My last real fight was in the 70s, a bar fight. I learned not to get in a fist fight with a golden gloves boxer.
During 30 years of law enforcement I have been in more fights that I can remember. I came into the job not knowing any martial arts and was relatively strong from lifting weights. In my first two fights I realized that strength was not enough, people on drugs and or mentally disturbed could be a real problem.
I ended up finding a judo school and went for 8 years. This helped me tremendously. I also studied some Korean karate, Sombo and Jiu Jitsu.
With all that said I know I am not the baddest man on the planet. I have learned a few things from these encounters.
First, my Judo instructor (who was also a police officer) used to tell us “Attack when attacked.” I used this principle throughout my career. Anybody crazy enough to attack you may be crazy enough to kill you.
I also subscribe to two other ‘maxims’ I learned from the military. SAS. Speed, Aggression and Surprise. And this gem: ‘Be polite, be professional but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.’ Thank you Marine Corps.
Use the color wheel police use: White: relaxed, no worries. I am rarely in this area. Yellow: heightened awareness (I’m usually here ALL the time. Orange: Something has caught your attention and you need to keep an eye on it. Red: Threat/threats.
Most people walk around in the “White” zone. Criminals look for this.
Get into the best shape you can. Learn some real martial arts if you can. Practice staying aware of your surroundings all the time including having a simple plan, even when walking down the street in your own neighborhood.
Get your CCW and carry a gun. Attack when attacked and fight like a scalded dog.
7th Grade, was a mild mannered kid. Bullied by a gang on the walk home from school for a couple of weeks. Finally had enough and turned around and decked the next kid giving me grief. Was then invited to join the gang. The next week we started to pick on another kid until his father showed up and threatened to beat us into mincemeat if we didn’t layoff his kid. Quit the gang.
Training session sparring
A bar in Key West...I was a kid of 59 at the time. LOL
About 1999. In a local bar a drunk came up from behind and attempted a head lock. I grabbed his forearm, lifted him off the floor and threw him against a wall.
He thought I was one his buddies and he’d show out for the women. Afterward, he sat beside me, apologized and said, “I can’t believe you threw me across the room!”
LOL...
Never been in a fight.....not even close.
College - a bar near campus. You can pretty much stop aggressor with a well placed punch directly to their nose. Having been on the losing side of that equation a couple of times in a H.S. hallway and in Key Club boxing, I can attest that the pain and the blood takes the wind right out of your sails. It’s humbling. And sometimes it is necessary to pass that humbling experience unto others.
1977 while aboard ship...I was cleaning urinals in a head for inspection, and a guy came in (not from my squadron) and despite the sign that said closed for inspection, walked right over and used one I just cleaned (had to go back and clean it)
I don’t remember how it progressed, but I remember having my face pinned up against a urinal, then I turned the tables on him and has HIS face there, and then a Chief came in and broke it up.
LOL, he listened to my explanation, and made the guy finish cleaning the head with me.
College. A “friend” thought he could take me (he had a good 30 lbs. on me), and I held him in a position he couldn’t get out of. I learned that I’m not as weak as I think I am sometimes, and that people underestimate me.
I was about 8 ... early 1970s. I learned that my parents would not tolerate fighting. I learned it very thoroughly.
Cost me friken $10,000 in legal fees and medical expenses. His medical expenses.
Lesson: Strike first. Use surprise forearm smash. Have good lawyer and be ready to immediately spend 10k in cash.
A long time ago. A bar of course.
What did you learn?
I have been in many fights. Learned long ago the three "F's," First, Fast and Fiercely. Remember, there is no such thing as a "fair fight."
Also, when entering an establishment, one must recon the place for layout, possible threats, exists, etc. Seat yourself with your back to a wall. Keep your hands out of your pockets, and your head on a swivel.
Almost sounds paranoid, huh?
5.56mm
In high school. Don’t hang out with @$$#$%^s
I was a bouncer for a couple of years while I was in college and it was fight night every freakin’ night. What I learned was to watch the eyes and body movements and then apply a five cell Maglight at the correct moment.
I’ve had the crap kicked out of me several times and that was also a learning experience.
Haven’t been in a fight since high school.I’m 6’4” and weigh 235-plus I work hard on the farm.People tend to be polite to me.
I have never had a physical fight and I am 75.
In the second, old enough to drive by this time, got hit a couple or three times by a left-handed kid with a right hand lead who thought he was a boxer too... (something about a girl this time too) not much of a boxer really 'cause any smart boxer would not leave himself open to a plain ol' single leg takedown by some dufus like myself and what comes after.
What I learned is that at least for ordinary people, training in a pragmatically effective martial art (rassling and/or boxing, for example, in my case a little rassling with Coach Brown at Daniel Webster Junior Reformatory in OKC, which in hindsight was the best available choice for me) will save your ass.
Also there's wisdom already posted to this thread that I would reiterate... stupid places/things/people, after midnite, other guys' girlfriends, OLD GUYS, etc.
Notwithstanding an invasion of violent people who live in a death cult, (all bets just might be off at that point), live in a way that minimizes one's risk of being assaulted, and to have a surprise, or two, for anyone who does.
Be... ordinary and inconspicuous, right out in the open, as you go about your business. To paraphrase a well-known freeper, be polite, courteous, in fact often deferential to people, but... always have a response within you in case of uh, trouble... no matter how old you are...
I taught martial arts for fifteen years. competitive sparring was part of it. I learned you can get pretty beat up winning a fight. there are few good reasons to fight.
11th grade. And it was a doozy, in the locker room, we were both athletes. I learned my so called friends wouldn’t help. I learned your knuckles are what hurt most afterward. I learned that even though I supposedly lost, I damaged the other guy enough that he ran away the next time I saw him.