Would you get involved?

[Nightingale]

it would depend on the situation...

could I do more by actively interfering, or would I accomplish more by simply calling 911 on my cell?

I wouldn't stand by and do nothing, but I may not get directly involved in a physical altercation either.

 

[MJS]

Originally posted by 7starmantis
Thats a very good post. However, there are situations when someone may get seriously injured, then I would have to get involved. Getting all the information is a must, but if it starts to move downhill quickly and the cops aren't there, in order to sleep at night, I would have to get involved in some way. That said, there are many ways to get involved. Driving my car in the middle of them might do the trick too.

One thing that gets me, and is what has happened most of the ones I've stepped in. That is when a guy hits a girl. Call me old fashioned, sexist, or whatever you may, but if I see a guy hit a woman, I'm involved allready. I can't allow myself to pass that by without at least getting verbally involved. You have to be smart about the way you get involved, but I will get involved everytime I see it. Maybe one day someone will use that to attack me, but that will not stop me, I will allways get involved in that scenario.

7sm

Thank you! While I do realize that someone may be getting hurt, I for one, dont want to be one of those people. A friend, family member, etc. is one thing, but a total stranger? Dont get me wrong. I'm not saying that I would turn my back, but I could be getting myself into more trouble than its worth by getting involved.

Mike

 

[MA-Caver]

I don't like playing the "hero" by getting involved and like many others here it will depend greatly upon the situation. One of us pointed out that if it were two guys beating up on one... a good question to ask is WHY are they fighting. Perhaps the one was being billegerent to the other two and was "asking for it". But I will do the logical thing and call (or have someone with a cell to call) the police and keep a distance.
If the two are going above and beyond then getting involved will depend upon if the two are armed or hugely built, drunk or doing it because "it's fun" then ... well... I just don't know.

If it were a woman being assaulted then without question, I'll throw on my cape and do what I can... but once I'm sure that she's okay then I'm outta there, let the cops handle it.

Bullies on little kids ... yeah because I've been in that situation first hand and wished that someone had stopped the fokker from humiliating/hurting me.

I learned SELF-defense Martial Arts... namely to keep myself and those I love/care about from getting hurt. With strangers... if they're in serious trouble then by all means.
I've yet to witness a robbery attempt (experienced it first hand though) but if there was a chance I can stop it and MINIMIZE the hurt/damage to myself (i.e. no gun) then most likely my own instincts will take over. Some folks say its stupid to get involved until it happens to them and they spy someone standing by watching and hold the biggest resentment in the world against "spectators".

It's a good question but a difficult answer for some/most folks... myself included.

:asian:

 

[Black Bear]

Originally posted by Nightingale
it would depend on the situation...

could I do more by actively interfering, or would I accomplish more by simply calling 911 on my cell?

I wouldn't stand by and do nothing, but I may not get directly involved in a physical altercation either.

Nightingale, dialing 911 IS interfering--and often the best way of doing so.

 

[kenpo12]

Problem for me is, on multiple occasions I've found myself in the middle of situations before I even had a chance to really think abou it. I just can't stand by and watch things happen.

 

[Black Bear]

It is often tough, in that moment to decide what to do.

Sometimes it is helpful to "decide in advance". You do this by either role-playing or visualizing a range of scenarios in advance based on news items and your own routine, and identifying the optimum response. When it really happens, provided you did it properly, the events will be usually be a variation on a theme you've already armchair-quarterbacked, and you can interpolate and start DOING.

Tony Blauer offered these "Golden Rules" for crisis management:
1) Accept what is happening (vs. denial)
2) Get challenged (vs. threatened)
3) Don't stop thinking.

He offers some good guidelines on the visualization/role-playing process in his audiotape: "Cerebral Self-Defense: the Mental Edge".

Another excellent resource which I vigorously recommend to all MA/SD ppl is Sanford Strong's "Strong On Defense".

 

[7starmantis]

I think dailing 911 should be the first thing done almost without exception. however, past that, sometime it requires physical intervention.

I just can't live with myself if I don't do something to help. Even at risk to myself I would help. Of course if I'm watching some kids or something thats different, or if its a terrorist situation and they are killing other people if anyone stands up.

7sm

 

[Black Bear]

Well all of this is a matter of personal choice. Folks gotta be true to themselves and do what they think they should, if they are willing to accept that there are risks involved.

I don't find myself in these situations all that much, but there was one time when a guy stalled on the shoulder of the highway at night waved me in and I pulled over. It was totally dark, they could have done anything to us. My thinking was hey, this guy could need help. If I, a young, able-bodied guy who puts ethics and spirituality at a premium, shouldn't help him, who should? So it turned out it was an elderly couple whose car died and needed a lift to a nearby town where they could go into a motel, call for friends to help, etc.

I was a little keyed up in the situation. My poor girlfriend was terrified. The guy's wife seemed pretty scared too.

Some folks would say, geez Black Bear, you had your gf with you, you shouldn't have done that. And they'd be right. But I was still right to have done it.

Oh, yes we DID try using our cell for them, but it didn't work.

 

[Bammx2]

Please correct me if I'm wrong,but in most cases; LEGALLY speaking, you have the right to "step into the victims shoes" so to speak to to give assistance if they are being attacked.

Here in the UK...thats your a$$!!! They say you have that right...but its a crock. I might also add that assaults on police in this country have gone up 300% in the last 14 months.
In all honesty....Law be damned! I'll step in if need be.
I did sit one time and just watch as 6 guys put the boots to one individual and did nothing.
It was the funniest thing I had ever seen!!!
In this case,the "wolfpack" were fighting like a bunch of puppies!
They were tripping and falling all over each other and the guy on the ground came out totally unscathed!

 

[terryl965]

Every encounter has to be evauated in a split second and then action taken upon once the decission has been made. I have and will always try to help the less fortunate for that it what is expected of me. Not by other people but by myself. My parents always stressed if you can help those help if you can't you can always try to help.

 

[INDYFIGHTER]

Was driving through the city and saw a young girl being pushed up against a wall by a little bit older male. My friend and I brought our car to a abrupt stop partly on the side walk and got out yelling still standing behind the doors of my truck, like the cops do. The guy let her go and started yelling at me so my friend started trying to get the girl to come with us and let us take her home. She wouldn't come so we were left with little choice but to leave. Another time I put my hand on a guys shoulder who was forceably shoving around a girl I knew through friends in a loud bar one night. Had no idea what was going on just didn't like what I was seeing. Well, he pushed me and I pushed back. We both got thrown out and later I found out it was an ex-boyfriend and she was pissed I got envolved. You just have to do what you think is right at the time.

 

[Simon Curran]

I would have to say that for me it would depend upon the situation, but I have stepped in to help one time when one guy was getting a beating from two other guys (supposed friends) and got no thanks for doing so.

 

[BrandiJo]

i would do what i can every time ...even if its just calling 911

 

[An Eternal Student]

I guess it depends on the situation.If you see two guys brawling in the street, you're never quite sure who's in the right, are you?On the other and if it looks like someone's gonna get seriously hurt or maybe even killed, Id feel obligated to rush in and break it up.Im not going to stand by and watch someone die.

 

[dubljay]

It really depends on the situation; it is hard to say how I would act. Not to sound chauvinistic but generally speaking hitting a woman (provided it’s not in the guy’s self-defense which I have seen) is generally the only way to provoke an immediate violent response from me. But like I said there are exceptions. For a guy... if its one on one its none of my business, either he's going to win or lose and if he loses then he should not have been in the situation. However if its multiple on one I will intervene some how, either by calling the cops or stepping in myself. Elderly people go without saying... however I know plenty of elderly that can fight better than me.


on a side note... I pulled a guy off his g/f and got the surprise of my life... she knocked me to the ground and proceded to beat the hell out of him, so things are not always what they seem.

 

[GAB]

Hi all,

I think it depends on the situation, is as clear as it gets.

No hypotheticals, no if it was this or that, based all on above.

Regards, Gary

 

[rmclain]

Depends on the situtation.


One story:

I was at a local sports bar and grill on time called, "Humperdinks" near The Ballpark in Arlington. I was seated near the bar area with my cousin at a table on a Friday evening, enjoying some food and beer. There was a couple at the bar (man and women) in their early 20's at the bar. They appeared to be boyfriend and girlfriend. Later, a man (~50's) and younger man (~20's), (I'll call them couple #2, though they didn't appear to be gay - more like father and son), walked in an sat at the bar to the first couple's right. Over the next hour my cousin and I watched the girl start a conversation with couple #2 and the girl start flirting with the younger guy. It appeared she was trying to "hook up" with this guy, which seemed strange. Her "boyfriend"(the guy that was with her first) seemed oblivious to this interaction, as he was watching some sports on the TVs behind the bar, though he did speak with couple #2 a bit.

After a while, the situation appeared that the girl was trying to start some trouble and get the guys into a fight. I'd only heard of women like this until this time, so I was a bit shocked watching this situation unfold. It came to the point where the boyfriend got up and got "into the other guy's face" and shoving began. At that point we got up and went over to stop the situation along with the manager. The police came in and grabbed both of the young guys while the girlfriend acted like she couldn't understand what was going on. We reported to the police and manager what we obseved up to that point and what she had done. Though no fight went on, both guys looked very pissed and ready to throw down.

I saw that girl a few years later when I was faculty at UT-Arlington. I taught a safety class to a the ZTA sorority on campus one evening and there she was - one of the members. I don't think she remembered me.

R. McLain

 

[MichiganTKD]

Depends on the situation. I don't want to walk into the middle of a drug deal gone bad trying to help. That would be suicidal. All you can do is quickly evaluate the situation and go from there.
Keep in mind, as martial artists, we have responsibilities other people don't have. I think it is better to take action and be mistaken than to do nothing when you could have helped.

 

[hardheadjarhead]

Michigan TKD in bold:

Keep in mind, as martial artists, we have responsibilities other people don't have.


Not by any law in your state or mine that I'm aware of.

Whatever moral or ethical responsibilities we have as martial artists are derived from us as individuals. Our stances might or might not be based upon precepts our instructors follow.

The arts are not monolithic. A silat or judo practitioner may not agree with a TKD adept as to the extent of their civic responsibilities. Even a Tae Kwon Do practitioner with a background in torte law might have a totally different take on it than you.



Regards,


Steve

 

[Sin]

If someone who is weaker than another and who is being hurt by the stronger one.........that is definatly a situation worth getting into and defusing the situation the least violent way possible.