About 10% Of Confrontations Go Sideways

When you're dealing with the public, the vast majority of your encounters will be harmless and safe, but confrontations are another matter. For the purposes of this post, a "confrontation" is an encounter where you deliberately make contact with someone to help handle a problem. Now the problem doesn't have to be a raging argument, or even a nasty exchange of words, it just has to have the potential to become something more than it needs to be, and probably will if someone doesn't step in to arbitrate. For the most part, only about 10% (1 in 10) of confrontations will turn physically violent, the other 90% are better handled with verbal and visual de-escalation. Training for physical intervention and self-defense are always important, but do not neglect learning how to diffuse the majority of situations without the need for physical violence.

Another important factor in physical intervention and self-defense training is, learning the legal ramifications and rules of when and how to "go live" with the least amount of legal complications. If your martial arts/reality based fighting instructor isn't teaching you these things, you need to learn them yourself.. immediately! Don't take my word alone for it, ask Dark Guardian, Zero (Jack Cero), and other professionals that deal with this in their every day lives and places of employment.

People on the forum often ask what martial arts/system of fighting is best to learn. Truth is, whatever works best for you and is suitable to your physical abilities and condition, as long as it is effective. You can be a black belt in any style of fighting, but if you have not learned how to effectively translate your style to actual combat, you are not prepared for actual situations on the street. If "martial arts" were actually combat effective you would see more MMA fighters practicing their styles the same way they do in the dojo, or in competitions.. but notice they don't even come close to doing that in practical fights in the ring.. plus they still have to abide by rules in the ring that are not followed on the streets. If you have assumptions that your sensei/master/jedi teacher is teaching you how to handle yourself in a real world situation, give it another thought. Assumptions can get you hurt.. killed.. or imprisoned. Learn the difference from solid, respectable, instructors. You may be able to kick everyone's ass on the mat, but the concrete dojo isn't as forgiving.

I strongly suggest the following website, written by a true expert on the subject of physical violence, Marc MacYoung.. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], also same website [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Bookmark the site and read the hell out of it! I've read the articles more than once, often going back to them after reading various books by the author, and other experts in the field. I can not recommend it highly enough.

as well as being able to recognize the situation before you even enter it. . .learning to be observant can take you a long way into dealing with the situation at it's lowest level of involvment. . .this is a great thread SS. . .

yahsssss

Whoa! DC is still around! Awesome to see you are on here sir...

Marc Mac Young is awesome... Im gonna go see him at a seminar in February... super excited.

It's interesting stuff Sentinal. A reminder that it's important to train for reality. Thanks for sharing.