When should you fight?

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BrothersMA

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I notice alot of people put to defend someone else.
Do you have to know the person?
Or Would you just jump into a fight of strangers (not because your job requires it)?
 

Monkey Turned Wolf

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I notice alot of people put to defend someone else.
Do you have to know the person?
Or Would you just jump into a fight of strangers (not because your job requires it)?
Unless it is very clear what is going on in the fight with strangers, I will not jump in. If I think they have a gun, I will not jump in. I don't know the situation, and I'm not going to get myself shot because someone is getting revenge on the guy who jumped him last week.
 

Transk53

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I notice alot of people put to defend someone else.
Do you have to know the person?
Or Would you just jump into a fight of strangers (not because your job requires it)?

Why are you asking? Something tells me that confrantatation is not you are used to dealing with. To the latter no, only a numpty would so. What we Brit would call a complete Twat!
I
 
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BrothersMA

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Why are you asking? Something tells me that confrantatation is not you are used to dealing with. To the latter no, only a numpty would so. What we Brit would call a complete Twat!
I
Something told you wrong then.
But that is neither here nor there.
If you would fight to protect someone what criteria would have to be met in order for you to do so?
 

Transk53

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Something told you wrong then.
But that is neither here nor there.
If you would fight to protect someone what criteria would have to be met in order for you to do so?

Yeah sorry. Think I misinterpreted something. My bad. Generally speaking, and not citing a family member, spouse or otherwise, fighting someone else's cause is not always black and white. Charging into a situation without evaluation can be dangerous. I took a sucker punch once simply because I let red mist overtake my reasoning. My only criteria for me personally would be self defence if I had to fight, otherwise I just attend a situation and break it up. In reality most situations blow out very quickly, the just detaining is normally the case. I won't take a slap from anybody without reposte. Equally I won't take one for someone either, generally. There are situations that would modify that. Ie if I saw a female in trouble with a male. Thankfully though I have never been in that situation, but fighting someone else's cause is not impossible, just a sticky wicket. Just my opinion. Did not mean anything by that post BTW against you. I am prone to missing out words.
 

Tez3

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Why are you asking? Something tells me that confrantatation is not you are used to dealing with. To the latter no, only a numpty would so. What we Brit would call a complete Twat!
I

I just like that you used the word twat and go away with it roflmao.
 

Tez3

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Damn, I keep forgetting that word is considered really rude around here :( Post hopefully will just be modified.

Shh I don't think they know what it means....... ;)
 

Buka

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I notice alot of people put to defend someone else.
Do you have to know the person?
Or Would you just jump into a fight of strangers (not because your job requires it)?

Don't have to know the person, no. And I won't always jump in, dependent on circumstances.
If it's two chumps having a fight, I'm getting popcorn.
 

MAfreak

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Don't have to know the person, no. And I won't always jump in, dependent on circumstances.
If it's two chumps having a fight, I'm getting popcorn.
haha totally agreed. :D

i definitely would fight when i see someone is molesting women or kids or torturing animals.
i don't have to know these persons or animals i just feel it as a duty, especially with martial arts/combat sports background.
when guys provoke just me, its fine. i had such situations and stayed calm and it wasn't escalating to a fight then.
 

JR 137

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Don't have to know the person, no. And I won't always jump in, dependent on circumstances.
If it's two chumps having a fight, I'm getting popcorn.

I saw a man and a woman fighting one time. A guy walking by tried to help her, until they both started beating him up. I guess she was the only one allowed to beat up her boyfriend. Made me think twice about ever helping someone again. I was going to help too, but I was about half a block away and once I realized what was going on, I said F that.
 

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Only when necessary, when I think I have no out, when my friends or family or a child or helpless person are in threat,

Beyond this - why should i risk getting hurt? I am a big guy, a lot people tend to be intimated by me. On top of this I have two years of mixed martial arts right now. However, I look at some of my instructors - and at the surface some of them look dorky, scrawny, or out of shape, but when I spare or train with them - I am overwhelmed with their ability to fight. You never know who you are going to face off against - so the reasons better be very high.
 
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Thank you all for your answers. As for my own, i only fight if i feel it is right thing to do. (i feel this is common here too)
Do right because it is right, no other reason.
 

Gerry Seymour

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Thanks for the explanation. I think I understand what you're saying.

All I can say is that in my former life in law enforcement, it seemed that everyone I ever apprehended for assault seemed to think they were exercising self-defense. For things like 'bad stares' and 'shooting off his mouth at me', and so on. "Dude dissed me so I defended myself by cracking him the face." Yeah, no.

Typically, when we've discussed this notion here on MT, people tend to jump to the opposite conclusion and assume that the law requires a person to get punched before they can legally defend themselves, which is also incorrect. If someone says they're going to punch me, and they ball up their fist and raise it and they're coming towards me, I have every reason to think they're going to do what they are threatening to do. In legal terms, I've already been assaulted, and I am free to defend myself on that basis.

Now, reflecting back to 'moral' justification, everyone is different. And people are free to come up with their own definitions. As you said, depending on circumstances, they may have to deal with the legal repercussions of that. "He had it coming" is not, despite popular theory, a legal defense. ;)
This is what I mean when I say "putting me at risk". It can happen before they strike (as in your example), but not with just words.
 

Gerry Seymour

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When somebody is about to fight me or has already started, to help somebody else, or when someone has done me wrong.

Remember now, the OP had "YOU".
I did leave out the helping someone else who is at risk. That's definitely a trigger for me.
 

Kung Fu Wang

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If someone tries to fight you and if you have MA skill, you can just play 100% defense until your opponent gives up. It will be a good opportunity for you to test your

- footwork,
- dodging skill,
- blocking skill, and
- ability to take a body shot.

Also you don't have to worry about any legal issue (go to jail, or pay medical bill).

A friend of mine got into a bar fight. In 20 minutes, his opponent could not hit him. After 20 minutes, his opponent sat down on the couch, didn't know what had just happened. That fight ended and nobody got hurt.
 

Gerry Seymour

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If someone tries to fight you and if you have MA skill, you can just play 100% defense until your opponent gives up. It will be a good opportunity for you to test your

- footwork,
- dodging skill,
- blocking skill, and
- ability to take a body shot.

Also you don't have to worry about any legal issue (go to jail, or pay medical bill).

A friend of mine got into a bar fight. In 20 minutes, his opponent could not hit him. After 20 minutes, his opponent sat down on the couch, didn't know what had just happened. That fight ended and nobody got hurt.
That assumes you don't trip or get sucker punched by his buddy, and he doesn't get lucky. I don't like the odds on that. Someone doesn't have to be good, or even intend to, to hurt you badly. They just have to slip in the right way at the right moment. I'll defend as much as I need to, to reduce that chance.
 

Kung Fu Wang

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That assumes you don't trip or get sucker punched by his buddy, and he doesn't get lucky. I don't like the odds on that. Someone doesn't have to be good, or even intend to, to hurt you badly. They just have to slip in the right way at the right moment. I'll defend as much as I need to, to reduce that chance.
If you play defense and not hitting back but your opponent still wants to attack you, it will give you a good reason to hurt him and you don't have to feel bad about it. You can always test your defense skill first and then test your offense skill afterward.

Is that what self-defense is about? You don't want to hurt your opponent unless your opponent deserves to be hurt
 

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