Originally posted by pesilat
Yup. That's my opinion, too. If I'm faced with multiple opponents (even just 2 or 3, much less 12), I approach it as if I'm facing a weapon. Problem with groups of attackers is that they tend to goad each other on. A group of attackers is more likely to continue dishing out punishment long after a single attacker would have quit and walked away. And when you've got multiple people (especially 12) stomping holes in you, you're almost certainly going to the hospital, and the chances of going to the morgue are pretty high, too.
Although, this probably wasn't the case when you were in the 8th grade. But, as an adult, if I'm faced with multiple adult attackers, I consider it to be a very serious situation. How serious will depend on the specific situation. But there are conceivable situations (not even stretches) where I would consider my life to be endangered even if there were no weapons involved. And you can bet your sweet looloo that I'd be trying to get hold of something inanimate to use to my advantage.
Mike