Yelling "Stop!"

[gzk]

It could work as a pre-fight strategy - The "verbal fence" as it's known. However, I probably wouldn't waste energy doing it in a fight, not least because opening my mouth to do it would temporarily weaken my jaw, which a trained fighter would see and exploint, and a drunk will probably exploit out of dumb luck and brute force because he's just keeping on punching.

Will your attacker even hear you while they're adrenalized in the fight?

[frightmaster]

Persoanlly I do not think STOP would exist if I or anyone I train with. If you attack me, why would I not defend myself to the point I can either get away safely or subdue the person till police arrived. As for sparring, the ref should yell stop or some other form/language as well as try to seperate. We all know this and respect it. Can never merge sparring with real life actions.

[dragonwarrior_keltyr]

I would stop if someone said yame because I am used to it from sparring at the dojo. If someone said stop I might hesitate for a second. I might ask someone to yell it out the next time I'm sparring to see what I would do.

[Rateh]

In our school we use the word "break" to end sparring matches. I don't think anyone on the street would yell that in a fight...

[marie curie]

While this may not be a consideration for a person, it does come into play with trained dogs. A typical family dog may very well "Sit" when commanded by a stranger as long as the stranger is calm and commanding.

Just a thought.

[danbong]

No matter what command you use in class - break, stop, yame, you should keep your defenses up as you separate. I guess this thread emphasises why this is important in terms of real self defense training.

[bushido_man96]

In our school we use the word "break" to end sparring matches. I don't think anyone on the street would yell that in a fight...

That is true, but it is kind of ingrained in our nature to listen to the word "stop" when it is said to us. Also, imagine not just saying "stop" once, but saying it many times in a row, along with words like "whoa" and "wait" and so on.

[bushido_man96]

While this may not be a consideration for a person, it does come into play with trained dogs. A typical family dog may very well "Sit" when commanded by a stranger as long as the stranger is calm and commanding.

Just a thought.

A good thought. That is why Law Enforcement dogs are trained in different languages or words. Therefore, they can't be controlled by others. They are also so well trained that they know when to go, and when to go harder.

No matter what command you use in class - break, stop, yame, you should keep your defenses up as you separate. I guess this thread emphasises why this is important in terms of real self defense training.

Good point. I think you have to say it very earnestly, though, for it to work right.

[baronbvp]

In my school, we say "tap tap tap" because it's what you're thinking anyway.

If I was winning a street fight and someone yelled "STOP!" I might. If I was losing, no way.

[hapkido princess]

we also say "break" at the end of our matches in Hapkido. A funny side note. Recently while my 6 year old son was at the dentist (I was also in the room) My son didn't like the dentist cleaning his back teeth and started to tap out.