The Art of Fighting Without Fighting

[Ti-Kwon-Leap]

Several years ago I was confronted by a guy who had obviously had too much to drink.

 

He wanted to fight and for some reason he chose me.

 

Well, fighting a big, stupid guy did not seem like a fun filled evening so I decided to confuse him in an effort to avoid the whole mess.

 

I said: "Cody Baker??? Is that you, man?" He said "No..."

 

I continued..."Wow You have an exact twin, you look exactly like someone I went to high school with" and then I went on about what a bad ass Cody was and blah blah blah. Anyway it worked like a charm and he ended up calming down and acting like I was his best friend.

 

What I want to know is: Have any of you ever used psychological tactics to control an adversary?

 

I'm sure at least one of you has a similar story, I have several...

 

Mental battles are more fun to win than physical ones.

[monkeygirl]

that's genius .....

 

I've only ever been in one true fight in my entire life...that was with my cousin when I was, oh say 11, and I still have the scar to prove it!

 

Now I do avoid some fights in the dojo with psychological help.

 

If someone is being annoying and repeating everything I say, I say a really big word that I know they can't pronounce...such as "antidisestablishmentarianism"....to be honest I don't really know what it means, but it works! If they ask me what it is, I say "You can't even say it! Why do you care?"

 

Something in a foreign language works well, too. "Du reicht anglich eine ladung aus dunger" German, even if the grammar was screwed up. Basically it means they smell like a load of crap.

[Martial_Artist]

Once, in the Philippines a group of drunks tried to pick a fight with me. The 'leader''(ie the one most drunk) was calling out obscenities to me because of being an American. I did not feel like fighting a bunch of drunks because I was going somewhere so I instantly said to him in Filipino, "Man, you are so fluent in Chinese!" He paused for a moment trying to comprehend what I just said. So I repeated, "You are really good in Chinese. That's so amazing!" For him not to lose face, and he being so drunk to not realize otherwise he agreed. I told him I was fluent in Chinese too and then made up something that sounded Chinese. He replied in more made up chinese. For a few moments we exchanged a conversation in completely made-up chinese. After a few moments I laughed uttered something incomprehensible and motioned like I had to go. He laughed and said something in fake-chinese and we waved good-bye. End of confrontation.

 

Second, in the US. I was walking with a friend of mine at night; not too far from home and not too late either. A man and his buddy came out from behind a bush and he pulled a balisong(butterfly knife). He asked for our money. I looked at him and yelled very loudly, "If you attack me with that, I'll kill you!" He looked at me then said, in a meek voice, "Just kidding, man." And he and his buddy turned and ran.

 

I've got a few more, but those two most entertaining.

[Jade_Lotus]

I have a friend that did it once...it was a looooong time ago, back in High School, in the Library, some kid wanted to fight him, so he jumped on the floor and curled up in the fetal position and started sucking his thumb...the guy walked away, and there was no fight.

[moobrack]

In my opinion, the art of fighting without fighting is being able to out think your opponent to an extent where you are able to avoid any attack no matter what it is - without attacking or defending from any attacks.

 

Basically it is preliminary body evasion and also being able to use words as weapons - not as an insult, just to make your enemy ralise where the line is!

[G95champ]

This is what being a true Martial Artist is about. If you can win a fight without fighting. That should be everyone's ultimate goal.

[Jade_Lotus]

"For the true master wins all his fights without fighting at all."

[Ti-Kwon-Leap]

To Martial_Artist: ROTFLMAO! That's exactly what I'm talking about!

 

I think many people start fights because they are frustrated and bored.

 

A little distraction, humor surprize, or just plain BS can go a long way in controlling the flow of events.

 

I want to hear MORE STORIES!!!

[Martial_Artist]

Ok. Here's another. Setting: The Philippines Again.(If you haven't guessed I've spent some time there.)

 

I was getting a soda pop and something to eat at a little roadside store (called Tindahan) pretty late at night. (I had the munchies and nothing in my refrigerator) Anywho, there was this guy sitting on a bench just in front of the window. I had to hunch over to get to the window. He was sitting up a bit above where I was. He was amazingly enough, drinking! Surprise! Surprise! (I find most hostile situations are produced by those not in the right mind) So he starts to talk to me. The first words out of his mouth are, "Hey, joe.'" (Hey Joe is the universal filipino word for hey american. They call all americans joe among other things...my name however isn't joe)

 

I ignore him. It's late, I'm hungry. I'm wearing some worn out sweat shorts and flip-flops.

 

So he pulls out this one dollar bill and starts waving it at me saying stuff like, "Look! I got lots american money!"

 

The store owner says to me, "Just ignore him he's drunk."

 

So I ask him, "How many drinks you had?" Just 1.

 

Then he says, "My name is Nothing. Do you believe it?"

 

WTF?! I reply, "No. I don't believe it."

 

SO he get mad now and says, "My name is Nothing. It's in the Bible. Do you believe it?"

 

"No. My name is THE. That's in the Bible. Do you believe it?" I reply.

 

This sets off some detonation switch. He gets furiated. And starts rambling off about how he's this big shot on the other side of town. (I'd been living there for 16 mo. Never heard of him.) Says his name is Leo. So he gets up now. And makes like he's coming for me.

 

I get out from being hunched over and stand to face him. I am totally expecting this drunk man to take a swing at me. I'm thinking to myself, Do I hit him back?

 

I walk up to him and we reach level ground. He'd been on elevated ground since I went to the window. I stand to my tallest. The top of his head comes directly to my solar plexus. He looks up at me and I look down at him. I'm at least 10x the human he is. I step back, relax, and wait. He looks at me then sits right back down and starts mumbling that I'd better watch out, He was Leo. If I wanted to finish this I could find him on the other side of town.

 

I laugh at him, say, "Sure thing, Nothing," and leave to go home.

 

This story was funny, because I didn't have to do anything. I know it's not mental fighting, but funny. Because while drunk off of one beer this guy felt he was 10ft. tall. When he called he felt more like 4'3". I knew this town very well, he was a janitor at the College. I avoided a fight by simply puffing up like an animal and it sobered him up a bit.

 

Those were some interesting nights on the shore in that town in the Philippines. Most people didn't bother with me because of who were my friends, but there were the drunks who forgot where they were, or the tough guys trying to prove something. I was just there to learn and enjoy.

 

Manila, was a different story. Such a big metropolis, plenty of guys looking for trouble with an unknown foreigner.

[Ti-Kwon-Leap]

When I lived in Kauai I had to deal with many guys who had an apriori bias against "haolies".

 

One tactic that seemed to work well was to remain calm and frendly in the face of hostility.

 

They were looking for a challenge and nothing more.

 

When they found out that I wasn't going for the bait they usually changed their behavior.

 

Another thing that works well is feeding your potential adversary an unexpected compliment while maintaining a non threatening demeanor.

 

It's amazing how many aggressive types haven't recieved enough "love from mamma".