Ever got in a fight?

[kabert]

I was in 3 or 4 fights in 7th and 8th grades. One thing I'll never forget about one of them -- I recall afterwards telling my mother about it and how, rather than being at all concerned (esp. b/c a cop broke up the fight), she seemed to be amused and even a little bit proud.

 

[j]

Originally Posted by HomerJ

Jebus. I don't want to fight after seeing this.
This is one of the best things I've watched on Youtube. I learned a lot too! Think I'll go get in a fight now.

 

[yerfdog]

Originally Posted by Eason

Thanks, Bas!

oh no my friend, you don wan to do that, danga didanga didang like diiisss

 

[Renault78law]

Originally Posted by yerfdog

oh no my friend, you don wan to do that, danga didanga didang like diiisss

He's like Borat meets Rex Kwon Do meets Steven Segal.

 

[emptym]

Originally Posted by romafan

the Macedonian death stare...

Funny but true.

I've done Tae Kwon do for about 20 yrs. They say that the better you are at martial arts the less you have to use it (that and moving to better neighborhoods).

Fights in grade school lasted a long time. By jr. high, they ended w/ one kick or a punch. By high school they ended w/ a block. (for example, three guys came at me, one w/ a baseball bat. He swung at my knees and I blocked it w/ my foot, twisted and stepped on it so that he had to drop the bat. It impressed him and his friends enough that they backed away).

By college a fight could be ended or avoided w/ a look.

When you look at someone and you've had some experience, you can tell if they're looking for a fight, and sometimes why. You can tell if they're angry because of something you did or not, maybe something someone else did, maybe they want to impress their friends or girlfriend. These people you can sometimes stare down, or smile at them in a disarming way. You might be able to divert their attention, sympathize w/ them about the problem, compliment them (I once told a drunk Russian construction worker that he didn't want to fight me. I'm a little wimp and he's a big, strong guy. He turned to his friends and said, yep, that's right, I'm strong.) You might have to let go of a little ego, but it's probably a false ego anyway.

Fights are a pain. No matter how good you are, the other person might be better, or lucky. You might slip and crack your head on the ground, or hit someone and kill him on accident. Always the last resort.

There are some good books about this involving Aikido. There's always a lot of debate about martial arts and what's best. Each has its advantages, but I think there's a natural progression from hard to soft. We start off wanting control and strength in the sense of power OVER another. But slowly we realize it's not about competition. Another's loss is often my loss. Didn't Abraham Lincoln say something like, Am I not destroying my enemy by making him my friend?

 

[HomerJ]

That's pretty smart move emptym.

I will definitely be enrolling any future child in martial arts, great for exercise, teaches discipline, instills confidence, all that. Of course, my brother and I got pulled from TKD after 2 years by my parents because he got in too many damn fights lol. I think red belt should be red for danger.

 

[emptym]

I agree, HomerJ. Any kids I have will have to take a martial art and study a musical instrument.

Just went through the whole thread and wanted to comment on your automatic block and counterpunch. That's the way it is. If you practice a move a few hundred times it becomes habit, automatic. People often hate to do forms, thinking they're a waste of time compared to sparring or self-defense moves. But when you're in a fight, you'll do something automatically. It surprises you at the time and then later realize that it was part of some form you've done over and over.

Wanted to thank Lawyerdad, Connemara, and edmorel for their very funny posts, as well as Jimsonweed for a bit of retributive justice for the dog.

 

[MCsommerreid]

Never been in a fight, however I have taken some people out and broken up a number of fights. It sort of pays to be large, mean, and look like the kind of guy who will stab you soon as look at you.

I did break up a few fights, though none of them were very memorable. Generally it just involved me tackling the people fighting all at once, and them getting the sense knocked into them.

Only time I thought there really would be trouble was when an average street thug decided to be a bad ass and walked out of an ally and said "hey bro, give me your wallet". That ended with a rather large knife getting pulled out on my part, the guy running off, and a police report being filed. Lucky it didn't escalate into anything more than that, but it usually doesn't where robbery is involved because "robbery with a deadly weapon" carries like a 10 year minimum here or something crazy.

Jebus. I don't want to fight after seeing this.

Bas is sort of the man. I always like the "stab in de livers" part.

 

[tiecollector]

...

 

[metkirk]

I too had a bunch of fights with this black kid back in 10th grade. Pretty much all the Asian kids in the school were bullied by him, sad life.

 

[Violinist]

Originally Posted by tiecollector

I've never gotten beat up, but never decisively won a fight either. I think fighting should be a last resort, especially on the streets.

I used to get in fights every week with the black kids who didn't like me much when in grade school. It was always a tie but they always claimed a debilitating victory every time.

About 4 years ago my dad, who was in his 40s and quite a bit bigger than me, has a temper and started pushing me around so we started duking it out. I was surprised at how easily he body slammed me on the tile floor. We didn't talk to or see each other for months afterwards so I dunno what kind of state he was in the next day.

I got jumped and choked by 6 north africans when in Spain. I pretty much had to let them take whatever they wanted.

Last December, I was shitfaced with my ex's mom's husband who is a meathead with arms bigger than my head. I was joking around with him and he ended up thinking I wanted to fight him so he started choking me. I couldn't even hardly stand, so I'm glad he stopped.

I really need to get back into a martial arts of some sort because I feel pretty helpless.

wow... the moms in your life really know how to pick em.

 

[Eason]

Originally Posted by mizanation

i love bas rutten's street fighting instructional video. highly recommended for pure entertainment purposes.

the thing i love most about it is the rationale that he gives for knowing all these brutal moves that could maim, cripple, blind or kill someone. it was something like, "you should always walk away from a fight, but what if you're locked in a room somewhere and a guy kills everyone in the room except you? that's when you use these techniques."

i was like, yeah, whatever, bas.

the tape is littered with bas's stories of drunken street brawls. each technique is graphically illustrated in a way only bas can do.

a good 40% of the techniques can only be successfully executed if you are a trained world-class heavyweight full-contact fighter, which bas is. so, weekend warriors, get the video and start taking notes!

I love the highlight video which is nothing but bas making noises while hitting his volunteers. DANG DANG DANG DANG, BONG, I BREAKAH YOUR LEG (noted that it has been posted in this thread now)

 

[mr.orange]

So I've never been in a fight, should I be worried? I really dislike any sort of confrontation and prefer to be diplomatic but I at the same time I would like to have some first hand experience when dealing with some aggresives people. Should I start a fight?

grazi!

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

Once, when I was playing in the World Cup Finals, this dirty Italian insulted my mother and called me a terrorist. I head-butted him in the chest.

saw it inTV, you totally floored that guy. was it worth the hefty fine?

Originally Posted by FLMountainMan

Haven't been in a fight since college but had a weird experience a few days ago. I repeatedly glared at a rather large guy who was practically screaming on a sales call in the hotel lobby. I was trying to eat breakfast and read the paper and this douchebag is screaming out the performance specs of plastic tubing and annoying everyone.
He came over after his call and asked if I had "some kinda problem with him". He had a pretty threatening posture and was standing over me as I sat down. I thought I was about to get ****** beat (I'm 6'2, he was just as tall, but about fifty pounds heavier), but figured honesty was the best policy. I calmly told him the entire hotel could overhear his conversation and it was really disruptive.
The weird thing is he just said "Oh, my bad" and walked off. That's the second time that's happened to me in a month.

when keeping it real goes smooth

Originally Posted by The_Icon

Not my proudest moment, but what can you do. Violence is no way to settle a dispute. Fighting is a sport, not a way to solve your problems.

Well said sir.

Originally Posted by j

This is one of the best things I've watched on Youtube. I learned a lot too! Think I'll go get in a fight now.

That's the spirit J!

 

[gauche.story]

I was walking with and ex-gf at a county fair, and she pointed out a dude that had raped her.

He didn't know me from any other random stranger so I am sure he was surprised when I kicked the absolute **** out him.

Was it moral? Gray area, probably no. Do I regret it? Nope.

 

[mr.orange]

So you went up to the guy, reminded him about the ****, made him beg for mercy, and kicked the **** out of him? Sounds like a very batman-eeish thing to do lol