I had to use sanshin to survive the crowds however once my hands were full with xboxs and giant tv's I had to switch to Mauy Thai. Nothing says stay away from my 70% off discounted Mango Juicer like a ferocious leg sweep.
^^ What Guitar Nado said. On purpose I didn't drive anywhere on Friday. Heck, I didn't even leave my house. ... Come to think of it, I didn't even get out of my pajamas, but the point is that on purpose I wasn't there. "No be there."
What's it like over there on that day? In this country you here about the odd fight but nothing serious.
Not many fights in London. ASDA (the British branch of Walmart) decided not to be part of it, due to the fights from last year.
I went to Costco and everybody was fairly nice. I also was shopping for dress clothes at Macy's and people were messy, like leaving things on the floor but overall not bad. Then again, nothing says "don't screw with me" like a half crazy smile that dares them to try.
Been to a Systema seminar where they teach a "wave movement" (not like in TKD) and breathing to help you stay calm and move quickly in a crowded situation.
I like to shop in a tie chi style, relaxed, upright, breath naturally, strong legs to resist the shoving. shoulders relaxed down, elbows relaxed in and down from shoulders, ward off from the feet then hips, and repulse the monkeys till I get to the checkout.
Awareness... then Avoidance. Actually, where I live there is never a problem. We don't have a lot of big retail stores (nor a huge population). A good crowd goes out to enjoy the sales but it has never escalated into anything like the videos show. This year, I was in Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) on Black Friday and there was fairly little activity going on... a few sales around but not a huge shopping contingent from what I could see. The media seems to make a lot out of a few (horrible) incidents, but those are pretty isolated.
I won the battle of Black Friday using intelligence, timing, angle and mechanical advantage. Gear and training material through online sales FTW. Picked up some gear from Scramble and a few great downloads from Roy Dean Academy and CSW site (Cheers to Ben Gash for an excellent bit of intel).
I used positioning. I didn't put myself in a place where conflict occurred. I stayed home. No deal is worth the crowds and hassle to me. I never do "Black Friday." I find the whole idea of people fighting over gifts for people to celebrate a holiday just ridiculous.
Particularly given that the very day before, they were celebrating being thankful for all that they have. :dunno: I don't get it. I really don't.
