Unarmed combat versus running away

[Maurice Schade]

There is this narrative that you should always run away when a fight is about to break off.

I found those reasons for running away:

• It is just your ego that wants to fight.
• People can have weapons and you will die.
• If people attack you, you will lose.

If found those reasons for fighting:

• If you run away, your mind will remember that. You will get more and more scared.
• If you fight you can win, if you don't fight, you have already lost.
• When running away, you trigger the attack instinct in people and their confidence grows.
• Running away, not having tried to defend yourself gives you PTSD, which some consider worse than death.
• If you fight and win, especially if you used to never stand up for yourself, your brain will reevaluate dangerous situations and your overall look on life will improve.
• Dismissing fighting as ego is not taking the real reason seriously: standing up for yourself and not backing down, to make yourself safe.
• If people who defended themselves died, how come there are those very confident people out there, who have serious experience in illegal fighting and are still very alive.

 

[ADMk2]

Just start wind-milling and don’t stop til the other guys does, has always worked for me…

 

[StobieWan]

Just start wind-milling and don’t stop til the other guys does, has always worked for me…

Good solid advice for the mining village I grew up in. Sadly, where I now live, the youth of today carry knives a bit too frequently for my taste.

 

[John Fedup]

Good solid advice for the mining village I grew up in. Sadly, where I now live, the youth of today carry knives a bit too frequently for my taste.

Better knives than what many youths in North American cities carry.

 

[StobieWan]

Better knives than what many youths in North American cities carry.

Indeed. I might be able to temporarily outrun a knife but bullets? Nah.

I did have quite a scare when out running one time and a car with two younger men suddenly slewed to the kerb and both started to get out, shouting loudly at me. No idea why but I immediately decided if they kept coming I was going to grab the first one in line and throw him into traffic. My ruleset for many v one situations is ...well, Queensbury rules go out the window.

Thankfully they reconsidered and got back in the car without incident. No idea what that was about. Generally at the time I was fit enough to out run any of the locals if I had a reasonable start and that was always my preferred method to deal with anyone who fancied a go. Running is quite a bit harder than it looks and a lot of the younger guys in the area simply couldn't sprint for fifty yards without needing a lie down.

 

[Todjaeger]

Better knives than what many youths in North American cities carry.

In many instances, knife wounds are actually worse than a GSW. I suspect this has to do with the fact that people with knife/stab wounds often have more of them than people with GSW's, and the individual injury from each would tends to have less ability to "stop" someone vs. a medium calibre pistol or revolver round. A somewhat similar situation can occur if shot with a small calibre (.22 LR or similar) handgun round, where one gets injured and quite possibly mortally, but the impact damage is often insufficient to immediately disable a person.

With a knife or other melee weapon, an attacker is most often in a position to strike repeatedly if they can strike at all so a patient/victim could easily have a half dozen or more stab/slash wounds vs. what might be one or two E&E wounds. Yes, it could be possible for a victim to be shot a dozen times or more, but by the same token there have been a number of cases (rarely does one survive) with stab/slash wound counts in the high double digits or even into the low triple digits.

 

[John Fedup]

Agree, knife wounds can easily result in death which is why police officers do and should fire at knife threatening suspects until they fall. The reason why guns are more dangerous is because it is harder to run away and idiots firing are just as likely to hit unintended people nearby.

 

[StingrayOZ]

Avoid conflict when you can. Is there a better way to get what you want/where you want to be.
Always tilt the odds in your favor. Read what is being telegraphed, the wider situation, what messages are you sending out, what are they reading about you. Street fights are never fair.
Always have an exit strategy. Win or Lose.

Used to be a daily deal as part of the job when I was a bouncer. Best bouncers don't have to fight. They can manage the situation without lifting a finger, never got hurt, never had to throw a punch, or even duck one. There would be 30 fights a night, you worked a 8hr shift 5-6 nights a week, people worked for years like that. Helps if your part of a team and your not a one man show.

I thought I had been around the block, but one day I followed a bail bondsman around Orlando for 48 hrs. Holey shit, real cowboy stuff. But even he knew when to call it. There are a lot of people out there with nothing to lose. Disengage if the odds aren't in your favor and get out of there.

Every great fighter looses if they keep fighting. Everytime you roll the dice, you are putting a lot of things down on the table, things you may not get back.

 

[sark]

There is this narrative that you should always run away when a fight is about to break off.

I found those reasons for running away:

• It is just your ego that wants to fight.
• People can have weapons and you will die.
• If people attack you, you will lose.

If found those reasons for fighting:

• If you run away, your mind will remember that. You will get more and more scared.
• If you fight you can win, if you don't fight, you have already lost.
• When running away, you trigger the attack instinct in people and their confidence grows.
• Running away, not having tried to defend yourself gives you PTSD, which some consider worse than death.
• If you fight and win, especially if you used to never stand up for yourself, your brain will reevaluate dangerous situations and your overall look on life will improve.
• Dismissing fighting as ego is not taking the real reason seriously: standing up for yourself and not backing down, to make yourself safe.
• If people who defended themselves died, how come there are those very confident people out there, who have serious experience in illegal fighting and are still very alive.

..too many variables to consider to answer the question
..as a poster already stated, best not to get into a fight--ego is a big factor
..if you have to fight, best to attack -shock-

 

[Larry_L]

There is no one answer to this.
When able to disengage, "Advancing to the rear" is a good tactic. Strategically it varies.
Read the aggressor. Predators will get more aggressive if you run away. Bullies attack the weak.
It is not a "fair fight" If you live in a dangerous environment, learn the dirty tricks.
Never start a fight. If forced, Finish it, and the aggressor fast.
Your fists have many small, easily broken bones. Elbows and knees are more durable.
Winning a fight can cause you trouble. Although I have won more than I have lost, my methods are questionable to authority figures. I tend to disengage whenever possible. Running if need be.

 

[IHFP]

In conflict negotiation they teach us that physical altercation is pretty much the last step of escalation. Its one of the quickest ways to end up injured or worse. That being said if I was in good shape against an agressive opponent that's overfat I might consider tireing him out by kiting him in an open area to burn his anaerobic energy. So maybe run and fight are both in the cards.