IGX

Have recently been given reasons to consider personal safety at night in an urban area. Knew a guy once who worked security. Told me to never wear a neck tie in public cos if you're attacked it's a ready-made noose. If you need one, put a Velcro join behind your collar so it will rip off rather than strangle you. Never listen to a "Walkman" (now cd/smartphone whatever), always try to avoid being backed into a corner...keep hands up in an open gesture but assert your space somehow.

Read (here I think) someone saying that being strong is the best defence in a scrap. Quote was something like: "I've cornered a lot of MMA fighters. Many return after the first round saying,'Man that guy is so strong. Shit I'd no idea. I'm exhausted.' None of them ever spoke in such terms about the other guy having great conditioning".

Any other thoughts on this?

Situational awareness is you best friend. Don't be that clueless fuck who walks around in a daze and doesn't notice what's going on around you until it's too late. That goes back to your comment on not wearing headphones, but even deeper. Always look around and think "am I safe in this situation?" If something doesn't feel right, it's probably not right.

Don't like the looks of that group of young negros on the corner you're approaching? Cross the fucking street. Take the long way around rather than cutting through some deserted parking deck. That sort of stuff.

This book is one of the one I recommend to people regarding your question, 90% of personal security is in awareness and being switched on to your surroundings, it also covers some high percentage tactics in case shit does go down.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Streetwise-Comp ... 365&sr=1-2

Yes being strong helps but mental strength to prevail is more important.

Avoidance is the best defense. Urban areas could mean a lot of things. Hopefully you have the option of staying away from truly bad neighborhoods.
If you have the choice, try not to look like someone lowloifes would want to steal from. I don't mean this in the usual way of looking like a difficult target. Just not a worthwhile one. My grandfather was a cop in Brooklyn. Until he died he, he never wore a nice coat while walking around at night. He stuck with something cheap.
Prolonged eye contact is bad. Avoiding all eye contact is worse.
I had a martial arts instructor who had a theory that if you trained in anything, even tai chi for health, you gave off an energy that made you an unattractive target.
Surely no would mess with a lean mean squatting machine such as yourself. <<<<q

A good balance of strength and technique is best, but in a pinch, being able to crunch someone is useful.

I have a ton of experience in the traditional arts, but one of the best was a 12-week course taught by an old commando. Nutting, maiming and other "dirty fighting" techniques were taught. However, learning how to flick a cigarette butt into an eye, having a pocketful of pepper and iron shavings handy, and how to keep oneself from being thrown onto the subway tracks were even more practical.

Seriously-why not purchase train with and carry a firearm?

SAR wrote:<null>

This doesn't obviate the need for avoidance and situational awareness of course

Thing 1: Avoid anything. Literally. Even if they're half your size, there's nothing to gain.

Thing 2: If shit does hit the fan, be crazier than the other guy. You have to be prepared to hurt him more than he'll hurt you.

Thing 3: Slanting uppercut to the jaw. Done hard enough, not many people who can walk that off. Also the nose. Hit them where you don't want to be hit.

Thing 4: In some sort of a grappling situation? Grab their balls and squeeze and rip like your life depends on it. Use their nostrils and ears, and if necessary their eyes.

Thing 5: Being threatened with a weapon? Take a basic krav maga course, but at that point you've got two options. Run like fuck, or stay and fight. Stayed? Do whatever the fuck you can to point that thing away from you and get it as far away from both of you as possible. I did krav maga for close to three years. I must have practiced disarming guns and knives thousands of times. If I was faced with either and couldn't run, I'd just go fucking crazy on their arse.


My credentials: I've been in numerous confrontations, including one with a knife. I'm still alive.

Well Sar the reason that some of us can`t buy and carry firearms is that in most parts of Europe that is against the law.

Failing everything, just use the power of TOTALWAR.

Gorbachev wrote:Have recently been given reasons to consider personal safety at night in an urban area.

Adult, sober, 20-something males who lift weights are generally not great candidates for opportunistic criminals. If you are talking about somebody specifically seeking you out, that's a totally different situation.

Knew a guy once who worked security. Told me to never wear a neck tie in public cos if you're attacked it's a ready-made noose.

That person is a retard, so file everything he told you under "bullshit." Since it wasn't obvious why, to kill someone with their ow tie, you have to hold them in a position for a prolonged period where there are several easier options for killing than death-by-necktie.

Yes, some people to train to strangle with paracord or whatever, but it's uncommon enough to be silly to worry about.

Read (here I think) someone saying that being strong is the best defence in a scrap. Quote was something like: "I've cornered a lot of MMA fighters. Many return after the first round saying,'Man that guy is so strong. Shit I'd no idea. I'm exhausted.' None of them ever spoke in such terms about the other guy having great conditioning".

Being strong is good because people won't fuck with you in the first place, not because you will wear out more experienced fighters. Every reasonably strong neophyte who walked into a boxing gym or BJJ school and sparred with somebody weaker but more experienced always wrapped up round 1 a lot more tired than the "weak" guy. Street confrontations rarely last long enough for cardio to be a factor anyway.

Awareness, not looking like a victim, and not going to dumb places at night are going to be much more effective self-defense strategies than any MA or firearm training.

Three words: Street Sword Motherfuckah!

Beer Jew wrote:Thing 1: Avoid anything. Literally. Even if they're half your size, there's nothing to gain.

Thing 2: If shit does hit the fan, be crazier than the other guy. You have to be prepared to hurt him more than he'll hurt you.

Thing 3: Slanting uppercut to the jaw. Done hard enough, not many people who can walk that off. Also the nose. Hit them where you don't want to be hit.

Thing 4: In some sort of a grappling situation? Grab their balls and squeeze and rip like your life depends on it. Use their nostrils and ears, and if necessary their eyes.

Thing 5: Being threatened with a weapon? Take a basic krav maga course, but at that point you've got two options. Run like fuck, or stay and fight. Stayed? Do whatever the fuck you can to point that thing away from you and get it as far away from both of you as possible. I did krav maga for close to three years. I must have practiced disarming guns and knives thousands of times. If I was faced with either and couldn't run, I'd just go fucking crazy on their arse.


My credentials: I've been in numerous confrontations, including one with a knife. I'm still alive.

Beer Jew dropping the knowledges of tha street life from his vast experience.

kreator wrote:

LMFAO

Live in a self contained gated community, and own a large dog. Being tall and heroic is a plus.

Bobby wrote:<null>

I shed a tear

The Ginger Beard Man wrote:Surely no would mess with a lean mean squatting machine such as yourself. <<<<q

Yeah, I sort of left myself open to that one!

Grandpa's Spells wrote:

Gorbachev wrote:Have recently been given reasons to consider personal safety at night in an urban area.

Adult, sober, 20-something males who lift weights are generally not great candidates for opportunistic criminals. If you are talking about somebody specifically seeking you out, that's a totally different situation.

This wasn't someone seeking me out. It was a bunch of kids swarming, messing with my bag etc. I happened to be walking on my own and it was just bad luck. Situational awareness was high, spotted them as soon as I turned the corner. Decided to look and act confident as they approached. I also kept in to the brighter part of the street. When one of them went at my pack, I took it off. I'm not sure why they stopped - maybe they were just fucking around, but I had the impression it might have got ugly. I didn't let the stop me walking and I got away. Called the police who didn't give a shit.

Grandpa's Spells wrote:

Knew a guy once who worked security. Told me to never wear a neck tie in public cos if you're attacked it's a ready-made noose.

That person is a retard, so file everything he told you under "bullshit." Since it wasn't obvious why, to kill someone with their ow tie, you have to hold them in a position for a prolonged period where there are several easier options for killing than death-by-necktie.

To be fair, he wasn't saying I'd be murdered, but that in a fight, if someone pulls the short bit of the tie and it tightens, I've got a problem I wouldn't otherwise have. He worked as a bouncer which is where I think the velcro idea holds sway.

Grandpa's Spells wrote:

Read (here I think) someone saying that being strong is the best defence in a scrap. Quote was something like: "I've cornered a lot of MMA fighters. Many return after the first round saying,'Man that guy is so strong. Shit I'd no idea. I'm exhausted.' None of them ever spoke in such terms about the other guy having great conditioning".

Being strong is good because people won't fuck with you in the first place, not because you will wear out more experienced fighters. Every reasonably strong neophyte who walked into a boxing gym or BJJ school and sparred with somebody weaker but more experienced always wrapped up round 1 a lot more tired than the "weak" guy. Street confrontations rarely last long enough for cardio to be a factor anyway.

This interests me. Thinking about it, yes, looking strong is a deterrent. And I think being "well conditioned" in a street fight isn't nearly as important. I know that in a proper fight with any kind of rules, a skilful guy will win out. But in a street fight, I reckon being strong as fuck is more important than anything else 90% of the time.

Grandpa's Spells wrote:Awareness, not looking like a victim, and not going to dumb places at night are going to be much more effective self-defense strategies than any MA or firearm training.

Veritas.

What Cleaner said is more or less it.

Re: Conditioning. Anyone who says conditioning isn't that important in a street fight is a complete fucking idiot. It's vital and any meaningful self defense method, style, art etc should put a reasonable emphasis on it. Prepare for the worst (a drawn out street brawl), but except the best (less than a minute).

Except in cases of major size and strength differences (or age, too) the main drivers of a fight (assuming you haven't been able to avoid the confrontation by being vigilant) are conditioning (not Bernard Lagat conditioning, but maybe non retarded @fitter conditioning), extreme violence, and gross skills and tactics. By gross I mean taking the shortest path to damaging your attacker that you can. No spinning wheel kicks.

It doesn't matter what you know if you're not willing to use it. And it doesn't matter how willing you are to use it, if your attacker is a bad motherfucker and the fight drags out and you gas out.

Taking the tie off isn't a terrible idea. Probably not a problem, but unless you are heading somewhere that you need to arrive with tie on and neatly knotted, it doesn't hurt to take it off and put it in your bag.

Sudden unmerciful violence is the key.

No mercy.

Kobra Kai MOTHERFUCKER!

Ed Zachary wrote:Sudden unmerciful violence is the key.

No mercy.

Kobra Kai MOTHERFUCKER!

John Kreese approves

Took me a while to get that reference to Kobra Kai. Highly qualitative, EZ.

Did you ever received training in self defense?

Dux wrote:Did you ever received training in self defense?

Nope. An aim for this year is to organise and take boxing training. I have a vague desire to try a White collar bout before I'm too decrepit.

It's been said on here repeatedly but speaking as former L.E.O. self awareness is the key. Too many people walk around like sheep thinking nothing will ever go wrong. Some mental prep, a little physical prep, and a willingness to run like the fucking wind if you are alone and confronted with a weapon are tops on my list.

A good Krav Maga school will cover most of the bases you need but they are few and far between anymore. In reality anything that requires dedication, physicale effort, and sparring at a high intensity will aid you should things get physical.

Ed Zachary wrote:Sudden unmerciful violence is the key.

No mercy.

Very true. Aside from overall avoidance of this shit, some key points that have already been mentioned. The main emphasis of any training for an altercation should be the practice of gross motor patterns that emphasize maximum damage, as baffled said. Small joint manipulation and the 2000 fluttering hands technique are fine and dandy but fuck it if I were to use it in a real fight. One of the things that I really feel is important in an altercation that a lot of folks don't understand is simple body mechanics and center of gravity. Things like push hands and simple "wrasslin" growing up can teach someone a lot of things about how to move in an altercation.

One of the things that we worked on in JKD right from the get go was to go from distance to in-fighting range and try to knock/push/trip your opponent out if the circle. No punching or kicking, just standup stuff. The point was to get a person used to having someone aggressively taking up their personal space. It may sound silly but there are a lot of people that cannot function at this stage of a fight. And to be honest, it was probably one of the more fun drills outside of actually sparring.

At the end of the day your best tactic is to stay and/or run away.