into their martial arts attacking the part of the body that is closest first, which usually is the face or hands. Not sure many are aware of this, but using such an argument which is clearly not thought out is usually a telltale sign of someone being presumptuous. Maybe I’m being presumptuous, but I don’t really care for people littering perfectly good comment space with their intellectual spit-up.
many human are scared of things that are tiny like insects and worms
I totally agree with u. ( talking about if we fight physically unarmed ) Humans are one of the weakest, the only reasonable we aren’t “weakest” is because of our height, for example an ant’s height is same as the human, would u think we can step on it very easily? U think ants aren’t having any ability like us humans? Etc.
Please do not take it seriously im just using your point (blog joke) and not trying to say it’s true or anything else
i feel like i’m being teased by my own people oh yeah i am!!!!
The author is defending his post by saying “You didn’t read the whole article” but instead, should have used other hooks and starting sentences to indulge readers rather than outright writing something that is completly untrue.
I have no interest in removing creativity and fun from my writing to cater to those who have a 5 second attention span and don’t like reading. And it’s not “completely untrue”. Humans are relatively pathetic physically when compared to other creatures. It’s our brain that sets us apart, not our physical prowess.
Slugs are 100x weaker than humans, they are super slow and very sensitive, there are multiple creatures weaker than us, so don’t be stupid.
So if a slug was enlarged to human size, you’re saying you wouldn’t crap your pants and run screaming? We can step on ants as well as we are bigger. But in relation to our size, we are pathetic compared to most creatures. Again, read the entire blog before overreacting to a martial arts blog that is explaining how we dominated the animal kingdom due to our intelligence, not physical prowess.
That’s the most fake important in google, human beings aren’t the weakest, we LITERALLY have intelligence, we literally have muscles to break stuff, dig holes, etc.
Please read the entire blog next time. Not just the headline/first line. This is true for every blog, article, news report.
Great article, keep up the great work!