This scared me into knowing how lethal my practice is...

[cathal]

I wouldn't have done it any other way, Mr. Mike.

[ravenzoom]

Treebranch wrote:

You did better than I would in that situation. I would have been waiting for him as soon he came out of jail beat the holy you know what out of him. No one messes with my family, that where I draw the line.

I agree

[scottnshelly]

Wow.

First of all, even though i'm only in my 2nd year of parenting, i know i wouldn't have been able to stay that calm and not go violent. but, contrary to popular belief, sometimes violence does solve things.

even though i'm relatively new at this parenting thing, i get really...how do you say...protective of my daughter. My wife has some real creeps in her family (uncles and cousins) and i've never left my daughter unattended around any of them. i wouldn't have any problem at all with ripping their arms off and beating the others with them if i had the opportunity.

as far as the scenario's being played out in your head, i do that all the time when my adreneline starts flowing. 'if he throws a right punch i'll do this. if he comes from the left i'll do that.' i think that's pretty normal, especially for us.

also, i have empathy for you on the redneck thing. i'm from oklahoma, so nearly everyone i know is a redneck - even me.

keep up the good work.

[Chaz]

Sounds to me like you should be proud of yourself. From what you said you did, it sounds like you were practicing ALOT of restraint. I definately would not have been so kind to a man scaring the hell out of my daughter, that kind of behavior should be considered abuse. You were in a position where if you did lay him out, you would have been in your juritstiction. Kudos to you, I would have cracked.

[italian_guy]

I think you did just fine.. you stopped after the first hit.

But now I would not give him any further possibility of harming your daughter. I don't know how things work where you are but I would find a way to kick him out of your house.

[Red J]

Anyway, things got progressively worse, as they have a habit of doing when you throw a redneck hick into the mix.

Or a convicted rapist with a history of domestic battery.

I would not let my daughter be put into that situation again. What you did was mild. Now do something and get him out before you really regret it.

[ninjanurse]

First of all: One is allowed to use their art to protect life...indeed the case here so don't feel guilty.

Secondly: Get him the hell out of your house! "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

[isshinryu5toforever]

You handled it extremely well. If that were happening to me at that age my father wouldn't let him leave the house alive. I think that non-violent solutions are always the best, but there comes a time when a man has to be a man so to speak. Just listen to the song Coward of the County.

[Mr. Mike]

I guess I should have mentioned that I've been in my new house for abotu three weeks now. I couldn't let that continue. As for my sister...well, she knows who he is, but is the usual "but I love him, and he is changing" kinda person that is so typical of these situations.

I thank everybody for their comments/thoughts, that does meant alot, even if you guys are just fonts with neat names at this point

I was mostly concerned because I knew the correct way to act, but chose to try to escalate the situation with violence...I mena I actually wanted to take all of my family's aggression out on this putz in one fell swoop. Needless to say, he has been sweet as pie to my face since this, even if he does talk hella crap behind my back...again, typical.

So the scenarios flashing instantaneously happens to you guys also? I've been in situations in the past, but not so many since high school, and I'm quite a few summers past that In the past, I never had anything like that happen; just had the adrenal responses, and the "well, here goes, just hope for the best" kind of attitude. This more or less put a whole new spin on the 'combat readiness' mindset. I was always prepared before, but not like this. I almost cannot explain it...I had a singular goal, my reflexes seemed to sharpen exponentially, and I was going to dominate without regard to consequence.

Well, enough macho talk...my daughter is out of harm's way...for now anyway, she is maturing quicker that I seem to be ready for...maybe just my over-protective nature

Again, thanks for the replies, thougths, comments, and yes, even the prayers, even if you don't think you should say it

Mr. Mike

[June1]

This is going to sound really random, but just knowing that, as you said, Mr. Mike, we martial artists (I love that term!) tend to think the same way and become alert and have preconceived movements and scenarios in our head, kind of makes me feel closer to you all and like I belong in this worldwide community of karatekas and the like. I've had that happen to me more and more frequently. Glad we all share this natural occurence.