Defusing Situations
Try to defuse the situation. The battle will be more with your own ego than it will be with your antagonist. Do not be afraid to admit that you do not want trouble. Leave at the first opportunity. He who runs away live to fight another day.
Take command of the situation. Step back and raise both hands, arms outstretched, palms facing the antagonist, and issue the command "Stop! Leave me alone!" This works sometimes because:
- When you step back with your hands up, you are controlling the range, not the antagonist.
- You have given notice that you are willing to resist.
- With your hands up, you have marked a boundary that tends to keep an opponent further away.
- Witnesses can instantly identify that there is a problem.
- You keep your weapons in between you and the antagonist. Your front hand is a gauge of range, if you may touch the antagonist with your front hand, you may also touch with your rear hand.
- When you have your hands up protecting your centerline, you force the antagonist to either swing around your hands or to grab or move your hands.
This technique is also a way to gauge when the fight has started. When you use the command technique, it is obvious to everyone when the fight has started. If the antagonist stay back and continues the confrontation, everything is still just verbal. However, if the antagonist moves forward into you hands, it is obvious the antagonist is attacking. If the antagonist does not advance, then slowly back away and leave.
If you cannot talk the situation down, you might try posturing. It works for bull walruses. Create a gap between you and your aggressor by shoving him or her hard on the chest and then go crazy: shout, salivate, spread your arms, bulge your eyes, and use single syllables. This may cause the aggressor to back up in amazement. If so, make wild and crazy retreat.
If escape, dissuasion, and posturing fail, and you ,as a reasonable and prudent person, believe you are about to be attacked you are left with two choices: defend or stand there and be hit. If you choose to defend, then strike first and hard, with a fist or the forehead (since they are closest to the opponent's jaw), preferably on the jaw since it is a direct link to the brain. Do not wait for the aggressor's attack, your block may not be effective. If your strike is effective, leave. Any more strikes may may you the aggressor in the eyes of the law.
Sources
Thompson, Geoff. [Online]. Available: http://www.geoffthompson.com