[electricheart]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Any kind of street fight is a highly fluid situation, there is no guaranteed result, no matter how expert you are in fighting.

+1 Agree !! I have seen this happen in Bangy. A group of students out on late night spree ends up picking a fight with a lone drunken guy in an isolated area. The student fist speaks first and the group cheers the trashing and wanna move on and suddenly out of no where the diwali crackers start bursting(Locals group emerges). Even before I could make out what is happening from my apartment balcony the dust has settled and the student leader is on his way to Baptist Hospital with a Knife stuck to his stomach.

[esteem_lover]

Sharath, agree to every thing you said except for the bubble part. And please read my post again, I said fist is stronger than the TONGUE. And if I have to think of skull, hardness, my fingers, I will be hung out to dry by the time I can react.

Maybe I did not put it across clearly. It is certainly my belief and from past experiences, it has always been hit first when the situation is getting physical. I am not talking about a group of more than 3 here.

Of course you have to swallow your pride many times and leave the place as early as possible, but what if you cannot, what would you do then? I think that was the question here.

And believe me I am not soft when it comes to these anti social sons of the soil. But not everyone can be me.

@spitfire, most of the times your instinct is your self defence, you don't need to be a black belt to belt the @#$ out of a drunk.

[bsdbsd]

My 2 cents:

1. At all costs, avoid driving in night. It somehow does not evoke positive emotions and induces scariness.

2. Know your routes well. Carry maps and GPS. Carry water and a weapon.

3. Leave your ego at home. Apologize when required and move on.

4. Allow people to pass (overtake). This is where most of the ego is ruffled.

5. People display territoriality when you are on unfamiliar turfs.

6. People and police assist you, if you are traveling with your "family".

7. Trust yourself, and if required deliver a few punches - at the risk of receiving some. Its a part of parcel of being a man.

8. Drive slowly in village / town limits.

Thanks.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

@spitfire, most of the times your instinct is your self defence, you don't need to be a black belt to belt the @#$ out of a drunk.

I would never touch a drunk. However strong the provocation. Not because I can't. Of all fights, fighting with a guy who is intoxicated is too much of a one sided affair. You will either hurt him very badly or he will injure himself seriously - falling on the face, hit his head on the hard ground, anything. And the blame will be on you. And I have no trust or respect for our law enforcers.

So unless you are very well connected its just not worth it.

Think about such people as losers, who find a high by trying to act powerful when uder the influence. In life they will be cowards who have achieved nothing and are frustated because of that. Let them have their 5 seconds of ego massage and carry on.

[pramodkumar]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

@spitfire, most of the times your instinct is your self defence, you don't need to be a black belt to belt the @#$ out of a drunk.

I guess you are not thinking other than a no way out situation, lets rewind back a bit and let me give you a hypothetical situation. You are with 10 college friends in your neighborhood and its is well guarded with a senior cops house nearby with ample police protection, now you see a couple of so called "kudi magans" ridding tripple on a bike and they are eve teasing one of you neighbors daughter. no prices in guessing the fate of these three kudi magans.

Now you and your sister(no offences) are going on your bike /car and your are in the most notorious area(u took some shortcut and ended up here) all of a sudden you see some boys drunk running on the road and abusing one of them comes and hits both of his hands on your bonnet hard as you are obstructing their game and also abuses you in the most latest vocablary, tell me now what will you do?

Look john we all have to be sensible, i see some bikers rear ending my car at signals and they come in front and show me a hand at times as if it was my fault, and trust me i get outraged seeing this, once i thought what could be the reason why are people aggressive even if they are wrong, i got my answer during a game of chess with my friend who said attack is the best mode of defence. you back off, max you might have is a broken windscreen, but trust me its far better than a broken nose.

During one of our recent meet drive, fellow member was driving and the road was non divided a bus stops in front of us and we just take the car a little to the right to see if the road was clear. The distance on our right was so much that a lorry can easily pass through. We see couple of bikes all of them looking at my friend and abusing him, you what amused me? after every abuse my friend kept on saying thankyou! and trust me we were all laughing, if he got pissed off and abused back we all would be pissed. We had ten cars following us and trust me an ego show could have been perfect here but the situation was avoided.

Pramod

[bsdbsd]

Another 2 cents:

1. Never get into physical altercation with ANYONE. You never know with whom you are dealing (he may be a loser).

2. Be polite, wear a smile on your face and get the hell out ASAP.

3. Prevention is better than cure. Avoid creating uncomfortable situations. Imagine what your wife / sister would've done, if THEY were driving.

[ElantraGT]

Guys,

I beleive the discussion is turning in to a heated debate on whats correct and whats wrong. Chill out friends. Please be advised that I am against getting in to a street fight.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

I am sure all those giving the above advice dont know jack about self defense.

Spitfire, Please understand that I am not asking anyone to get in to a fight. There are situations where in you are boxed in and there is no way out other than a confrontation with the other person. In that case I suggested that be the first to hit. I totally agree that not everyone is an expert in self defence, but its tough to get a cornored mouse.

Originally Posted by Gansan

Hey, cool it! Nobody is giving frivolous advise. It is specific to the scenario presented by the OP, when in spite of one's efforts, a confrontation is inevitable. The key word is "unavoidable", because discretion is the better part of valor, after all.

Gansan thats absolutely right, this is purely under an Unavoidable circumstance only. Strictly its a no to get in to a fight.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Any kind of street fight is a highly fluid situation, there is no guaranteed result, no matter how expert you are in fighting.

Samurai I totally agree with you. I have seen fights getting ungly just because of ego of the people involved. I advise everyone to leave their ego at home when they drive. The situation that I was explaining is a scenario where in the modesty of the person accompanig you is at stake and you dont have any other option to walk out of the place and you are forced to confront the idiot.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

And believe me I am not soft when it comes to these anti social sons of the soil. But not everyone can be me.

Well said john. Here in chennai if you get involved in an accident the first person to get out of the vehicle and shout at the other person is the one is not at mistake as per the passersby.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by ElantraGT

There are situations where in you are boxed in and there is no way out other than a confrontation with the other person.

The thread is how not to get into such situations.

About being boxed in, you cant do much against a mob. You are done for if you cant flee in time. Sadly this is the case.

If its 1/2/3 people and you have no idea what self defense is, then run if you can. Its not your job to put people straight but do lodge a complaint at the nearest Police Station.

Try and remember those wanting to fight have probably done it before. You havent so dont know how to deal with it.

And about Chennai, since I have lot of friends from there I see a very marked influence of movies on them. The type of super human stunts created in these movies has given a lot of false bravado to the folks from there. No offense to anyone but I have also experienced other major cities in India and its my personal observation.

[phamilyman]

This thread has gotto have some of the most ridiculous advice I've seen on TBHP of late (excepting sanity from people like Samurai/Spitfire).

The best weapon is to use the accelerator and get the hell out of the situation.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Try and remember those wanting to fight have probably done it before. You havent so dont know how to deal with it.

Agree.I once saw a bunch of young guys have an altercation in Noida with a middle aged white haired man - they were trying to ask him to come out etc (he braked at the red light with them following - they wanted to jump and hence almost rear ended him). The uncle jee came out after 30 sec of heckling - with a big hockey stick. The boys dispersed.

Moral - The wise man chooses his battles. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

[Jeep]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Any kind of street fight is a highly fluid situation, there is no guaranteed result, no matter how expert you are in fighting. There are no rules, you have no idea who you are up against and even how many. In a street fight, it is a wise policy to retreat politely, even at the expense of your pride and sense of justice.

Couldn't agree more. This is exactly what I think, and how I behave.

Day before yday I drove from Kochi to Bangalore with my wife and 5 month old kid. Started from home (kochi) at 2:30 in the afternoon and told my parents that we would be staying at Erode or so. However, didn't feel like stopping over for a night and then driving again next day. Hence, reached Bangalore at 2:30 am and it really was not the wise thing to do. Promised everyone that I won't do it again (atleast not in a small car like Zen) at night.

Bigger vehicles (SUVs and MUVs) give a bit more sense of security however I am not really sure if that's all about it. The biggest risks are
1. breaking down in the middle of the road at night
2. getting into an argument with someone after, say, the vehicles had a minor kiss
3. Planned highway robbery
4. Vehicle hitting a pothole/median

[live360]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

To all those giving out advice regarding hitting first and being man on the street, watch a little less of movies and get real before its too late.

I am sure all those giving the above advice dont know jack about self defense.

@pramodkumar: Good post.

@Spitfire, well said. It reminds me the quote
"Don't wresel with pig. You get dirty and pig likes it"

@klassics45,
Just take precautions advised here and ignore those lowlifes.
Enjoy drives with your family.

[sbraj]

This thread reminds me of a situation during college days. We (classmates, including girls) were returning from Mumbai to Kochi via train after the so-called 'industrial tour'.

A bunch of guys in the adjacent cabin were passing lewd comments about the girls (our classmates). Then two of my political-leader classmates opened their bags, took out a bunch of newly bought knives and placed it on the berth. Took some clothes, cleaned all the knives and kept the knives back in the bag.

This was sufficient. No further comments. Not even glances to our side. Those guys got off at Goa, and were off in a jiffy.

In this case, avoiding was not a possibility as we were stuck in the train. Other option was to take complaint to TTE route.

In hindsight, the option of using FEAR as weapon proved to be useful.

But I am not sure whether it will work always.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sbraj

This thread reminds me of a situation during college days. We (classmates, including girls) were returning from Mumbai to Kochi via train after the so-called 'industrial tour'.

A bunch of guys in the adjacent cabin were passing lewd comments about the girls (our classmates). Then two of my political-leader classmates opened their bags, took out a bunch of newly bought knives and placed it on the berth. Took some clothes, cleaned all the knives and kept the knives back in the bag.

This was sufficient. No further comments. Not even glances to our side. Those guys got off at Goa, and were off in a jiffy.

In this case, avoiding was not a possibility as we were stuck in the train. Other option was to take complaint to TTE route.

In hindsight, the option of using FEAR as weapon proved to be useful.

But I am not sure whether it will work always.

The TTE option never works. Now you also have RPF on the train, without any bullets, with a jammed 303, which will never fire !

[anainar]

Klassic,

I think such instances should not keep you away from taking such trips. Having travelled in highways, different cities totally unknown to me with wife and kid, never had any problems. I found even cops being helpful if they find out of state personal cars with families.

This is such an instance that can happen to you in any place. The best way is not to get into a confrontation. It is not because one is a coward but because walking away from a confrontation does not mea one is not man enough. If push comes to shove, yes be prepared. I carry pepper spray in my car always. Never had to use it, but will not hesitate to use it in such a situation to get out of the situation, rather than staying there to fight.

So, dont let such stray incidents deprive you the pleasure of driving holidays. There is nothing like that to have fun as a family and friends.

Nainar

[Live To Jive]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Well, I am unmarried, and no plans for ruining my life atleast for 8-10 more years.

Above: Wrong statement. Below: Corrected statement

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

Well, I am unmarried, and no plans for ruining someone's life atleast for 8-10 more years.

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

6. People and police assist you, if you are traveling with your "family".

Also remember to call the cops in time. You can dial the emergency numbers even if your keypad is locked (check if your handset supports this feature. Most handsets do.). Also you can make the call even without a sim card.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

I would never touch a drunk. And the blame will be on you. And I have no trust or respect for our law enforcers.

If the drunk is in a vehicle (driving or riding) the blame is on him. And the law enforcers are not that bad. I have called the cops on a number of occasions and they were quick to respond and quite helpful.