LogFAQs > #970443642

Count_Drachma posted...

However, it's been shown time and time again that athletes are better at compensating for those kinds of changes

We've done countless tests to determine how capable athletes are at adapting to entirely alien gravity and environmental conditions?

I feel like I missed those tests...



Count_Drachma posted...

so highly-trained soldiers should be a lot better at adjusting for things.

Debatable, considering "soldier" is generally a much different skill set than "athlete".

Sure, soldiers will generally endurance train, and often strength train to some degree for lugging gear around, but the average modern non-melee soldier isn't really training all that effectively for dexterity. Which would be the most important factor.

An ancient spear-fighter might have a much better chance at matching the average athlete for agility-based adaptation, but Krypton mostly had an extremely high-tech military, which leans more into relying on technology rather than perfect physical conditioning.



Count_Drachma posted...

It's not like there's an incentive to pulling punches.

There absolutely is, though.

Ask anyone who fences whether or not it's always optimal strategy to lunge as far forward as they can with every attack. Or a boxer if there's a drawback to constantly punching as wildly as you can and leaving yourself open.

It's not a case of "I'm not trying to hurt my opponent", it's more a case of putting too much force into an attack can result in disadvantages for you. Again, punch too hard and get stuck in whatever you're hitting. Or throw yourself off-balance and leave yourself open to counterattack. It's sort of the logic of judo and aikido - the more force an attacker uses, the more you can redirect it. In most fights, you're far better off controlling how much force you use rather than just channeling 100% into every swing.

Now add that to being completely unused to the existing gravity and atmospheric density because you're on an alien planet.