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Defending yourself against people who are physically stronger than you.

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randomrogue said:
Walking away is easier. Unfortunately 99% of all fights that anyone here would experience would be due to drunk people. Just walk away.

I'm really not a big fan of people telling others to arm up. That works if you're a woman since it's very tough for a woman to defend herself against a large male without mace or a stun gun. You run a terrible risk though of it being used against you or them inflicting worse punishment on you. Your best defense is always to not be in high risk situations or to run.

A guy really shouldn't have a weapon unless he's very well trained. A gun? Bad idea. If you want one for home defense that's one thing but keeping it on your person? You better be a professional. You're not going to find yourself in situations where there's distance between you and the other guy like you might in a home invasion.

Here's a couple situations that actually happened.

Guy walks up to you and puts a knife to your side and demands you give him your money. Do you go for your gun? Do you give him your money? What do you do to minimize your risk? Same place different tactic. Guy comes up to you and begs for money. You tell him to fuck off. He follows you and flashes a knife in a holder on this inside of his arm. Do you go for your gun? In both of these cases the guy gave them $20 and they walked away. It was a cheap lesson to not walk home from a bar in a shitty neighborhood.

Guy sucker punches you at a bar. You're on the ground face down and he's on your back punching the back of your neck and head. Do you go for your gun? What are the chances that you'll get off a successful shot? The guy got beat up. He opened his mouth and the guy sucker punched him. What if he was kicking you in the head instead. Would you go for your gun and shoot him in the bar?
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Yea. Walk away ftw.
 
OinkBoink said:
Perhaps you are right. I admit I'm a bit ignorant when it comes to the use of firearms. I'd just like to keep an open mind and learn more, that's all.

So how do I use a gun against my opponent ?
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IF the situation calls for pulling the gun and shooting, you shoot to kill.
 
randomrogue said:
Guy walks up to you and puts a knife to your side and demands you give him your money. Do you go for your gun? Do you give him your money? What do you do to minimize your risk? Same place different tactic. Guy comes up to you and begs for money. You tell him to fuck off. He follows you and flashes a knife in a holder on this inside of his arm. Do you go for your gun? In both of these cases the guy gave them $20 and they walked away. It was a cheap lesson to not walk home from a bar in a shitty neighborhood.
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Indeed, hand over the money and walk away. Hopefully the next guy/gal walking home will have a $20 on them, so they won't get stabbed in the liver. 😕
 
I am now 42 and can honestly say I've never been in a situation where I had to get into a fist fight. I go to all the same places as might friends...never happened.

Now, a guy in our office seems to get beat up every 6 months. He's also a smug, loud asshole.

Draw your own conclusion.
 
Fritzo said:
I am now 42 and can honestly say I've never been in a situation where I had to get into a fist fight. I go to all the same places as might friends...never happened.
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Same here, I'm an extremely non-confrontational person. Zero fist fights to date.

But if someone brandished a knife and tried to rob me, I'd do society a favor and put him down. Giving the guy a free pass so he can rob/rape/murder somebody's mother/wife/sister at knife-point the next day isn't something I want on my conscience.
 
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Fritzo said:
I am now 42 and can honestly say I've never been in a situation where I had to get into a fist fight. I go to all the same places as might friends...never happened.

Now, a guy in our office seems to get beat up every 6 months. He's also a smug, loud asshole.

Draw your own conclusion.
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last fight i have had was in high school/college.

i also agree whith you on not being a douche you get in far less fights that way heh
 
sourceninja said:
Disclaimer I have spent most of my youth in a variety of martial arts, and the last 10 years focusing on bjj/judo/boxing. However I have experience in aikido, Japanese jiujitsu, TKD, hopkido, and a few styles of kung fu that I've sat in on.

My take on bjj/judo or any other sport art is that it should always be the go to art for someone who wants to learn self defense. This has nothing to do with the tactics or techniques taught, but rather the training methods employed.

First, most grappling arts start you with what I call worst case senario training. Because you are new you are man handled and dominated in your training. You are learning the most important parts of bjj the first month. That is how to get a better trained, stronger, faster, younger, etc person off of you with solid physics and efficient body movements. Without these things, even the 'dirty' techniques like eye gouging could just piss off the same guy with better positional advantage who then takes you from a beating to a maiming.

Second, contact sports in general teach (and especially combat sports) you to to deal with the realities of pressure. How do you react when your punched in the face? Can you keep your clam while you have 250+ pounds on your chest? Do you panic when that choke sets in? How is your breathing in a general fist fight? While real combat is much much more intense, this is still one of the most valuable skills you can develop.

Third, sport training brings out good muscle memory habits. Though boxing I have been trained to punch the moment I get punched. You hit me, I hit you, and I keep moving. I don't think about this, it doesn't matter how much pressure is applied, this always happens (I even punch while falling from a flash KO), bjj has taught my body to never be flat on my back and to keep moving no matter how tired I might be. I don't have to think about my weight distribution, it just happens though years of learning to hold down stronger, larger opponents. Finally Judo has taught me how to fight for grips subconsciously and to always put my opponents off balance. I don't even think about this either, while I grab I'm just working to put you off balance. It's so ingrained that my wife gets mad when she goes to hug me and I pummel under-hooks or pull her to take her balance.

Forth, you gain insight into people's body types and abilities. After being around real athletes in these sports (most much better than I am) I can tell what a good grappler looks like, or a good boxer. I can see how they move in everyday activities and I know when someone is truly dangerous.

Fifth, you get humble and fast. Most non-sport guys I have met in my life are not humble. They (not even including if their art works or not) tend to be so sure of their deadly abilities is pretty scary. Anyone who spends time in a sport knows what it is like to lose. They know what it is like to be dominated and to be powerless. They understand that even when you are better trained and better equipped, you can and will still lose.

Now with all that said, the tactics of many combat sports are probably not the best tactics for self defense. Yes taking a guy to the ground is probably a bad idea if he has friends. However, the idea of worst case first means the bjj guy is better equipped to stay alive and get up if he ends up on the ground. The boxer is better equipped to land that eye gouge, and the thai boxer can probably land that crippling knee to the groin or kick to the knee much better than the non sport guy can.

So I tell new guys to start with the sport arts. They will give them the fastest gains and prove very useful as a basis for evaluating the non sport arts and fighting strategies later. AKA it's those base skills you learn in sport that make those advanced and dirty fighting strategies work. Fundamentals are always fundamental.
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Well stated.

Apple Of Sodom said:
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I am pretty small (at my last competition I weight in at 146 pounds.) I roll with guys that are 30-50 pounds heavier than me. People with no training get submitted in a matter of seconds. It is great to see these big guys come in thinking their weight will help them, but unless they train regularly, it rarely does.

The whole idea behind BJJ is to beat your opponent on then ground where you take away a considerable amount of their size advantage. Guys in the gym know that the smaller opponents can be tough and many times have said they would rather roll with a 170 pounder than a 145er any day because the 145ers are difficult as fuck to submit and have a ton of energy. It has given me a ton of confidence. I highly recommend it.
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Good post. And good to see others that train are adding their thoughts.
 
OinkBoink said:
Okay. I don't want to talk about working out and hitting the gym and all that. Yes, working out is a good thing and it builds up stamina and strength, but let's be realistic here. Some people, luckily (for them), are endowed with better genes. People come in all shapes and sizes. You might be 6'1" and weigh 85 kg. But there will almost always be a guy who is even bigger and stronger than you, say 6'5" and 105 kg. I know weight doesn't directly equate to strength and that there are other factors involved, but you get my drift.

Your first line of defence/defense would be to avoid an altercation at all costs. But this isn't always a viable option. Sometimes, physical fights are inevitable.

The other option I can think of is carrying a weapon. A gun perhaps. But everyone carrying guns has its own issues.

Please share your ideas.
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lol This is basically like the lion vs tiger thread except for humans.

Size plays a role yes, but its only one of many attributes to win a fight. Experince trumps size and power almost everytime.

Chuck norris
Mike tyson
Bruce lee

Thats why Martial arts, a fighting style that revolves around Defense, is one of the most sucsessful fighting styles...via= Karate, kung fu, takwondo, jujitsu ect all have been started in forms of self defense.
The entire gracie family are living proof of that, in the old ufc Royce gracie submited people bascially 3x his weight an power. If size an power was the only thing that mattered things like this wouldent have ever happned...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8sSK4k6WHw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQKkorAiAZY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVZfH4boP1g
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=/watch?v=fjBm4E-7GoQ

You dont need a gun or weapon to defend your self from a fight dude, all you need is your hands an legs, you should be humble and let trouble come to you, not go looking for it. But I think every one should train the body once in a while by going to the gym/boxing/mma/sports via= in a positive reinforcement ect. Pure determination can trump stamina, puregameness can trump size, your attitude in why your fighting will mostly likely be the key factor. If your a bully an whip people you think are inferior to you just because....well then, it will only be in time until Karma comes rollin around the corner.

As the all father Odin said...a wise King never seeks out war..."But"...

He must always be ready for it
 
Your best defense is situational awareness. Don't put yourself in a situation where you're in danger. That means don't take the shortcut through that dark alley, don't run your mouth around people who may not appreciate it, and don't go to Africa.

That situational awareness will also keep you from experiencing the scenarios that randomrogue brought up. No one is getting within stabbing distance of me with a knife in their hand. Because I typically don't go to places where that's an issue (ie: stay in public places, around other people, in daylight hours, in decent neighborhoods.) And because if I'm somewhere where I think danger is a real possibility, I'm watching everyone around me and evaluating them. An empty street with no one but me and my date, and one guy on the sidewalk on front of us? We're crossing the street. If you cross the street to intercept us my gun is coming out to the low ready. An empty gas station and you come walking up near my gas pump? My gun is out at the low ready. Come at me tweaked out of your mind with a screwdriver in your hand, screaming at me in spanish? My gun is aimed at you.

It's all about situational awareness. Before I draw my gun, I've already decided that you are 1) possibly a threat and 2) are not at all likely to get the police involved in your life over some guy with a gun. So there's really no downside to bringing my weapon into sight at that point. Plus when it comes down to it, I've got a CHL, a military ID and Texas Reserve LEO credentials, so I think I'll be fine.
 
OinkBoink said:
Okay. I don't want to talk about working out and hitting the gym and all that. Yes, working out is a good thing and it builds up stamina and strength, but let's be realistic here. Some people, luckily (for them), are endowed with better genes. People come in all shapes and sizes. You might be 6'1" and weigh 85 kg. But there will almost always be a guy who is even bigger and stronger than you, say 6'5" and 105 kg. I know weight doesn't directly equate to strength and that there are other factors involved, but you get my drift.

Your first line of defence/defense would be to avoid an altercation at all costs. But this isn't always a viable option. Sometimes, physical fights are inevitable.

The other option I can think of is carrying a weapon. A gun perhaps. But everyone carrying guns has its own issues.

Please share your ideas.
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Honestly getting in a fight with anyone past the 5th grade never crossed my mind, I don't know what you folks do to live in fear that your going to get into altercations all the time.
 
I guess I don't fully understand what your asking. Size and strength doesn't mean a person is a better fighter. Just like someone carrying gun, may or may not be safer. Just like someone who trains in martial arts all their lives can't beat every street punk they see. Fist fights are just like sports games, the winner is always decided on the field, not stats and paper. I always say avoid confrontation, but if you can't you fight with whatever strength you have.
 
ThinClient said:
It doesn't take much to learn to gouge eyes and kick knees and punch kidneys and livers and punch throats.
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I disagree. The kind of person who would start a fight as an adult gets into fights all the time. The kind of person who cares about 'self defense' doesn't. Therefor, they are not prepared to execute their plan.

Only live training can prepare you to execute your tactics and techniques. You can't learn to defend yourself at a self defense training course. The ability to defend yourself, be it with a gun, knife, or hand-to-hand is just like fitness. You can't store it, and the moment you stop preparing you start losing it. Just like a body builder starts putting on fat the moment he stops lifting, you become a shittier shot and your ability to take and give blows goes down the moment you stop training.

My coach has always said that if you stop training for 3 days and you will know it, if you stop training for a week the coach knows it.
 
I'm a small guy and could work out all I want but I'll never be as strong as most people, so thankfully I've never really run into those situations. If I did, I'd probably go for the nut sack. No screwing around. Then a second blow to the knees. Nut sack wont disable them but will give them such excruciating pain that they'll be paralyzed for that short moment till their anger builds up, by then they already got a good kick to the knee. Then run like hell! Hope they don't have friends around that will ambush you.

I avoid downtown at night. Not much violence happens here, but when it does, it's usually downtown, at night.
 
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