Every year, I teach my students to run away from any and all physical altercations.
Someone wants to fight you? Run.
Someone is threatening you? Run.
Someone just punched you in the face? Run.
Fight with your legs by escaping the altercation as quickly as possible.
Occasionally, a parent tells their child something like:
“If someone hits you, then you should hit them back”
“You have a right to stand your ground.”
“Defend yourself.”
There are parents who have never entered a fist fight only to find themselves faced with a knife or something worse.
I have. It’s no fun. It’s downright terrifying. It only needs to happen once before you realize how stupid it is to stand your ground.
What I tell my students is this:
“You never know what someone might have in their pocket.”
Also:
“If you hit someone – even if they just hit you – and they trip, fall, and hit their head just right, they may never walk or think or speak the same way again, and then you’re in a world of trouble. Is that worth defending yourself?”
Yesterday I stumbled upon this video by former Navy SEAL Commander Jocko Wikllink. A person far tougher and more experienced in combat than I will ever be. His advice for getting into a fight:
Exactly the same thing.
Validation is a beautiful thing.
