Fighting against someone obviously more powerful

[juvetb]

Have you ever walked up to a really big guy in the gym and said, hey you, I want to challenge you to a bench press contest.

Clearly this is quite unlikely but yet happened often in wulin. Many a time, we see characters challenging someone clearly more powerful - were they not worred about dying?
of course there were time when one was not aware of the opponent's strength, e.g. MRF's henchmen vs XF. but surely at other times it would be more obvious - beggar sect elder vs XF at JX manor, GJ fighting MCF.
Surely you will know you simply can't win?

[Mandred Skavenslayer]

Have you ever walked up to a really big guy in the gym and said, hey you, I want to challenge you to a bench press contest.

Clearly this is quite unlikely but yet happened often in wulin. Many a time, we see characters challenging someone clearly more powerful - were they not worred about dying?
of course there were time when one was not aware of the opponent's strength, e.g. MRF's henchmen vs XF. but surely at other times it would be more obvious - beggar sect elder vs XF at JX manor, GJ fighting MCF.
Surely you will know you simply can't win?

The simplest answer is self development. Unless the more powerful person is an antagonist then it is unlikely that they would kill the challenger (unless of course the challenger was the antagonist). So even if the challenger loses they could still learn from having faced a superior opponent.

Another reason is pride. In jianghu it is expected for someone to fight when defending the honor of themselves, their family or association, even when the odds are stacked against them. So in the end winning was not important just the fact that the person was willing to stand up for themselves.