he who runs today lives to fight another day

[sansoouser]

Now I had just gotten home from the 4th of July fireworks and was comming to the door with my family. Now the bottom of our door and the middle was wood on the side ( the frame ) and it had been cut or broken off. And the door was open, so we looked inside and saw some ones shadow so my dad says " Back to the van now! " So we all go running to the van... except my mom! Well she walks over with the door to her side of the van half way opened and says look I see someone. My dad grabs the phone and says " Dial 911! " And yet my mom still stand there with the door open when we see this person comming closer. My dad yells out " SHT " ( well you know ) It's understandable, we are like fish in a bowl and could have been easily shot with a shotgun or whatever gun only 5 feet from the door. So my mom finally shuts the door and my dad backs up when we see my brother come out. ( phew!! ) You don't know how much of a relief that was... But the point is my mom could have gotten us killed because of her slow actions. No martial arts can prepare you for gun attacks, go along with the attacker unless you have no choice, then act and act fast with your most deadly techniques ( throat strikes while grabbing the arm ). Well, the broken door was from our dogs who got out and had clawed and chewed it off, but STILL MY MOM COULD HAVE GOTTEN US KILLED! She may be old but still!! I want to live to be her AGE!!

 

Well that's why I live by that quote now, if there's no reason to fight why fight? Especially if it is a gamble for your life.

[G95champ]

Good Deal

 

I had always heard the saying as

 

Those who are smart and runs away lives to fight on another day.

 

No shame in running and as far as your mom freezing well that happens reguardless of training. You can never get the same effect in class as you will get in real life. Its like practice and a game no matter how many times you do it your still not ready.

 

Hope you had a Happy 4th

[monkeygirl]

If your mom freezes like that in a situation that turns out to be more serious, it's up to YOU as a martial artists, to take charge. Telling your mom what to do isn't going to be enough; you have to grab her by the arm and pull her into the van!

 

Your dad has a good head about him, though...quick thinking.

[sansoouser]

Ya, she freezes alot in things like that. I was thinking of either getting outta the van and running or doing what I did and duck down on the floor ya know in case they had a gun. My dad said he woulda slammed it in gear and flew forawrd try to ram them and hope my mom held on. Smart thing but after a situation like that it makes you think on how to handle other things ( with my mom ). But my dad was always an attacker, on other things he grabbed a fence post and ran around the house and tried to grab the last guy who was lurking at our house. He said he was just an attacker and it was second reaction. He told me that if he was alone he would have made sure they weren't going out the front ya know, so that meant they were probably going out a back window and then he said he would have grabbed the fence post and ran around back. Another time when I was younger these guys who lived behind our house were throwing glass over our house, hit my moms car and the driveway area. So one almost hits my dad and boy fat man can move, lol. He tore around the house jump the fence and shoved one guy against the house and grabbed the other by the throat and asked in loud voice " You throwing glass? " They both said no, so he told em not to and they were drunk ( the throwers, hopefully ) so they looked scared enough

[Martial_Artist]

911 would not have saved your lives.

 

It's a good thing nothing bad happened to your family, and I'm extremely grateful that it was just your brother, but what if it had been an armed thug?

 

Do you really think 911 would have saved your mother's life? Or the rest of your family's lives? Something to think about:

 

The national average response time for 911 is 18 minutes. In 18 minutes, had it not been your brother, what do you think an armed thug could have done?

 

Your Mom froze; that is a very scary situation. Especially since no one knows the mindset of a criminal. It is impossible to say what that person will do before they do it.

 

My personal opinion of the matter is your Dad should own and learn to responsibly use a handgun. If it wasn't your brother then your family would have had a chance to save your mother's life.

 

Your Dad could have drawn his weapon, called 911, moved your mother to safety, and waited for the police. If a thug were to try to attack you, then your Dad would have the advantage. If not, then you don't put yourself in any more danger while waiting for the police to arrive to clear the house.

 

But it is a scary 18 minutes without a means of defending your family.

 

Again, like I said, I am extremely grateful that it was just your brother. I don't like hearing of bad things happening to good people. But, think about it if it had gone wrong.

 

It's an experience to learn from. You saw how your mother reacts in situations like this, so now you can prepare for such in case of a future situation. You know how you will react. And, now, you know something more about the reaction time of a police service call to 911.

 

If it were me, I wouldn't take any chances with my family.

 

MA.

 

p.s.

 

Monkeygirl is right. When your mother froze someone else, especially with training, should have acted. Most people when frozen with fear cannot hear ambient background sounds, they're focused on the target. Sometimes they can't even hear that. It's part of a chemical reaction in the human body for fight or flight. It's something to mentally prepare yourself for in yourself and in others.

[sansoouser]

ya, he does have a gun. Not with him though. My dad trained in judo for years and took 1st in state the times he competed. Bar fights and things. He can handle himself. But the main priority for him was to get his family to safety. But like I said he usually charges people, not afraid but protecting his family. I've seen him smear guys in bar fights ram them against walls and such. Believe me when he gets into it. He can really move.

[Fenris-wolf]

MA, I know where you're coming from, but I'm a little scared by your enthusiasm for packing firepower. It's far too easy to hurt yourself or someone else who's innocent; even if you have a gun, it's quite likely that if you're scared you won't use it or you won't be able to use it.

 

Imagine if Sansoouer's mother had had a gun. What would she have done? She could have shot her own son. Sure, it's not likely, but I think there is more danger from giving an unexperienced person a gun than letting them find another way. Just IMHO.

 

[monkeygirl]

Fenris-wolf: I think that's why Martial_Artist encouraged sansoouser's father to own a handgun. He has already shown that he can take charge and think clearly in a dangerous situation. In this case, I think it would be a very good idea for him to own a handgun. Sure, there are some people that I would never suggest owning a handgun, but I think in this case, it wouldn't harm sansoouser's father to own a handgun.

 

As long as the family is responsible about it (i.e.: young children understand that they shouldn't touch it), there is no problem. I am a firm believer in the statement: "Guns don't kill people, people do."

 

My father has owned a gun for most of my life. My brother and I were raised to understand that we should never touch the gun, and we never did. We always knew where it was, so that we didn't accidentally come across it if a friend or relative was visiting who turned out to be less responsible. It was never kept loaded, and only my parents knew where the ammunition was kept. We've never had to use it, we've never had a problem with it (except when it was recalled by the government once, and came back as a different model ). Because of this, I think that a family can be responsible about a handgun.

 

I'm not trying to get into anything political here, though. These are just my opinions and experiences.

[Fenris-wolf]

Oh yeah, sure. I mean, my opinions are probably going to be pretty different from the average Americans since hardly anyone owns handguns over here. (New Zealand)

 

I definately agree that "Guns don't kill people, people do." That applies to all weapons. I'm just pretty wary of handguns in general. I mean, they're designed purely to hit people! Nothing else, just people. That isn't a very nice implication.

 

Not trying to start an argument either, don't worry.

[Martial_Artist]

Thanks Monkeygirl.

 

Yes, I intended the father to be the one to carry the firearm. Primarily because, well, he is the dad. If he doesn't protect his family, who will?

 

Well, about it being far too easy to hurt yourself or someone else with a gun...more people die from drownings, suicide, or just plain ole blunt weapons than from guns.

 

I cannot answer for the mother, but I am a firm believer that good training can change people. If she had a gun and the training that should accompany it, then she would have been in a good position. Training primarily teaches not to shoot first and ask questions later. If anything, had she good training, she would have pointed the gun at her son and demanded that he identify himself. He would have realized his mother was at the door and replied, "Mom, it's me, don't shoot!" The situation would have been resolved. At least, if the training and the mother had gone well.

 

In any case, I believe that firearms are a tool of self-defense and a good one. I also believe that the heads of households should have relative easy access to them for the protection of their loved ones. I do. Both my children understand firearms. That is the best safety available. Problem is, most accidents occur because of a lack of understanding about firearms. This is mostly the parents fault in not educating their children. I grew up around firearms of all flavors. Never once have I ever considered playing with one. I have always understood what a firearm is, as do my two boys.

 

Anyways, I didn't mean to wander listlessly there. I understand why most people are wary of firearms, they can be a hard thing to understand. Not understanding something usually leads to not fully trusting it, either. I also find it admirable that we can discuss such a topic without getting hot-headed about it.

 

Sansooer, I'm glad you have a father who knows how to take care of his family. I respect fathers who take that responsibilty, instead of abdicating it to an agency.

 

MA.