The number one reason why I started training in the martial arts is because of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In particular, I loved the live-action movies of the early 90's. Even though my favorite turtle growing up was Donatello, the one I had the most in common with was Raphael, a.k.a. "Raph."
In those movies, Raph was the bravest and toughest of the four ninja turtle brothers. However, he was also bad-tempered and headstrong. In particular, Raph often clashed with Leonardo (a.k.a. "Leo"), the leader of the group. In the first two movies, Raph stormed off on his own after getting into altercations with Leo, only to wind up battling the Foot Clan all by himself. While he would be able to fight them off for a while, the Foot eventually overwhelmed him through sheer numbers. In the first movie, the Foot beat Raph into a coma. In the second movie, they captured him and turned him over to The Shredder, who used Raph as bait in a trap that almost got his brothers killed.
Many Christians who embark on the journey of marital MMA are like Raph. They want to use their toughness and bravery to fight for what's right, but get frustrated when their fellow believers don't see eye-to-eye with them. This frustration often leads to them to storm off, and try to battle the "Immoral Foot Clan" on their own. While they do hold out for a while, the "Foot" is so numerous that these Christians either get beaten into a coma (i.e., lose their V-card) or captured by Satan, our "spiritual Shredder" (i.e., trapped in a pornography/"romance e-book" addiction or in an illicit relationship).
So if you are tempted to fight your temptations on your own as a Christian "Raph", bear in mind the following things before you take on the players/playeresses of the "Immoral Foot Clan" without your brothers and sisters.
1) Players/Playeresses Target The Weak (And Alone=Weak)
Whenever I have been tempted by a playeress, she was either:
a) A lot hotter than me
b) A lot smarter than me
c) A lot wealthier than me
d) A lot more popular than me
Sometimes, she was all of the above! Likewise, guys who seduce girls tend to have similar leverage over them. The important thing you need to understand is that players/playeresses aren't looking for a "fair fight." They are playing to win. Period. So they usually pick easy targets (i.e. the pastor's daughter who has left home for the first time in her life to go to school or the male recent Christian college grad at work who has never experienced more than part-time employment in a secular environment). And players/playeresses know instinctively that the easiest targets are the lonely targets because they have no one to come to their rescue if they are overwhelmed.
2) Players/Playeresses Cheat To Win
Again, "fair fight" is not in the vocabulary of a player/playeress! Most of the playeresses I have encountered used some kind of dirty trick in an attempt to get me into a compromising position. The most common one was inviting me to hang out "just as friends" so that they could come on to me the instant that they got me alone. Their male counterparts use a similar trick in which they pretend to actually want a relationship with a girl when the only thing they want to get to know is her vajayjay. Players/playeresses know that if they are honest about their intentions, the "good girls/guys" who they want to conquer will run in the opposite direction. So players/playeresses "fight dirty" by deceiving and manipulating you until they earn your trust. Then they will turn you out and make you look stupid in front of your Christian peers. If that fails, these men and women will simply get you rip-roaring drunk and take advantage of you.
3) Players/Playeresses Hunt In Packs
I have almost NEVER been tempted sexually by a playeress who was acting on her own. Most of the time, the playeress got 2-3 of her playeress bffs to help her pressure me into "hanging out" with them. Some playeresses will even get their sisters (or, in extreme cases, their MOTHER) to help them lure a guy into a compromising position (if you are a guy and this ever happens to you, RUN!).
Their male counterparts also hunt in packs, but in a different sense. Most players know that if they and 2-3 of their buddies approach an unsuspecting girl at a mall, she'll run away and call the police. So instead, a male player will usually invite his intended target and her friends to a house or frat party where his "wing men" will pick off her bffs one by one until he gets her alone. At this point, through charm, experience, and leveraging his assets (i.e. the fact that he is hotter, smarter, richer, and/or more popular than her), he will have her V-card for dinner and her Christian witness for breakfast!
Did I forget to mention that "fair fight" is not in the vocabulary of a player/playeress?
Like Raph, you may be a loner by nature and want to fight the battle of purity on your own. Nonetheless, you should try to join forces with fellow Christians anyway. It won't be easy. Very often, your Christian brothers and sisters will be as bossy as Leonardo, as immature as Michelangelo, or irritating know-it-alls like Donatello. Nonetheless, if they are as dedicated to a life of purity as you are, then they will have your back when the "Immoral Foot Clan" comes to clean your clock.
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10, "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up." (NIV)
