Had to defend myself today always feels horrible having to fight

[sgraves]

So yeah today I was hanging out with my girlfriend in a park area and this guy never seen him before starts hassling us mainly making sexual comments to her. I asked the the guy politely to leave us alone and we went to walk off but he followed us and kept getting in our way. Somehow he knew about my kickboxing and was challenging me to swing for him. I said I had no interest in fighting anyone and he said oh are you scared of me so I just said yes I am.

The he swore and said he'd kill me and reached into his jacket. All I saw as he did was a flash of silver and as soon as I saw that I hit him as hard as I could as I knew he was about to pull a knife on me. He fell after I hit him and grabbed my girlfriend and we ran off. I'm a bit worried about the cops being called because any witnesses might not have seen him going for the knife and he didnt actually have it fully out before I hit him it but it definentely was a knife my girlfriend saw it to so in the end I had to do it and I do think I was right to do it but I do always hate the feeling of having to fight outside the gym or ring.

and its not like you beat the guy to a pulp man

 

[JowGaWolf]

So went down the police station today and reported it they said the guy was known for starting trouble and a known drug addict. They said I used reasonable force and the witnesses confirm I didn't start it so all good

Pretty much how I thought it would go down. The guy with the record will always have an uphill battle in scenarios like this. People tend to forget that police interact with the public every day and they know who the trouble makers are.

 

[Balrog]

So yeah today I was hanging out with my girlfriend in a park area and this guy never seen him before starts hassling us mainly making sexual comments to her. I asked the the guy politely to leave us alone and we went to walk off but he followed us and kept getting in our way. Somehow he knew about my kickboxing and was challenging me to swing for him. I said I had no interest in fighting anyone and he said oh are you scared of me so I just said yes I am.

The he swore and said he'd kill me and reached into his jacket. All I saw as he did was a flash of silver and as soon as I saw that I hit him as hard as I could as I knew he was about to pull a knife on me. He fell after I hit him and grabbed my girlfriend and we ran off. I'm a bit worried about the cops being called because any witnesses might not have seen him going for the knife and he didnt actually have it fully out before I hit him it but it definentely was a knife my girlfriend saw it to so in the end I had to do it and I do think I was right to do it but I do always hate the feeling of having to fight outside the gym or ring.

Frankly, you should have secured the knife and him, then called the cops. The presence of the knife plus your girlfriend as a direct eyewitness would have been enough to get his *** quite well fried.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Frankly, you should have secured the knife and him, then called the cops. The presence of the knife plus your girlfriend as a direct eyewitness would have been enough to get his *** quite well fried.

I'm guessing from his name he is much more confident in his ability to hit the guy then to secure the knife and maintain control over him until the cops come.
In a situation like that, protecting yourself and your girlfriend is much more important IMO than worrying about the possible legal issues, especially of you stop once he's down.

 

[Langenschwert]

I'm guessing from his name he is much more confident in his ability to hit the guy then to secure the knife and maintain control over him until the cops come.
In a situation like that, protecting yourself and your girlfriend is much more important IMO than worrying about the possible legal issues, especially of you stop once he's down.

The OP was right to run. That is the only sure knife defence... don't be anywhere near a knife.

 

[Tez3]

Frankly, you should have secured the knife and him, then called the cops. The presence of the knife plus your girlfriend as a direct eyewitness would have been enough to get his *** quite well fried.

In a fight between two people one has a knife and the other takes it off him if there is no witnesses other than his girlfriend ( police prefer independent witnesses to 'interested' parties) how then if the defender to prove to the police that he wasn't the attacker? In the OPs case he did exactly the right thing, and luckily there were witnesses. Real life isn't the same as films, the only thing I'd have said was to have gone to the police sooner.

 

[GiYu - Todd]

You didn't choose to fight, the other guy did. You even tried to avoid it and disengage. And you used reasonable force to stop the incident, then got your girlfriend and yourself to safety rather than continue beating him. Sounds like you did everything right. I'm glad you and your girlfriend are good and that your training paid off for you.