One of my favorite things is writing a character who *can* kick ass ... but looks for every opportunity to solve the problem without *having* to do just that.

Why? It's simple, really.

My experience in martial arts & other arenas has taught me that those who are the most able to fight - don't want to. There's often a number of reasons for this, a few: they know how much damage they can cause, they've seen the cost of that damage, they aren't violent people.

Experience so often leads these people to have never been in a fight, simply because they've learned how to deescalate fights before they even start.

If the fight does happen? It's often over very quickly, but no one really wants the headache that comes after.

The most dangerous people are often those who have learned a little bit of martial arts but don't have the control or experience to avoid a fight. The ones who think it's cool to beat people up. (these are the ones that more experienced members often had to step on in sparring)

And it's fun to write characters who kick ass. I enjoy it. It lets me use my experience in martial arts to write fight scenes.

But I find it more fun to put characters into situations where they could kick some ass ... however

...It could cause problems down the road. There's a better non-violent solution to be had. There's a negotiation to stop the fight before it begins. The possibilities are endless. The scene doesn't always have to end in a fight. Sometimes the other solution is a far better scene.