Has your art ever came in handy in a real fight?

[DoubleZ711]

Or did you just end up swinging wildly hoping for a lucky punch? This is usually what happens when school fights break out... the two combatants just swing their arms completely wild with no defense whatsoever. It almost looks like they are trying to slap each other, god it looks so gay.

Anyways, if you've ever been in a fight, how did you do?

 

[Sukerkin]

I'm not quite sure how to 'tone' a reply to this question.

A simple, "Yes, of course my MA training worked in my favour in a fight" could either be seen as denigrating your question or aggrandising or condoning the use of violence to resolve an issue.

However, sticking strictly to the facts, yes, when the time came that I had no choice but to fight, the fact that I had been trained to fight decisively (and make an opening to escape when all other options to avoid the conflict had failed) ensured that I was able to run to the police station to report the armed assault physically unscathed.

Emotionally unscathed is another matter.

 

[Joab]

Or did you just end up swinging wildly hoping for a lucky punch? This is usually what happens when school fights break out... the two combatants just swing their arms completely wild with no defense whatsoever. It almost looks like they are trying to slap each other, god it looks so gay.

Anyways, if you've ever been in a fight, how did you do?

I won't agree to a fight. A fight is when two combatants agree to duke it out. I was attacked on the street once, but this was not a fight, this was a mugging attempt. He tried to get behind me and face my back, but I kept myself squared to him, as my one week of Wing Chun taught me to do. He than said, "You think your special don't you?" and than came straight at me. Than it went cavemen, and I ended up knocking him on the ground. Nothing Wing Chun or tae kwon do about my defense, but it worked, primarily because my mugger wan't very skilled. I still got hurt, but not seriously. It wasn't pleasant. This happened before I took American Combato or Krav Maga.

 

[Gordon Nore]

Or did you just end up swinging wildly hoping for a lucky punch? This is usually what happens when school fights break out... the two combatants just swing their arms completely wild with no defense whatsoever. It almost looks like they are trying to slap each other, god it looks so gay.

Anyways, if you've ever been in a fight, how did you do?

I've been attacked as an adult; I haven't been in a fight since I was a kid. There's a difference, and it has to do with the mentality of the combatant, not the art used. So I'm no help to you.

 

[Omar B]

I've had to use karate in several self defense situations. The fist time I had to actually defend myself was quite traumatic for me. I was 11 or 12 at the time and had taken the bus to the store my uncle was working at one Saturday so he could take me to the mall after (he promised me a new tennis racket). I got off the bus and stupidly took a short cut through the back of a shopping mall instead of walking around the the whole block like I should have. Two guys approached me asking where I was from and what I was doing back there then one of them made for my watch. His hand made contact with my wrist and I pulled down unbalancing him and stuck upwards with my elbow hitting him in the nose, he went down as I lifted my left foot in a roundhouse kick connecting with the other one in the side of the neck (hey, I was short!). Then I ran to my uncle's work where I cried like a baby. Belive me, hurting someone is not something that is ever easy.

Turns out though that these two guys were out for trouble that day because later while in the store still I heard a lady talking about two teen agers who got arrested across the street tryign to rob someone at a bus stop.

Couple things you learn in a fight. Chain movments together, the unbalancing move was not fully done before the elbow started it's arc and the guy was not fully down before the kick was away. Never think in single moves, half way through one tech you should be already setting up or starting the other so there's no time for the person to react.

 

[searcher]

Yes, I did fine. It worked as it should have.

 

[arnisador]

Yes, saved me from serious injury in a mugging.

 

[Aikicomp]

In a fight.....no. In a situation where my life was in danger, unfortunately yes.
I was almost mugged when I worked in Newark, NJ. I was coming off shift at my job and two people asked me for a cigarette....and my watch and wallet as well. At first I thought they were goofing around and didn't take them seriously...then I realized they were for real.
Strangely, the first thing I saw in my head was my two little girls saying "Why didn't our daddy come home tonight?"

Then I became something else...in short, I front kicked one guy in the bladder then grabbed his trachea and feeling my fingers touch behind his throat I let go...he made a really wierd noise and collapsed to the ground. The second guy grabbed my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around his and subsequently dislocating/ hyper-extending his elbow, I felt his arm snap, and then I sidekicked his knee, again, dislocating/ hyper-extending his knee, he screamed, fell to the ground and started crawling away. I looked around, got in my car, went home and hugged my wife and kids.

Now here is the really strange part...I actually felt bad for the guys because they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. They saw a little (5'8 150) guy and thought they had an easy mark unfortunately for them, they were very very wrong.

All the years spent training and having a lot of fun doing it BTW culminated in that one moment...that one life or death situation which allowed me to go home to my wife and kids and I will always be in debted to my teacher for the skills he gave me to survive that unpleasant situation.

Yes it did and Yes I was and I do not wish anyone to be in that same situation. Hopefully, I will not have to put my training to the test ever again. I did not want to destroy two human beings However, they gave me no choice.

Michael

 

[tellner]

It's been very useful over the years. Not always in the obvious ways.

 

[Bruno@MT]

I am lucky enough that I have never been in such a situation. There were a couple of dodgy situations, but in those cases I had the option of simply walking (running) away and / or going a different route.

It did once save me from serious harm though. A car hit my bike and I got launched onto the traffic lane. Instead of hitting the street like a sack of potatoes I got into a forward roll to break my fall, followed by a sideways / backwards roll to get off the lane.

 

[tshadowchaser]

simple answere to the question

Yes have been in a fight and used what I knew. I survived so I guess i worked

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Or did you just end up swinging wildly hoping for a lucky punch? This is usually what happens when school fights break out... the two combatants just swing their arms completely wild with no defense whatsoever. It almost looks like they are trying to slap each other, god it looks so gay.

Anyways, if you've ever been in a fight, how did you do?

I used my taekwondo to defend myself without resorting to wild punches or slapety slap. Since it didn't look 'gay' as you put it, my shot at singing with the Village People evaporated.

Seriously, just what is "gay" figting supposed to look like? I wasn't aware that my having sex exclusively with women had any real effect on my fighting method. If there is some actual benefit, I must know what it is so that I, being heterosexual, may take full advantage of this heretofor unknown hetero-martial trait!

Otherwise, might I suggest that prissy may be a more accurate word?

Daniel

 

[Xue Sheng]

Has your art ever came in handy in a real fight?

Yes, nuff said.

 

[terryl965]

Yes and I was able to keep him down until the Police showed up and took him away. It simply allowed me the confidence to handle a bad stituation.

 

[Drac]

My MA training has kept me safe while on the job, especially when some big mamaloc decides that no fat grey haired cop is gonna take him to jail..

 

[CanFightIt]

Art techniques CAN work in any situation, but it's all in how you use them, and you gotta know how to apply it and how quickly to apply it. It's NOT the discipline that is faulty, it's the individual who learned it and how well they can apply the art techniques they've learned.

 

[zDom]

Yep. Very "handy" indeed.

How'd it look? My impression, based on the reaction and expression of the attackers (yes, with an "s") and observers, was that it looked ... scary.

:shrug: