Saw this one on the news last night. Guess some criminals don't know how to pick their victims, too bad they learn.


http://wcbstv.com/local/local_story_096155944.html

Great story!!!!..We need MORE of these to offset the negativity sometimes associated with the MA...

I particularly liked this part:

"I think parents should be aware of what's out there today and teach your kids how to defend themselves. I'm not preaching violence, I'm saying these are bad times and we should make sure our children are prepared," Benedict Sr. said.

Benedict Jr. says by following the rules and philosophies of Karate, he had a perfect ending. He walked away with his gold chain and no one was seriously hurt.

Hello, The martial arts do teach us to defend ourselves, gives confidence in one self.

BUT: Most arts do NOT teach how to fight (real street fighting), anything goes.

Most do not teach you how to handle the Adrenline/fear factors. Try go to someplace dark and alone, with very little people around? ..and experience the helpless feeling...this is what you will face...the unkowns. (heart pounding!)

Street fighting is totally different..and what you think works in class..may not be the same on the street many times.

In the real world, you will be approach unexpectly, most times alone,one on one or more, they maybe carrying some kind of weapon/s. Fear factor kickings in!

Just letting you know....it is different on the streets! If attack..ALWAYS FIGHT BACK-ANYTHING GOES!
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To the kids above! ...Great job...well done!

(never chase your attackers), get a descriptions of muggers for the police to catch them).

Just my thoughts here and ALOHA,

Sounds like he did it perfectly even if it was "only martial arts" and not "street fighting".

Great feelling story about the positive side of MA

I find karate often gets a bad name for street fighting and self defense. It seems a lot of people forgot where it came from. Whatever works applies in karate as well. Some dojo's just need to emphasise certain aspects of their training more. I haven't found any traditional karate that teaches much groundfighting, but some of the grappling techniques aren't taught in any other system. You have to remember your main reason for taking karate. Self-Defense? Fitness? Fun? Competition? Demonstration? Don't take it for one reason and fool yourself that it's for another.

A great story, although I would privately caution young grasshopper not to fight over posessions....

A great story, although I would privately caution young grasshopper not to fight over posessions....

I somewhat dissagree. As was said in the article, "no one was seriously hurt." Now, if he maimed the guy over his gold chain, that wouldn'd be too cool.

I somewhat dissagree. As was said in the article, "no one was seriously hurt." Now, if he maimed the guy over his gold chain, that wouldn'd be too cool.

I agree.

I somewhat dissagree. As was said in the article, "no one was seriously hurt." Now, if he maimed the guy over his gold chain, that wouldn'd be too cool.

I agree with this point in principal. But things broke his way. Regardless of training, taking on a bunch of guys (let alone a bunch of guys with tire irons) is a high-risk undertaking.

Ain't no gold chain in the 'verse worth that sort of risk. Only my health and my loved ones.

I agree with this point in principal. But things broke his way. Regardless of training, taking on a bunch of guys (let alone a bunch of guys with tire irons) is a high-risk undertaking.

Ain't no gold chain in the 'verse worth that sort of risk. Only my health and my loved ones.


I'm not at all convinced that simply handing over the gold chain would have meant the bunch of guys with tire irons would suddenly make nice, turn around and leave the guy in peace. Those dudes came looking for a fight.

I'm not at all convinced that simply handing over the gold chain would have meant the bunch of guys with tire irons would suddenly make nice, turn around and leave the guy in peace. Those dudes came looking for a fight.
Exactly!

I'm not at all convinced that simply handing over the gold chain would have meant the bunch of guys with tire irons would suddenly make nice, turn around and leave the guy in peace. Those dudes came looking for a fight.

The guys with the irons came after he had already fought off the first guy. Had he given him the chain, he prolly wouldn't have called for backup.

As far as hurting people goes, I would agree that it would have been uncool to maim the guy trying to steal his chain. But once he and his buddies came back for revenge, they bought whatever he was willing to give them, IMO.

When man face you he is enemy! Enemy deserve NO mercy! *honk*

I'm not at all convinced that simply handing over the gold chain would have meant the bunch of guys with tire irons would suddenly make nice, turn around and leave the guy in peace. Those dudes came looking for a fight.

Yep. The kid did all right. It also points out the importance of training to deal with more than one attacker.

Hey, wait a minute, I didn't think traditional martial arts was worth a damn when it came to defending yourself no the street... :rolleyes:

The guys with the irons came after he had already fought off the first guy. Had he given him the chain, he prolly wouldn't have called for backup.

As far as hurting people goes, I would agree that it would have been uncool to maim the guy trying to steal his chain. But once he and his buddies came back for revenge, they bought whatever he was willing to give them, IMO.

I'm not so sure that they would have, in fact, left him alone had he submittend the chain to them. They may have not cam eback that night, but they would have known that they had found an easy mark; a person who like so many others aren't willing to fight back. The young man should be commended...and get back to training.

When man face you he is enemy! Enemy deserve NO mercy! *honk*

That one never gets old!

I'm not at all convinced that simply handing over the gold chain would have meant the bunch of guys with tire irons would suddenly make nice, turn around and leave the guy in peace. Those dudes came looking for a fight.

Yeah, there is something about a bunch of guys holding weapons that makes something like "Give me your chain and you won't get hurt" not sound all that believable

The guys with the irons came after he had already fought off the first guy. Had he given him the chain, he prolly wouldn't have called for backup.

As far as hurting people goes, I would agree that it would have been uncool to maim the guy trying to steal his chain. But once he and his buddies came back for revenge, they bought whatever he was willing to give them, IMO.

It also occurs to me....why on earth was he still on scene when the guy got back with his pals?

It also occurs to me....why on earth was he still on scene when the guy got back with his pals?

Well....I live so close to a shopping mall that I frequently have to drive across its parking lot when leaving/arriving home.

I've seen some youts come in from a few towns over, driving around the lots looking for trouble. There was a period of time where car insurance in my town went through the roof because of all the car breaks in the parking lot of the mall. The mall has parking lot security but over the past year or so the security has been upped. There is security in the parking lot 24x7, during operating hours I frequently see 2 or more security vans on patrol.

If the assailant was mugging the kid, there's no question that the thugs and their car were not far away. Given the size of mall parking lots in the Northeast (and other locales), it is very conceivable that the assailant could scoot over to the car and then return with the thugs all before the teen reached his car.

I want to shift the focus for a second to something very striking...um, so to speak... in the article interview with this young chap. He says that he wasn't discomposed by facing a bunch of guys with tire irons because, at his dojo, he regularly trains by facing mulitple adult opponents:

I wasn't really scared at all because when I train in my classes I fight against six or seven adults at the same time...

I find this fairly astonishing. Let's assume that what he says is literally true—that his dojo training really does provide for seven adults to attack him at the same time... but those adults are very likely unarmed even with simulated weapons, and he knows that they aren't going to kill him if they get him down on the ground. Here you have a number of probably extremely hostile guys, big guys by his description, armed with the 20th c. equivalent of the mace, the weapon that made chain mail obsolete. There probably isn't a hell of a lot of technique transfer between the dojo situation and what he was facing at the mall that day...

And doesn't it seem weird for that kind of imbalance of forces to be part of regular dojo practice?

The story is a little perplexing in these respects, I have to say...

I have to agree. Even training against multiple attackers in the dojo is still just theory. You can train it but aplication is really having to use it.