Self- Defense

From http://ragingcalvinist.blogspot.com/

The video below shows two thugs standing in a path in some sort of park. An apparent third thug is supposed to capture the thuggery on video for the amusement of idiots and creeps. What he instead captures is an impressive display of skill, and some amazing restraint near the end. One of the thugs swings his arm and smacks a woman right in the face. Her male partner responds by quickly dispatching both of the punks quicker than you can say, "Wow, that guy really knows how to throw down when he needs to!"

I notice three things from this video:

1. The man who defends himself and his neighbor acts so quickly, and so decisively, that he surely was aware of his surroundings, and was prepared to act should trouble arise. So, our first lesson, is to be aware of your surroundings -- especially when guys are just lingering around with seemingly nothing to do.

2. The man defending himself and his neighbor is clearly trained in what I would guess to be boxing. He fights like he's done this 1000 times before. Our second lesson then, is be prepared to defend yourself. You may have to use it someday.

3. At the very end, the man shows great restraint once it appears the threat is over. He does not "ground and pound" anyone, no kicks to a downed opponent, nothing like that. He just stops them, drops them, and walks away. It seems to me that the vigor in which he goes to town on them can be explained by the fact that he is out numbered, and must overwhelm two opponents in order to be safe -- fending off one guy is hard enough without having to keep your head on a swivel so that other guy doesn't get you from behind. Our third lesson is, in a self defense situation, do enough to stop the immediate threat and no more. "If your temper rises, withdraw your hand. If your hand rises, withdraw your temper."

DON'T watch this video if guys getting punched make you faint or anything. I train in Karate because I HATE violence, and so I'm not posting this in order to glory in violence. I post this as a lesson for those of us who are conscious about keeping ourselves safe from violence.