Okay i was just thinking a few dayz ago...what if someone invaded your home or tried to attack you on the street and you were a JKD practitioner?
In JKD, you are taught to intercept your opponent mentally and their attack. But what if you were to intercept them mentally and 'throw' the first punch as in JKD the best defence is offense?
Would you be in the wrong because you 'touched' them first even though they were invading or about to attack you? How can you prove that they started it but you intercepted them mentally?
Also in JKD simplicity is one of the principles, with either kicking to the groin, finger jabbing to the eyes or what so ever. If a person was to attack you (no weapons), how far are you spose to go, as you are taught to deal with the situation with either a finger jab ..etc or another effecient but highly dangerous/effective tool, but you are classed, by law, as you have a lethal weapon - Jeet Kune Do (martial arts)?
By law, i think it is classed as self-defence if you can prove that it was defence and that the other person didnt come off worse than you did. So if a person intruded your house and out of protection you were to finger jab the intruder in the eyes (as tought in JKD)what would happen as he intruded you..and out of self defense...you fire one tool at him...but he comes off worse? Would you be in the wrong or would he...as JKD tools are fired at the most vital places and with the most efficient and damaging ways?
Could people please read this and post there ideas...as this is a very real situation...
Thanks..Anthony
This message has been edited by LeeSieLung on Jul 30, 2004 3:38 AM
Interesting topic! I'm not too sure what country you reside in, as I live in the UK, I feel that the law here is definitely flawed. The way I see it, if someone invaded my house, it would be a pretty instinctive thing to attack first and try to maim the intruder before he has a chance to do anything. I believe the law here says that only a resonable amount of force can be used, so i imagine that if you were to permanently blind the intruder even though he has no weapon then you would face a jail sentence! That's the funny thing about the metropolitan police, even they have trouble clarifying what is resonable force. I feel that we live in a more liberal society, yet even intruders are made into victims!
well if someone did approach you on the street dont just pop them one in the face, if you think theyre gunna do something, just play a little defensive footwork if thye do seem to be approaching with threat, THEN POP EM A GOOD ONE
But i mean cmon if someone you dont know invades your home you can do anythign you want because they are trespassing on your property. Hell would you think twice if someone broke into your place, **** no!
Also, jkd may be a lethal weapon but, its not like anyone has to know that you know JKD;)
"fired at the most vital places and with the most efficient and damaging ways?" You dont always have to make them vital either, just goto use common sense sometimes :-P
-Peacefoot
This message has been edited by PeaceFoot on Jul 30, 2004 12:48 PM
Okay, this is from a police perspective. First off anytime your involved in such an incident be prepared to answer alot of questions and possibly even go to jail. Defending yourself in today's age is not what its all cracked up to be. The best way to defend yourself is to not be in that place at that time.
So do you just not defend yourself and let them kill you or take what they want? NO! There is an old police officer saying "It is better to be judged by 12 then to be carried by 6".
One of the first things that you must find in order to defend yourslef is, Is there INTENT? you don't just hit someone because they look shady or is talking smack to you. You must beleive beyond a reasonable doubt that he/she is going to do bodily injury to you this is INTENT.
Then there is MEANS!. Does this person have the means to do you bodily injury? Weapon in thier hand, Multiple attackers, surprise attack. These are just some of the MEANS to attack you. Just because someone accross the street waves a knife at you does not give you the right to kick their ass. They have to be in range to have the means and intent to harm you.
Then when these things are current you may have a right to defend yourself. Its a grey line.
Here's a few tips for speaking to the police after a fight. Never ever mention your martial arts background. Never describe the events of the fight using martial arts terminology. Stress the fact that you feared for your life and that you felt the attacker was out to do you bodily harm. It also helps to tell them that it all happened so fast. The person attacked you and you fought back as hard as you could to try and escape. That the only thing on your mind was getting out in one peace.
"I'd rather be tried by twelve than carried by six".........
....isn't that a Tupac Shakur saying!??!!?
Anyway, the street side of things I face contantly, for many reasons;
I live in Bristol, UK, and I have known people who were stabbed, sometimes to death, or maimed horribly for stupid ammounts of money, or no reason at all.
Being constantly targeted by hoods and nutters, and as of yet unable to train in JKD, I know that I havn't got the size etc or means to simply 'defend myself'.
By this I mean, that because of my size etc, I cant really hurt someone by pushing them away or punching them etc, so my only option is to go for the balls and eyes, and keep kicking till I know he ain't gettng up!
Unfortunately, this doesn't go down too well with the law.
I sometimes carry my numchuckles with me if I'm going to certain areas, and I know for a fact that if I defend myself with them, then I'm going to get prosecuted, but that 'tried by twelve' quote really hits the nail on the head in my opinion.
When it comes to invading your home, lets put it this way:
I have three pairs of nunchaku in my home, and I'm buggered if I let some crackhead steal my TV!
Maybe I'm a bitter individual, but hell, it's you or them, buddy.
Well El Maestro as for your topic I agree 100% sounds as if thats sound advice. Truth is never ever admit your a MARTIAL ARTIST!!
As for what goes on in the UK, Im not familiar with their laws so I am of no place to comment my opinions then. You sound as if you have it all planned out, be careful w/ your "numchuckles" you may injur someone or yourself w/ those things. As for me if Im going to protect my home and the goods in it, I'd buy a gun. But again thats just me speaking. Use your Nunchaku to defend against a gun and see how far you get.
As for JKD and size, strenght etc... that you speak of. Well my suggestion is if you dn't have any JKD teacher if thats what your looking for go to your gym and learn boxing, or whatever. You know the thing about me is your never going to get this " I think you should follow your whole dream and never give up bull **** talk.. im saying from my perspective if you want to learn to fight and defend yourself you have the choice of pretending to want to learn something you may never find anytime soon, or take the opportunity to at least find something in the area that offers anything. SOmething is better than nothing. As for the "numchuckles" good luck those are more hassle then there worth.
Have a wonderful day in the UK. God bless the good ol' U.S.A. Where you have the right to bear arms.
Jakep, I too live in Bristol in the UK. However I consider myself fortunate as I haven't really been involved in or experianced any kind of hostility on the streets. Although I do agree that there is a degree of smartness you have to have when walking in some areas! I'm not sure what you have experianced personally, but it does appear that you must have had something bad happen to you for you to walk in public with a pair of nunchuks holstered. I do hope that you will eventually find faith in society again.
Indeed, I agree with the previous two post.
I definately agree that it's a waste of time 'waiting for JKD to fall in your lap', and also, I am fully aware that nunchaku are "flashy pieces of crap"!
It's a matter of time and oppertunity for me at the moment;
I'm about to hit 19, which equals no more benefits from the government,(i'm no leech, I just live in a poor family!) paying bills, yadda yadda yadda.
I am in a full time college course, and have a part time job at nights, as well as being my sisters 24 hour baby-sitter!
I desperately want to get into the martial swing of things,but DAMN, JKD lessons are expensive!
ALso, there are only two realistically accessable JKD places in the south west, and for certain reasons,(my fault!), I am no longer welcome in one.
But, keepin it Zen, I 'welcome disgrace as a pleasant surprise', and am all in all a nicer, more determined person nowdays.
About my cynical attitude, well I have seen, and experienced some nasty things.(this one goes out to Lan-di/Dan-li!!!)
I grew up in all the nasty places in BRistol, St Pauls, Easton, and certain council estates in Kingswood, as I have grown up pretty poor.
I am a fairly positive person, but I've had too many knives at my throat, taken too many beatings and humiliations, and seen some truly good people die or go to prison, to let life kick me in the teeth again.
I now live in a middle class suburbia place, so I just let the 'hard nuts' shoot thier mouths off, but when I go into certain places, I WILL NOT be taken advantage of again!
Yes, I'm a little untrusting, but life is hard my friend, and if it isn't, your probably missing out on something!
What the other geezer said about getting a gun/nunchaku vs a gun, doen't really apply to most of Britain, only if your into some pretty heavy crime.
The fact that he said 'get a gun' to defend your home is a little unsettling, but then,(no offence), that's America for you.
Land of oppertunity, land of gun-related deaths in the home.
I only use nunchaku for short-term self defence and fun, by the way.
But C'mon, who HASN'T wanted to strip down to their underwear and look at themselves in the mirror with a pair of nunchaku?!?!?!?!?
I have to go with Tac on this, and say go to any old club. join a gym get fit and strong, work on the bag at the gym. Something is better than nothing. And often at the gym you meet people who know how to fight and you end up training with them for free.
I carried a nunchaku once on the streets, just to see what it felt like to walk round with a weopon. In all honesty it did not make me feel any safer. Today I do not carry any weapons and feel safer than ever, but then I live in Brighton UK as appose to the ****holes I grew up in in London.
As to the topic question. This is really something you have to asses at the time. In some circumstances it is not best to strike, but to talk or even walk away. Do not be too trigger happy, that gets people into more trouble than was necessary.
For example I had a situation where this guy asked me for money and implied he would take it by force. Now I could have punched his lights out, but instead I eyeballed him and gave him a dressing down verbally. He kacked himselve and was apoligising immediately. I walked away unhurt physically or to my pride, but also there was no need to involve the law.
However a few weeks ago this nazi came up to me and slapped me told me to go back to my own country the usual ****. I could have walked away, not really been hurt or but my pride. Anyway I did not, he slapped me and as far as I was concerned he gave me permission to beat him to a bloody pulp. So I kicked him, buss up his nose etc all the while calling him a nazi and saying "who the f you hitting" so that witnesses knew why. Anyway some foreign bloke came up and saved him from being killed cause I was not even warmed up lol.
You have to be smart about these things. Life is not fair, the law does not know the truth, it is blind. but like Tac said try not get yourself in the situation in the first place and yes this is possible. You know what areas not to hang out in at 3 in the morning. Particulary if you have no real level of skill.
....there were a couple of guys on the bus talking quite loudly about 'coons' etc, I couldn't actually believe it at first! The fact that me and these two people were about the only white people on the bus made things very uncomfertable, and also, minutes earlier, they had been giving me crap about being small!
so I slowly gripped my deadly nunchaku, and......JOKE!
anyways, I have to keep lots of things on hold at the moment, just because time is so limited.
But I will definately have to do SOMETHING soon, agreed.
There are various Karate and TKD places available, but, as you may have guessed, I'd rather take a beating!!!
Only joking!
I really want to encorperate MA into my life ASAP, but taking anything, regardless of what it is, is going to be a problem.
About the main topic (if it's still going) I think that anything is better than physical confrontation, it's what sarcasm is to humour!
I think that anything verbal should be ignored, but as soon as physicality is involved, become as ruthless as possible!
Prosecution is better than brain damage.
Another thing to remember is the levels of combat. As Bruce Lee put it: "One must be willing to bring a fight to the next level. At the begining of a fight you must be willing to start it, to bruise his skin. If he bruises your skin you must be willing to break his skin. He breaks your skin, break a bone. He breaks a bone you take his life."
The key is to beat him to the next level of combat, because if he shows that he is willing to go to the next level you do not know how far he is capable, or willing to go.
Also the question of weapons come into play. If he is armed you MUST assume he is willing to use it. The question is do you have enough trust in your ability to face it.
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