>Personally, I think that I am willing to do things more risky then most people are, but not by much. This is partially due to the fact that 1) I'm almost a black belt in Karate [...]


I'm gratuitously changing the topic here because this is something that's always interested me. I never got anywhere near black belt level in the various martial arts I did, but I was on the fringes of that field for a while and I'd say that both my capacity to defend myself and my exposure to occasionally violent sparring/training would be more than that of the general public. In general, I have found that training in martial arts or similar forms of defense has made me *less* likely to take risks of this type, not *more* likely.

Exposure to various things during martial arts training makes you more aware of possible threats. When you have experienced what somebody can do to you in a very short time after innocently taking your arm, for example, that's one more thing you will be aware of as a potential risk in some potential future situation, and you then may take steps to avoid it happening. Also, training makes you more alert to your surroundings at all times.

I noticed people going through different stages of confidence during martial arts training. It always struck me that people would learn a bit, then get overconfident that they could go out and be safe anywhere, when in reality they'd be in for a short sharp shock when up against actual *violence* outside of a nice pad-wearing sparring session. After they've been doing it longer, and have had their butts seriously kicked a few times in training, they realise they're not indestructible, and then usually go on to a state of confidence without seeking out unnecessary risk just because they think they can handle it. Have you noticed this? Does it continue/change much at the higher levels?

I live in a city that's pretty safe by world standards. I routinely walked around the inner city alone at night, or in the wee hours of the morning, when coming home from my last job. However, that wasn't something I did by choice, and it was always something I did with caution. I think I'm more cautious than many people who have no martial arts background. It's more a matter of knowing how to *avoid* situations than being able to win a fight.

Brunnen-"it's been a while, and I only ever made it to the mid level belts anyway, so feel free to say I'm talking rubbish"G