Action Beats Reaction

[Myth]

To my own suprise I rather often throw a defense if someone hits me (even is just for fun) and they end up startled (no just a small amount of people ends up that way, others just didn't hit me and retry). I agree that action beats reaction, but still I will never be first to strike, not at all. I just can't strike without a good reason, my mind won't let me. Non physical reasons are fine also though

[Jiffy]

Some great opinions here. Keep them coming.

for me personally, my defence is making the desicion if I am going to be victim to their attack and then trying to avoid it, but if an attack is imminent, mine will be first.

[Scotty]

Your moral, martial and legal obligations to never throw the first strike

I would have to say that unless you attack someone else, it's not illegal to be the first one to strike. As an assault can occur when the threat of violence is imposed. So physical contact isn't even needed. Well, that's UK law, it might be different in other countries.

Personally, I would always throw the first strike as soon as I became aware that a physical confrontation was imminent. After all, many attackers can be intimidated if they get hit first, it could end the fight without any serious injuries. Just because you hit them first, it doesn't mean you have to do it hard! You can just use a kick to keep them away, or a light punch.

[kenpo.stylist]

I'm a huge believer of the pre-emptive strike. The laws also support this. If there is a percieved threat of imminent harm, then your actions are justified.

[elbows_and_knees]

for a well trained person street fighting is easier than sparring.

No, it's not.

sparring won't help that much on the street.

yes, it will.

hard blocking works on the street

no, they don't - not very well, anyway. fights happen too fast to have time for a lot of blocking. evasion will serve you better. In all the encounters I've had as a bouncer, I've never once blocked -I evade. The guys I work with who have no formal training don't block either - they evade.

but it won't work that good for sparring, because there is no commitment in sparring.

yes, there is - unless you only do point sparring.

[cathal]

Personally, I agree with a first strike mentality if necessary. I've usually been able to remove or avoid situations where a fight would have occured, though.

What we do in our dojo, for this exact purpose, is train in a series of techniques we've affectionately called "No Fear techniques" where we simultaneously block & counter. So if we are attacked we'll parry/block the attacker and strike at a point while rotating out of the way of the attacker's forward motion.

We do also practice a first-strike technique of an attack to the eyes. (No gouging) It causes the attacker to pause and protect their eyes. At that point you can continue attacking or remove yourself from the situation if possible.

[Jiffy]

for a well trained person street fighting is easier than sparring.

No, it's not.

sparring won't help that much on the street.

yes, it will.

hard blocking works on the street

no, they don't - not very well, anyway. fights happen too fast to have time for a lot of blocking. evasion will serve you better. In all the encounters I've had as a bouncer, I've never once blocked -I evade. The guys I work with who have no formal training don't block either - they evade.

but it won't work that good for sparring, because there is no commitment in sparring.

yes, there is - unless you only do point sparring.

As a fellow (former) bouncer, I would have to agree. Blocks do work in the street, but they are few and far between because evading works a lot better. Sparring will give you the tools to defend yourself, but it takes experience to know how to use them. In theory real fights should be easier, but if you've ever been in any, you'll soon find out that isn't the way it is for real. It's a little thing we like to call "Stress". With stress and fear, the mind starts to shut down and freeze as a defence mechanism (defence for the mind, not self defence). Also, things move a lot faster than you think they would.

In theory, reality and theory are the same thing. In reality, they're not.

[parkerlineage]

I agree 1000% with elbows_and_knees. Nice rebuttal.

[Ottman]

I went with the never strike first philosophy, as I believe that you can avoid violent situations altogether if you try hard enough. I think that not fighting is actually a lot harder than fighting, as it has taken me many years of training to tame the feral beast within that just wants to lash out at even the mere hint of physical threat. Sure striking first is the most effective way to deal with a physical threat (or a percieved physical threat), but in this case, I believe the philosophy should be to stay away from violent situations, or try to diffuse them before they start. Of course, if someone is approaching you in a menacing way, I wouldn't consider it a 'first strike' if you whacked them if they didn't stop their advance before getting into your range, but I guess their advance would be considered the assaulting movement in that case.

[lordtariel]

It may be legal to throw the first strike, but it's easier to deal with the aftermath if you let them make the first move. There's also the whole concept that "My opponent moves first, but I'm the first to the target."