committed, nor a proactive violent defense before an attack has taken place is a legitimate act of self-defense in the eyes of the law. Once the immediate threat has been dealt with, you can escape to safety. When he stops fighting, you need to stop too.
• Remain vigilant during any pause in the fight. You may be facing multiple assailants or an adversary who pulls a weapon in the middle of a fight or who just won’t quit. Once you have removed yourself from the danger and are absolutely certain that you are no longer under threat you can safely begin to relax your guard.
• If you cannot escape or avoid violence, you must be prepared to fight with all your worth. You cannot count on honor, ethics, or mercy from an adversary. Keep fighting until you can safely get away. If you stop, there’s no guarantee that he will too.
• There are six things that you may wish to try in a fight, (1) maintaining distance, (2) throwing debris, (3) attacking the eyes, (4) using chokes or neck cranks, (5) throwing him to the ground, and (6) striking with impetus. People who are good at settling things with violence develop a set of favorite techniques that they will use over and over again. Standardization and simplicity are the hallmarks of a good fighter. If it works, keep on using it until it is no longer effective.
• There are six things you should not try in a fight: (1) kicking above the waist, (2) playing “tank,” (3) hitting with a closed fist, (4) forgetting to use your mouth as a weapon, (5) playing the other guy’s game, and (6) using the wrong technique for the situation. If you let a fight go to the ground, you become vulnerable. You can easily get stomped, kicked, and seriously messed up by your adversary and/or his friends. Similarly, if the other guy gets behind you, he can strike with impunity. The other guy will be doing everything he can to win in a fight. Don’t make his job any easier. Keep things simple and direct so that you won’t self-destruct.
• When you fight, you are almost certainly going to get hurt. It’s unavoidable if the battle lasts more than a few seconds. The real question is how badly it will be. If you must fight, it is critical to end the confrontation as quickly as possible to minimize your injuries. Plan on being on your own if things get physical. You cannot trust or depend on others for help. You may think that your enemy’s enemy is your friend, but more often than not, it’s simply not true.
• When adrenaline hits your system, your ability to think rationally is greatly reduced. You will suffer degraded motor skills, experience tunnel vision, and may even suffer temporary memory loss too. In essence, you become a one-task, knuckle-dragging troglodyte. Combat breathing techniques can alleviate some, but not all of these symptoms. As stress goes up intelligence goes down.
• Mobs are dangerous. Highly emotional and unthinking, they often erupt into violence. Five psychological influences—(1) impersonality, (2) anonymity, (3) suggestion/imitation, (4) emotional contagion, and (5) discharge of repressed emotions—affect rioters, their targets, and the police who try to break things up. If you stumble across a violent crowd, your goal should be to escape to safety, remaining as anonymous as possible and avoiding as much of the conflict as possible in the process.
Photos on this page courtesy of BigStockPhoto.com
SECTION THREE
Aftermath of Violence
Man is Buddha—the day and I grow dark as one.
This section covers the aftermath of violence, showing that it’s almost never over when it’s over. We’re going to assume, for the sake of argument, that once the dust has settled you are still alive. Otherwise, there won’t be much aftermath for you to deal with; that’ll be left for the authorities and your mourners to hash out. So, under our scenario, the good news is that you’ve survived. The bad news is that living through the fight is just the beginning. There are a host of other consequences to address, including first aid, legal issues, managing witnesses, finding a good attorney, dealing with the press, interacting with law enforcement, and dealing with psychological trauma.
If you were unexpectedly attacked, ambushed with a weapon, or suddenly discovered that what you thought would be a simple fistfight had escalated in to something far more serious, you will need to get your head in the right place after it’s over. You may be gravely wounded and/or facing serious short- and long-term repercussions. Your first order of business must be to know your priorities and act accordingly.
Once It’s Over, Know Your Priorities
The rules of the military are five: measurement, assessment, calculation, comparison, and victory. The ground gives rise to measurements, measurements give rise to assessments, assessments give rise to calculations, calculations give rise to comparisons, and comparisons give rise to victories.
All things entail rising and falling timing. You must be able to discern this. In strategy, there are various timing considerations. From the outset, you must know the applicable timing and the inapplicable timing, and from among the large and small things and the fast and slow timings find the relevant timing, first seeing the distance timing and the background timing. This is the main thing in strategy. It is especially important to know the background timing; otherwise, your strategy will become uncertain.
