Walking the fine line

[Brandon Fisher]

Pulling away sounds like it was sufficent but having not been there who knows. If the guy was that intoxicated he may not have even realized he grabbed your arm.

[parkerlineage]

If the guy was that intoxicated he may not have even realized he grabbed your arm.

Wow...hadn't thought of that...

Did you make eye contact because you wanted to? Subconciously, you wanted to test yourself, perhaps to see how aware and how quick to react you can be?

I believe the proper answer to both of your questions are...um...HECK NO!!! I want to avoid fighting at all costs, especially in a disadvantaged place such as the narrow entryway of a bus, especially against someone who may not feel my blows, like a drunk person, especially in a big city, where violent crime is common, especially - let me emphasize this one - especially when my best friend could get seriously hurt by my actions or inactions. I'm almost appalled that you suggest that, but I'll take it as curiosity and harmless suggestion. If I really wanted to fight, I would - alone - find a street thug - alone - in a place where I had lots of room to move, and then start it with the first blow.

yeah sure, as long as your line is reasonable. something like 'as soon as someone looks at me, i pull out the ninja skills!' clearly wouldn't be appropriate

Darn, that was totally what I was going to say, too.

[cathal]

I'm almost appalled that you suggest that, but I'll take it as curiosity and harmless suggestion. If I really wanted to fight, I would - alone - find a street thug - alone - in a place where I had lots of room to move, and then start it with the first blow.

Definitely not trying to be argumentative. Curiosity is indeed my main driving force pretty much everywhere. But it's also good to play devil's advocate every now and again, just to see what churns up to the surface. I've learned a lot about myself doing just that.

[parkerlineage]

hehe...what's the first word in the phrase, "Devil's advocate?"

It's good to push on occasion - made me make myself and everyone else certain that I didn't do it for fun, right?

[P.A.L]

Well, here I am in big, scary, Washington DC...

I come from a rather small town with an even smaller town mentality, where I lead a ridiculously sheltered life, in comparison with the general population of big cities.

After my incident with the crazy guy in Home Depot (thread- http://karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=27223), I realized that I needed to change my mentality on when to fight back. I let people go too far, and if they were really going to hit me, they may have been able to hit me before I could respond.

Especially since DC has a high crime rate (from what I hear), and because I'm here with my best friend (a 5', feisty but tiny girl), I decided I needed to be prepared to do whatever I thought necessary to maintain control of threatening situations - even more so because her mom gave me the mandate to be her daughter's "bodyguard."

Anywho, we were getting on the bus, and there was this drunk guy rambling at these two other guys, who finally got him to go away. I had just happened to turn my head, and unfortunately made eye contact with him, and sure enough, he started heading over toward the two of us. I gave my friend a little nudge to move her a step toward the bus, and stepped between her and this guy. She got on, and I started to get on, thanking my lucky stars that he hadn't reached us in time. And then, as my foot hit the first step, he grabbed my arm.

I tell you, it was going to be absolutely beautiful. I leaned my weight forward and jerked my arm from his grip, my head whipped around, my leg raised up and chambered, my hips torqued, and if he had stayed for half a second longer, my heel-hook to the temple - which is dojo renowned for leaving throbbing headaches when pulled - would have left him unconscious on the sidewalk. Lucky for him, the doors of the bus shut behind me, nearly pinning my leg in them, but I pulled back in time.

I had the adrenaline surge again, but this time, it was more controlled, like I knew it was coming, and was ready to handle it. Would it have been right, to lay out some drunk who mistakenly grabbed someone he shouldn't have? I don't know (that's kind of my question). Would I have felt remorse - I doubt it. Chivalry is something I try to keep in the forefront of my training, and if somebody threatens to hurt my friends, let alone my girl friends, let alone my best friend - you bet they're going down.

Is this the right state of my to be in, or am I paranoid? Would it have been okay if I had leveled him, or at least stunned him, with a kick like that? What do you guys think...

I read this several times and also two more incidents you wrote about them before, to be honest with you, what you did is pretty fine for your age other than that It’s a show off and unnecessary to chamber your leg and torque your hip and ready to fire in half a second, just think about it for a second, a drunk man without balance gets kicked to the head, there is a good chance he dies. Maybe he just felt you are a nice guy and wanted to ask for a quarter.

[Brandon Fisher]

I didn't want to say it on the board but I described that similar situation to my wife when telling her about this post. She agreed what if they guy died as a result of that. She is a shodan also and understands the damage that can be done to someone sober with a kick like that let alone someone that is that drunk.

Parkerlineage I am glad you did not kick him.

[Shotokan-kez]

Being confronted by a drunk can be quite scary, simply because they are intoxicated and they are capeable of doing things that they wouldn't normally (or at least they think they are). I have been on the bus many times with my two sons where there has been a drunk man, who has wet himself, wobbling about everywhere and shouting obscenities. It's not a good thing for my children to see, and when we are in that sitution i protect them like they are gold. The thing is it can be quite intimidating. I suppose what im trying to say is if a guy is that drunk all you would have to do is give him a little push and he will be on his bottom. I don't think there would be any need to go into full on martial arts for someone who doesn't know what day of the week it is.

[cathal]

hehe...what's the first word in the phrase, "Devil's advocate?"

It's good to push on occasion - made me make myself and everyone else certain that I didn't do it for fun, right?

It is something my father made me do every time I got into a fight while growing up.

[jaymac]

I agree with many of the last posts. You are in Washington D.C now man. It is a whole different ballgame there. Yes, be conscience and alert about your surroundings, but if you chamber a kick everytime someone gets near, looks scary, or grabs you in Washington D.C. you are going to have to learn how to walk, hopping on one leg. If you can avoid a violent situation without fighting, do so. I don't care how fantastic any of us feel our Martial Arts skills are, you cannot out run, dodge quickly away, or out fight a bullet. Trust me, my sister has lived there for 2 years now, and the gang violence is crazy.

[KamasandSais]

lets see.. if a drunk guy grabbed my arm i would...

A. skip off with him to a tea party

B.fight him off

or C. nothing..

What would you pick?