So, I was assaulted on Sunday...

[Greenday]

Anybody ever read Ender's Game? As a point made in the book, you use the force necessary to prevent the enemy from hurting you again. That one hit and chasing him out of the store was enough. He could have followed him out of the store and beaten him but he restrained himself, as their was no point. To me, Kusanagi not only prevented the jerk from attacking him again, the jerk will now think twice about harming another person, therefore possibly saving someone else from confrontation.

[Mixed Bag]

Quoth kerrisan

I already said "I could be wrong."...
From my POV it just seems like a revenge hit.

If anyone had to rub me the wrong way with that perspective I'm glad it was someone with a reputation for being nice and sensible--that made it palatable.

I'm not angry at you, Kerrisan, because you have no authority, and because of your other posts--but in general I think people expect too much restraint from provoked victims, and, God forbid, should any authorities or management or others in Kusanagi's life not be sympathetic, I fully support whatever lawful attitude he cares to face them down with. Kusanagi

[lordlundar]

The way I understand rule #1 is you should never use your training to initiate combat, only to halt it.

Now that's open to interpretation, either a fight in general, or a particular attack pattern.

[ArenaBoy]

I took martial arts for 5 years and my Sensei always said that if it looks like the attacker is going for the kill, do what you can. So I agree with Kusangi taking that one hit, now that jackass will think twice or not about attacking someone.

[Dark Psion]

Quoth kerrisan

I too took martial arts for some time and I think I know what rule you speak of.

Use your training as DEFENSE, not as revenge.

After that one hit, it could (and should) have been over. You did not need to lash out at him after that.

Of course, I could be wrong. Please let me know.

But I hope things turn out in your favor; he never should have started physical stuff.

That's because you have not read Sun Tzu's second book, "The Art of Being Pissed Off"

or to quote Malcom Reynolds "Well, they tell you never hit a man with a closed fist, but it is on occasion hilarious."

[chainedbarista]

glad to hear you're ok (you did make sure you didn't have a concussion, i hope); this punk proved how much cajones he really had-by running away. he's going to have fun with the hardcore gangstas he so admires very soon, i think.

[Mark Healey]

Quoth kerrisan

I too took martial arts for some time and I think I know what rule you speak of.

Use your training as DEFENSE, not as revenge.

After that one hit, it could (and should) have been over. You did not need to lash out at him after that.

Of course, I could be wrong. Please let me know.

But I hope things turn out in your favor; he never should have started physical stuff.

I've never taken any martial arts but I only half assed understand this attitude. I imagine it is to keep the students from becoming bullies.

I see nothing wrong with using violence to defend your rights and property as well as just your physical self.

As to this using just enough violence to fend off the immediate threat, if the bad guy is really determined, that just leads to trading blows.

I sayZ: Once someone has rejected reason, you are entitled to respond with as much force as necessary to minimize your costs (in time, money, enegry) in getting rid of them.

Caveats: I've only had to toss drunks and a lawyer would probably tell you something different.

[TequilaSunrise]

Ho-ly crap. Whoda thunk that it was so dangerous to work in a furniture store??!
That was pure self-defense. Homeboy was totally out of line, and he probably would've hit him again. We'll see who's laughing and gloating when Bubba comes 'round. That bastard totally deserved what he got.

[Kusanagi]

EDIT: Kerri, the rule I was referring to was #1 of CS, where we don't advocate violence towards SCs

My teacher said basically the same thing, "Hit back, not first."

End Edit

Okay, now that I'm back home (went out to a movie with some friends) I can continue the story of what happened.

Call me a bad person, but one of the things that was very important during my martial arts training was that when your confronted with a threat, you do what you can to quickly neutralize that threat. He started it, I ended it. I wasn't thinking about revenge, I wasn't thinking to do as much damage as possible because if I was, I could have hurt him much worse than I did.

It was basically reflex, and it did happen very quickly. That's only the third time I have ever struck someone (and I have NEVER struck anyone first, I've only retaliated to defend myself)

In retrospect, I might have been able to get him in a lock or a submission maneuver until the police showed up, but I knew I was bleeding, I knew I was hurt, and I reacted the way I felt I needed to.

I didn't do it to purposely knock the guy's teeth out, I did it because I wanted to protect myself and he was a major threat.

But anyway, back to what happened. The lady wrote down his licence plate information and the husband called the police on the cellphone. They had a cruiser nearby and he showed up within five minutes. By then I had a compress on the back of my head and I was feeling a little dizzy.

The officer got there and all of us told him what happened. We went into the back area - you could actually see a trail of blood from the door back there and it was on some of the furniture too. There was also some blood where I whacked my head on the table.

The wierdest thing though, was that sitting there on the ground was what was left of the guys tooth. Just sitting there. The officer was really cool, asking me if I needed an ambulance. He took the info from the two people that were there, and they went on their way, saying they would come back later.

I called my manager and explained the situation. He was up in LA and unfortunately, nobody could cover for me. I stayed for another hour, the dizziness went away, and I left early.

Monday night, I got a call from the police station. They wanted me to come down to the station, because they caught someone with the description. The way the officer explained it to me, that since it was only about ten minutes since it happened, they put out a bulletin to the local hospitals to look for someone matching the description we all gave. Sure enough, he went to one of the local hospitals, and the police were notified. He was detained. When I got down there, sure enough, it was him, and I pointed this out to the officer.

It turns out he had a few warrants out for his arrest, and the car wasn't even his, it was stolen. This was just the latest thing that set it off. THe officer mentioned offhand that if I hadn't have done that to him, they would have had a hard time catching him, because they always seemed to just miss him. Turns out he was 27 years old.

One of the civilians who worked there told me as I was walking out that "Personally, I'm glad someone did it to him. He put his girlfriend in the hospital, twice, the second time he put out a cigarrette on her arm."

It's still up to me if I want to press charges on the guy, but I don't know if I should. You see, I have a very high profile, recognizeable car, and you always worry that violent people have violent friends...

It seems that they already have enough evidence to put the guy away for quite a long time. I'm worried that he'll make bail and come back.

Because of this, they transferred me to another showroom via my request until the trial, which they told me will be in October.

I don't know guys. I mean, there was no permanant harm done to me. I just have a knot and scab on the back of my head, it didn't even need stitches. He definately got the worse of it, but from what I was told about the guy, it seems karma paid him back enough with what I did to him. Think I should press charges?

I do know that they don't pay me enough for this shit.

[Discourtesy Clerk]

I think you should definitely press charges. He deserves to be tried for the crimes he committed, and assault is a serious crime. On the other hand, I could also see how pressing charges could be more of a hassle than it's worth...but it's up to what you feel like doing. Personally, I'd press charges, without much hesitation.