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Context: in a boxing match, boxer A is fighting against the particularly tough boxer B. Even after having taken a lot of punches, boxer B is still standing. During a break, the trainer of boxer A says:

タフネスにもスイッチがある。ちゃんと殺しきれよ…　ガキ…

I think that スイッチ has a metaphorical meaning here. Since it is usually associated with switching things on/off, could it mean something like a way to stop or a way to defeat? How would you translate it? My translation attempt:

Even toughness can be stopped in some way. You must totally destroy him, kid...

Thank you for your help!

EDIT: for more context, I can say that boxer B is a 打たれ強い boxer. He's an ex kick-boxer who says that boxing punches are 'light' compared to the kicks you get in kick-boxing. Being not afraid of punches, he advances to get close to his opponent even while being hit. He is an infighter, a boxer who fights at close distante from his opponent. Here's the entire page the sentence is taken from. In this page Boxer B has just got up after being knocked down by Boxer A. For further context, here are the following pages: 28-29 and 30-31. The manga is called リクドウ.

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  • I think that スィッチ is a threshold. If you go beyond it, you can't stand.
    – user25382
    Sep 5, 2017 at 0:48
  • amazon.co.jp/…　I found 心のスイッチ　打たれ強さ.
    – user25382
    Sep 5, 2017 at 0:51
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    @macraf Whether a word is a 和製英語 or not is not something you should ask on English SE. This is about the metaphorical usage of the Japanese word スイッチ.
    – naruto
    Sep 5, 2017 at 3:13
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    Um, anyway, actually this タフネスのスイッチ sounds a bit weird to me, too, and I would like to have more context. Perhaps pasting an entire page may help.
    – naruto
    Sep 5, 2017 at 3:18
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    @kimiTanaka Please try to avoid writing answers in the comment section.
    – user1478
    Sep 5, 2017 at 14:10

2 Answers 2

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In my opinion, Boxer B was knocked down in 1st round because his body was not warm enough or something. I think that it's not normal in the real boxing though, the trainer worries about boxer B will get used to the Boxer A's hard punches as the round goes on if the toughness switch on. The trainer said the boxer A should have completely knocked him out in the 1st round. My interpretation.

After I read the pages, boxer B was knocked down(flash-down: not so much damage since boxer B was not get used to the boxer A's punches trajectory) by boxer A's counter-punch in 1st round. So, boxer B doesn't carry over his damage to next round and he may recover quickly during the round interval.

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Even devices that produce great force will move or stop depending on the on / off of the switch.

In this case, I think that the phrase means that you should turn off or destroy the opponent's switch properly so that you definately stop the supply of his toughness to demonstrate; in other words, you should aim at the opponent's weak points or vital points in order to let the opponent never attack you.

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    No, you don't "cut off a switch" (unless you had a knife to remove it from where it was mounted). You can use a cut-off switch to cut off the supply of "toughness". That's really not a question about Japanese...
    – macraf
    Sep 5, 2017 at 5:23
  • @macraf: I understand "to cut off the switch" is 和製英語, so I edited my answer. Anyway I think the given sentence refers to attack the opponent's weak points or vital points to destroy the toughness.
    – mackygoo
    Sep 5, 2017 at 6:08
  • I don't understand your comment. What is the 和製英語 which you refer to?
    – macraf
    Sep 5, 2017 at 6:17

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