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By Bradley J. Steiner, American Combato
Every one of our students knows (because we emphasize it at every class) that “Self-Defense Technique #1” is avoidance. Whenever possible avoid all potentially “hot” situations, and never, ever, ever agree to fight with anyone. Fighting in a sporting competition is fine; that is a sport. Fighting for real—i.e., engaging in what the law defines as “mutual combat”—is never justified. Ever.
A percentage of individuals persist in refusing to understand this, and we pity these morons. One day their willingness to settle things with their fists in a fight will lead to the hospital, the graveyard, prison, or impoverishment through lawsuit—or some combination of these nightmarish outcomes.
You cannot claim self-defense if you agree to fight with someone.
Obviously, reacting to another’s clear and present threat to do you grave bodily harm, and defending yourself, is fine. Not that you can never get into trouble acting in legitimate self-defense (disgracefully, you occasionally can) but if you are attacked and threatened with serious bodily injury or death or find that you must defend a loved one against such disaster, the option to do battle is really the only rational one to take.
So, knowing that you acted righteously and necessarily, you can accept whatever happens with equanimity, should you suffer for taking necessary action. Whatever the consequences, you (or yours) remain in one piece, alive!
The current advocacy of what we would define as unnecessarily risky brawling as “martial art” (really, more martial reckless game) which goes under the heading of MMA (or, UFC) is, technically a recognized and regulated sport. We personally do not like it or recommend it—or believe in it as preparation for self-defense—but that is just our opinion. If that is your cup of tea, enjoy it.
But do not allow yourself to get carried away with the rock-‘em-sock-‘em violence at -the-least-provocation attitude that seems to us to have left its mark indelibly upon some MMA participants; some of whom are now in prison (where they belong) for using their MMA attitude and actions on girlfriends, people who annoy them, etc. Not cool.
There is only one legitimate reason for using physical force against another human being: self-defense (to include defense of loved ones). This is the philosophy of the true warrior. Real men and decent women do not ply combative skills they have acquired for any reason less than the necessary one of stopping an attacker.
Question: “Brad, are you nuts or something? Don’t you realize how offensive some people are today? Disrespect in every way, no manners, outright insulting, offensive rudeness. Come on! You teach and write as though you hate these things yourself. How can you deny that it’s fitting and proper to give a well-deserved beating to, for instance, some punk who passes some obscene comment to your wife or girlfriend? Certainly, you do not believe in letting outright offenses like this simply slide?”
Answer: “Oh, but I do. And you are 100% correct; such obnoxious and despicable conduct and speech is something we hate. But we do not advocate, and we never would ourselves, undertake physical action in response to this evidence of subhuman lack of civility on the part of individuals whom we would not dignify by regarding as measuring up to the standard met by the sewer rat.”
So, what are we railing about? YOUR safety and your well-being, that is what!
And, of course, our own, also. If we lived in Bradland there would be no problem whatever in cutting the tongues out of the heads of scum-punks who pass obscene remarks and gestures to female passersby, whether these females are accompanied by males or not. You could chop off the hands of those who deface private property with graffiti, and you could kick in the testicles with every ounce of your strength anyone who sought to humiliate and insult you verbally for no good reason.
Violent offenders would have ZERO legal recourse, and so would their families, so that neither criminal nor civil action could be taken against anyone who defended him or herself against them.
You could shoot down predatory, violent troublemakers, and write off the cost of the ammo on your taxes. You would personally be allowed to put to death anyone who murdered a loved one of yours, and death sentences would be carried out within ten days—not ten years. Shooting home invaders would garner you cash prizes (so much per head), and school bullies would be declared persona non grata with absolute license to do whatever they wished to the bullies, by their would-be victims—with absolute immunity from prosecution or civil suit.
But we do not live in Bradland. We live in the real world. And today, that world is deteriorating rapidly into a second dark age global cesspool.
Common sense is less common than saber toothed tigers in Nebraska.
People who by any rational standard simply do not deserve to live in human, civilized society are a protected species (like praying mantis), while heroic law enforcement professionals routinely catch hell on steroids whenever they rightfully take down some ten-for-a-penny piece of street s––t.
And millions of good people in cities like New York, Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, and New Jersey are unlawfully* banned from owning, carrying, and using handguns in self-defense, while subhuman scum prey upon these decent citizens with whatever guns they wish to use.
And . . . when and where some lucky private citizen who did have a gun with which to defend himself shoots down some sewer creature, he (the private citizen!) faces the possibility of criminal prosecution for his act!
Wild animals who approximate the appearance of humans gather in packs and gangs and attack individuals and couples for nothing more than the sick pleasure of doing so. The monsters “wild,” they “flash mob,” they “destroy fast food establishments”, they prey endlessly upon the helpless and weak.
That is our society today . . . and that is why I urge you never to use violence unless you absolutely must in a clear and present situation of grave physical danger: DECENT HUMAN BEINGS LIKE YOU ARE THE SACRIFICIAL PAWNS OF A TWISTED, DECAYING, COLLAPSING, ONCE-HUMAN CULTURE CALLED “WESTERN CIVILIZATION”.
Stay away from violence if possible, for YOUR sake and for YOUR protection, not for any consideration of living filth-root that ought to be stamped out like the polio virus! Every decent human being has the perfect right to self-defense, and God knows we advocate and urge that you exercise that right with everything at your disposal, when and if necessary.
But please . . . for your sake and the sake of those dear to you . . . avoid violence whenever possible, to avoid trouble for YOU and YOURS. It could easily mean trouble for you, over and above the challenge of defeating your adversary.
That is the best reason on earth.
* The law of the land of the United States of America is the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This law was written, among other things, to protect every private citizen’s right to keep and to bear arms. Where this right is abridged, the citizens’ right is being violated, and such laws passed and enforced that violate the citizens’ right are ILLEGAL.