numerous awards for valor from their roles in the incident. These included heroism citations from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, and dual Citizen of the Year awards from the California Narcotics Officers’ Association. Covella has since been accepted as a cadet at the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.
No matter how tough you are, there is always someone out there who’s tougher. No matter how good a fighter you are, there is always someone out there who’s better. Do you really want to find out if you have what it takes to tangle with a heavy hitter, a career criminal, mental case, or a seasoned street fighter in a live-fire situation? You’re not that good. And even if you are, it doesn’t pay to find out. Will you always run across a “heavy hitter” every time you get in a fight? Odds say that you won’t, yet just like a nuclear bomb it only takes only one to screw up your whole day.
Real-life violence isn’t horribly romantic.
As of late 2004, Sergeant Young was on light duty, still recovering from his severe physical injuries and facing more surgery. He was awarded the National Rifle Association’s honor as Police Officer of the Year for 2003, as well as the Mayor’s Medal of Valor. He was also nominated for the Presidential Medal of Valor and the California Attorney General’s Office Medal of Valor. He retired from the Ukiah PD after 20 years in law enforcement in August 2006 and was subsequently hired by the Mendocino Community College as a Coordinator for the Administration of Justice Program
The Young/Beckman incident has been included in fear and anger management classes at the California Police Standards and Training council. Young reported that he felt he owes his survival not only to Schott and Covella, but also to the many instructors who trained him over the years. “They taught me to shoot from awkward positions if I was wounded,” he related, “and they taught me to be resourceful and keep thinking and keep fighting no matter how I might be injured. They taught me to never give up.”
Real violence isn’t so romantic, huh? How would you fare in Young’s place? If you were shot, stabbed, and mangled with the kinds of horrific injuries that he suffered, would you truly have the fortitude to fight on, or would you lie down and die? Most people wouldn’t make it, even most soldiers and police officers. It’s not just mental and physical toughness that let him survive but also a bit of luck as well. Had Schott and Covella not intervened, Young almost certainly would not have survived. Beckman would have been able to free one of the heavy weapons and then finish him off.
Do you really want to find out if you have what it takes in a live-fire situation? As combat veterans have come to realize, you never hear the one that hits you, only the near misses. You’re not that good. And even if you are, it doesn’t pay to find out.
Don’t Claim Your Turf
When a chieftain is fighting in his own territory, it is dispersive ground.
Musashi does not address claiming and holding ground in
Claiming your turf is about as tribal an act as you can commit. When you claim turf, you are no brighter than a caveman. Wilder once sat on the couch listening while his friend described a co-worker’s son who was shot dead at the age of twenty-two, outside of a rural bar. He had heard about the tragic incident on the news, but now he was getting the full story. And it was about claiming turf.
The twenty-two-year-old, David, had gotten into a bar fight with another guy. When the fight was broken up, the other guy was 86ed from the establishment. As he was leaving, shouting and challenges ensued, and threats were made, yet David chose to stay in the bar for the rest of the evening. He was having fun with his friends. It was his turf, he’d claimed it, and he wasn’t about to give it up. He did not want to go home until closing time.
As he left to go to his car, he found himself suddenly confronted by the other guy who had returned with a gun. Seconds later, David was dead in the dirt from a bullet to his brain. For extra measure, the other guy put a bullet in his eye too. The other guy then fled the country back to Taiwan or possibly mainland China. The end result of that evening was a promising life cut short with no possibility of justice.
It’s only common sense; if you get in a fight and win you need to leave soon afterward so that you cannot be found again that night. Revenge happens… a lot. It is not your turf; you don’t live there. No matter how much you like the place it’s still just a bar. If you really want to keep drinking, go find another establishment a long way away. Or, better yet, call it a night.
Turf mentality means that someone has to win and someone else must lose. It almost guarantees violence because the other guy has no face-saving way to back down. He leaves or you make him leave, there’s no in- between. That’s unnecessary, juvenile, and dangerous.
If you are mature, you don’t fight unless you have to. When your life or that of a loved one is on the line, when you face grave bodily injury or death without fighting, then you pour it on with all you’ve got. When you don’t have to fight, however, you walk away. It’s the smart, mature thing to do.
Maturity means being confident in who you are. Taunts, threats, and name-calling will not injure your ego bad enough to make you feel a need to strike out. Swallow your pride and walk away. There is no good reason to stake your turf. Turf is for gangs to fight over because it is their livelihood. That’s where they deal drugs, sell guns, manage prostitutes, and commit other crimes to earn their living. Turf means nothing to you, at least not if you are smart.
Invading Your Opponent’s Territory Means One of Two Things
When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance to meet it in mid-stream. It will be best to let half the army get across, and then deliver your attack.
You must push down his thrust, and throw off his hold when he tries to grapple. This is the meaning of “to hold down a pillow.” When you have grasped this principle, whatever the enemy tries to bring about in the fight you will see in advance and suppress it.
Humans are by nature territorial. We all have a concept of personal space, an invisible barrier surrounding us through which only intimate relations are welcome. Anyone who else who gets too close makes us uncomfortable. The exact distance varies by culture, of course, yet that boundary exists just about everywhere. Beyond our personal space, we often claim other territory as well, things like parking spots, concert seats, or chairs at our favorite bar. Whenever someone encroaches on what we believe is ours, it generates an emotional response and, oftentimes, a physical reaction as well.
Invading an opponent’s territory means one of two things: Either you are fighting or the other guy is retreating. If you have studied martial arts, you know that when fighting correctly there is no backing up. You may dodge, evade, or shift off the line of your opponent’s attack, but you never move straight backwards. As Wilder’s old football coach used to say, you should “be rolled on the balls of your feet.” This means that whoever is attacking is
