If you’ve watched action movies a lot, then you’re most likely familiar with the trope of the good guy being good enough to beat everyone, even in single combat. As in the guy, with just his fists and legs, will take on nothing less than twenty men and still beat the hell out of them all.
Of course, even though we might enjoy the cool fight scenes, anyone that sees that will know that it’s not realistic, right? There is no way one man takes on multiple men and beat them all, it’s just not possible. But then, what if it is? What if truly, one man can beat several men in one single combat?
And I’m talking about a normal human here, not a superhuman or anything, in case you’re wondering. I know that movies can greatly exaggerate when working on such scenes, but they do all that just to make their story better and make it all the more enjoyable. So, while it’ll be difficult for one man to beat twenty men, I must say that there are scenarios where one man would easily beat at least four to five men in combat. In this case, five heads will be no different from one, I’m afraid.
Of course, we’d have the protagonist. They’re usually skilled in various martial arts. From Taekwondo to Jiu Jitsu and even Kong Fu, they become very skillful over the years and would never stop training over the years so they would always be sharp and focused.
However, their opponents, the men they usually beat up in their numbers, are usually nothing but thugs. All they have going for them is brute strength and numbers. Many of them can’t fight because they’re just bullies who have gotten so used to preying on those weaker than they are and can’t fight back. They have no skill, they believe in the power of intimidation and gang up.
This is why it’ll be easy for someone with average skill to come and completely sweep through them like a flood. All that will be required to finish them off will be a well-placed punch that they’ll have no way to avoid.
In real life, no matter how skilled you are, twenty men will overpower you. They won’t be coming one after the other like they do in the movies. They’ll swamp you and you’ll only be able to take out a few before you’re subdued.
However, as I said before, there is a higher chance of the skilled fighter surviving against five men. There are factors to consider though, like the skills of the opponents themselves. If they have fighting skills as well, no matter how little, it would count in their favor and reduce the odds for our man.
Also, we have to consider their strength as well. Some people can punch so hard that one blow is enough to knock people out, that’s brute force there! Such people don’t need skills, they only need to get one punch in and the fight is as good as done. Many of them usually have a lot of stamina as well as endurance, so they can take a lot of beating and it would not faze them in any way. Now, if this skilled fighter of ours were to face five of these men in single combat, know that he’s as good as dead.
He’d only have a solid chance with one, and to stretch it thin, maybe two. But nothing more because he’ll be crushed. If there were only two of such strong men within the five men, there would still be no way they survive the fight.
But then, what if the five men are matched in skills with our guy? That means, our guy would stand no chance against them. Even if they’re only half as good as he is, if all five of them attack at the same time, all he would have time to do will be to defend himself, he’ll barely attack. And eventually, he’ll slip and someone is going to get a lick in.
So you see? The only scenario where one man can easily take on five men and beat them is if all five of them lack skills, coordination and are strong. They might put up a fight due to their numbers, but they’ll not be able to block the blows that will be sent their way, so every punch will be a hit, weakening them even further. Eventually, our guy is standing over their writhing bodies.
This is the only way it jells for me, because anything else, our guy would either be a superhero or he’ll be a fictional character.
However, all this I’ve said is with the idea that all fights will be done by strict hand-to-hand combat. We all know that weapons could easily be involved. And at that, the probability of both sides winning will increase depending on how the weapons are distributed, the kind they get, and if they know how to use them.
So, my dear friends, it’s not every time a man beats up a bunch of people that we’ll call it a film trick. If certain conditions are met, then it is realistic. At least in my opinion.
