Martial artists too soft?

I know you will all rant troll! but here it is.
I get the feeling that many members of this website seem afraid to hurt someone? If someone is picking a fight with you and you have the ability to beat them then i say do it! Think about the next person that they may pick a fight with and beat the crud out of, people that go around picking fights deserve to get their asses kicked. I understand that they might have knives, friends...etc but in certain situations some people need a good belting. Put your training to use. This is my opinion; how do you feel about this?

 

Knowing how to kill someone with your bare hands doesnt mean you have to.

I dont think anyone here is 'afraid' to hurt people, they just dont like to unnecessarily. There is a BIG difference. If I had to, rest assured I could kill a man, I wouldnt like to, and I'd suffer, both legally and mentally afterwards, but I could, and would do it under the "wrong" circumstances.

Personally, I am aware of the damage I can cause to a un-trained person, drunk or not, and if I can get away from them without hurting them TOO much, I will. That doesnt make me soft, it makes me wise.

"It takes a bigger man to walk away from a fight"

^ so true ^

Any fool can fight, it takes something "special" to talk your way out of it.

Just imo too

 

Troll!
Seriously though, since I've grown up a bit, I've learned that it is often best to walk away from a fight when you can; you don't always know the variables - they could be carrying a knife, they could have friends just around the corner and there's much more litigation these days. That said, there are some MAPers who seem to advocate letting the other guy hit first before defending themselves (I've also read someone suggest that you should give money to people hassling you!) which sounds stupid and dangerous to me.
If I have to defend myself or someone I'm with, I will do it without a moments thought, but I won't go overboard and try to do them permanent damage - that's a good way to wind up in jail

 

I agree with you. I know a lot of people here will disagree but if someone attacks me I'm gonna make sure they regret it. Hopefully the beating I give them will make them fearful of doing it again to someone else (doubt it though).

I'm just tired of these people. The other day when it was snowing I saw three teenagers, I'm talking 17 or 18, throwing snowballs at random people. One of these people was a woman. What the hell could this woman have done to them? I was so angry I walked over screaming and yelling about ripping arms off. The all blamed each other and couldn't get away fast enough. The only reason I didn't lay into them was because they were so pathetic and scared. You could say that they may have had knives or other weapons but I don't care. If you don't stand up to them they get worse and worse. They need a slap to keep them in check.

I'm ranting a bit now. I'm still a little angry about what happened.

 

Because you have to be right all the time and only wrong once.

Being wrong once will get you in jail, in hospital, in the morgue.

If someone badmouths you and nothing else and you attack them you are completely open to prosecution as there is no aspect of self defense involved.

Generally people on the forum will say.

1. Stay away from bad areas
2. Use situational awareness to avoid confrontations
3. Verbally diffuse the situation
4. Run
5. Take them down with reasonable force.

This is because the priority is not "winning" but rather "not losing."

This is CLEVER not SOFT.

 

Nice point Taliar, it's easily said but equally easily forgotten; however, I think - in a way - it's healthy for people (martial artists or not) to have a limit to their patience. Like I said on the "Self-defence guilt" thread, yes we should be avoiding fights for the most part, and trying to diffuse the situation first if a confrontation does occur, but I don't think that once you actually are in the physical fight you shouldn't be worrying about hurting your attacker too much. To do that, you have to think. And if you think, you're too slow and you're going to get a beating.

I have a lot of sympathy for Swoop's view about these anti-social idiots, and to me it's the most annoying aspect of self defence; sometimes you have to let it go, despite the injustice of letting them get away with it, otherwise you're in too much trouble. Those who live by the sword die by the sword and sadly that sword cuts both ways.

 

Well said Tim. Before 'contact' you should try everything in your power to stop 'contact'. After it has been initiated, or is about to be......bounce them over the hedge and keep 'em rollin! I'll not stop moving til they do :yeleyes:

 

Each to his own. I will not look for trouble but I have rules I live by. I will stand up for myself or others when I feel it’s right. I will use whatever level of force I feel is required at the time to do this. I however chose my battles a lot more carefully then I did when I was younger. I do not just rush in to a situation before I get a quick lay of the land to determine what is going on. I am fully aware of what the consequences might be if I get into any altercation. I know it’s an old saying but I was kind of brought up with it. “I would rather die on my feet then live on my knees”. I however will not tell anyone what he or she must do as far as getting involved in a situation weather it’s self-defense or coming to the aid of someone. I provide training to my students and advise them of some of the legal aspects. I inform them of my moral beliefs and they must make their own decisions when the time comes.
I see nothing wrong with what Swoop did in fact I most likely would have done the same thing.

 

Some of you guys here think too much.
So your out on the town, some guy bumps into, and smacks you in the face for no reason. **** all this "he might have a knife", "he might have friends about". This guy has just hit you. The adrenalins pumping, not many people stop to think "hmmm, will i turn out worst". This guy is in the wrong, and obviously has something to prove. So help him prove something, but it wont turn out the way he was hoping for. He wont be too quick off the mark next time. knife or not.
If you stand down, hes going to go around being a arrogant prick for a while until somebody does have the guts to stand up to him.

 

Everyone else mut live much more interesting lives than me, I cant think of a time after I turned 16 where punching someone would have improved the situation (Outside of martial arts that is).

 

Well Lucas, I've always been taught that MA's means having the knowledge to defend yourself but knowing when to fight and when not too. Pounding someone just because you can doesn't make sense.

 

i'll tell you a little story.

i used to be a bit of hard ass in my younger days. got into a fair number fights i never really *started* them per se, but all ways finished them. i was very VERY lucky to have gotten away with a lot of very stupid crap.

one night i got caught and pulled in by the police and ended up spending a day in a holding cell. i'll tell you what, that one single day was enough to make me be sure every time i even think about getting involved in a fight i check myself and make damn sure it is worth it.

i spent thousands on lawyers, had to miss work for court days. try explaining to your boss well i need the day off to go to court. at this point i have NO need to prove myself to anyone and i just let stuff slide off. if i felt that my life or the life of someone i love was being threatened i would act. but really nothing else is worth it.

trust me even if you are in the right when fighting, you end up getting in trouble. it really isn't worth it..

 

I think you've missed the point of what everyone's said. In the situation you described, pretty much everyone has said they'd put the guy down, I would too, however if I could've talked him down before he took the swing, I would because there's a lot that could go wrong. If a fight's in the verbal stage, it's the time to think about the variables, if the fight's got to the physical stage, put him down but try not to kill the guy, it's just not worth the hassle
An anecdote to illustrate my point: my girlfriend and I were in a bar in Bristol about two years ago. When we walked in, this guy tried to chat her up; she told him no and that she was there with me. He had another go as the night progressed, and he had quite a few more drinks as well. I went up to the bar and he started giving me some verbal - here's where I should've tried to talk him down, instead I gave him some back. He shoved me, I shoved him, sent him a few steps back and as he walked back to me, I gave him a one-two which knocked him down. The bouncer came over, having seen what'd happened, patted him down and found a stanley knife in his pocket.
That's why I always think about the variables before getting involved. If he hadn't been drunk or I'd been slower with my hands, it could've been very bad indeed

 

Same thing happened me pretty much, but it was a 12inch screwdriver he had! That I do NOT want buried in my belly!

 

Ok, my bad, i misunderstood. But if anybody says that if somebody hits them and they would walk away, ill be back

 

No way man. Thats past the point of No Return. Unleash hell on them, and "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Keep On With The Force, Don't Stop, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"

aaaaooohhhh! *Does some funky spins and grabs at his crotch a la Michael Jackson*

 

It depends on how hard. The last time someone punched me, which was in highschool, ago, I didn't even notice.

And I don't think I've actually gotten into a fight since I was 9 or 10 years old.

 

yes there are no doubt people that need to be tought a lesson but as everyone else has said if you don't have to fight don't. here's a little scenerio: lets say you bump into a guy who has had a little bit to much to drink he blames you and tries to start a fight, here is putting your training to use... don't fight, don't talk to him if you don't have to either, just try to walk away and if he does attack just dodge or defend yourself until he gives up not that that is the easiest way but still.. lets say you get in a fight with him and he is set on hitting something so he attacks and you counter it and you hit him little hard and injured him pretty bad not like fatally but pretty bad and he runs away. the next day you see him again and he looks like hell but then he reckognizes you from the night before and comes up to apologize for how he acted and after you talk to him a little bit you find out he has a couple kids but just lost his job and he was drinking the night before just to relieve himself from the stress. now would you feel good about defeating him or regret acting right away?

 

There are loads of times when I would walk away if someone hit me, why would you want to put out a blanket statement saying that it's always the wrong thing to do to