Are there "rules" in a street attack or is it "anything goes"?

Question

I see different Yahoo posters commonly say anything goes in a streetfight/self-defense. Ok.

But, if you don't watch what you are doing you will be held legally responsible for what you do. So, these laws are "rules" for streetfights/self-defense.

How much should you follow them? Or should you ignore them because survival is the most important? Do you expect to get around them?

If you are one who would follow the rules/laws how would you keep yourself composed and not go overboard/overkill and get yourself in legal trouble?

Answer 1

I agree in that you must be aware that unless it is self defence (or you can prove its self defence) you can be charged with assault.



That aside the rules are - defend yourself at all times and get the hell outta there!



You never know if someone will kick you while you are down, in the head, in the back or kidneys, pull a gun or a knife or if they have 12 mates on their way to help out.

Answer 2

Most of the excessive use of force in self defense cases (i.e. where the one being attacked ends up breaking the law) I've heard or read about involves the defender continuing to try to injure the attacker AFTER the situation was no longer life threatening. I've read about an incident in the UK a couple of months ago, where a robber broke into a house, then proceeded to hit and tie up the only occupant - a girl. At that time, the girl's uncle and brother came back and fought off the robber. All well and good until the robber escaped, and the two men gave chase, caught, and beat up the robber. They were both later convicted of assault.



Same goes for, say, pinning a mugger to the ground, and then breaking his arm and hitting the back of his head repeatedly.



IMO, when the situation is life threatening, you can, and should do whatever is necessary to protect yourself. But when you are no longer in immediate danger, causing pain and harm becomes a tricky issue, and should be avoided if possible. And at that point - i.e. you are already in control of the situation and have the option of escaping or alerting the authorities - it usually becomes a conscious choice whether you continue trying to hurt your attacker or not. So, it boils down to how much self control you possess - regardless of what sort of martial art training you have.

Answer 3

It depends on the situation, first I try to avoid it. that in and of itself is self defense.. secondly, if it is just some loudmouth that no matter what i do even walking away will keep after it and mouth off and push and push until he gets what he is looking for then I follow the rules. so far it hasn't gone past this. If you beat somebody using rules, even if he tries to kick you in the groin or box your ears or other dirty fighting and you beat him cleanly then that is pretty much the ultimate humiliation..



If I felt my life was threatened (which, knock on wood, hasn't happened yet).. I honestly don't know what I would do cause I haven't faced it.. I would like to say that I am not above fighting dirty and my self preservation instincts/martial arts training and flight or fight would kick in and I would have the awareness and capacity to break the rules or due whatever is necessary, but at the same time the restraint to only use enough force to stop his. This may not happen and I might go off on him after the threat is over, but in my mind, while preparing my self for that scenario, I would bend the rules but not break them.. a pipe laying there against an attaker with a knife? sure.. a windpipe breaking throat punch against a drunken idiot from the bar? not unless he pulls a knife or something..

Answer 4

There are no rules in a street situation for the other person or yourself. That however does not translate into being stupid and making decisions that are irresponsible that you might have to pay a heavy price for later on.



I have been in four situations in my life where the other person had a gun and in two of them that person did not fair very well because I did not follow any rules and was fortunate enough to hurt them enough that the gun was no longer a factor. In the other two things could and would have resulted very badly (probably more-so for me) if I had not kept and used my head.



While not every situation involves weapons and guns they can escalate and things can get out of control as well as accidents happen in any of them and you may have to later pay for those actions or accidents. This is why it is generally better to avoid such situations and forget about it and move on. There are people in jail today that wished they would have and now know that they should have but after the fact is a little late.



I let the situation dictate how I am going to react and what I am going to do and every situation is different. People that are trained and experienced in dealing with others on a physical level usually can think, act, and react pretty quickly and it is their training and experience that allows them to do this and usually make good, sound decisions. For the average person that is not the case and so they run the greater risk of not keeping their composure and so they are better off usually avoiding things when possible.



I liken it to a police officers side arm and I at one time held a federal permit to carry concealed and would when there was a need. It is there for them to use and rely on if the situation calls for or warrants it but not every situation does. So in those situations where it is not called for an officer does not draw and use it.

Answer 5

The legalities of what you do will vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, so I won't make a comment regarding that other than to advise that you check with your state and local laws.



My personal approach, however, is to never start a fight, always do what I can to avoid a fight, but if I'm attacked do WHATEVER is necessary to end the attack. Under most circumstances, I'm not going to pull out my gun and shoot them, but I'm going to start off on the extreme end of the scale and work my way down, so to speak. I'm going to bite, poke, gouge, punch, knee, kick, pull, head-butt, grab your sack and wring it like a wash cloth, use a rock/stick/pen/keys or anything else I can get my hands on.



If you've done everything to avoid the situation, any attack is potentially life threatening, however; once the attack ends and the attacker A) runs away, or B) is incapacitated to the point that they can no longer attack, I stop defending myself. It's actually kind of common sense.



Where I live, it's pretty lenient as far as deadly force; even in a civil court. Here you are within your legal rights to shoot someone through the door of your house without even seeing them if you can reasonably show you had reason to feel threatened. Believe me, I know of cases when such a thing has happened--the person banging on the door was unarmed--the homeowner blowing them away through the door. No arrests, no convictions, no civil liabilities.



Common sense and the "law", often times, have no connection.



samuraiwarrior: Federal permit to carry a concealed weapon? Hmm, not in the US, you didn't.

Answer 6

Ippon,



You know that anything goes on the street and likely will. There are no referees and no sanctioning body.



As far as the law is concerned you can use deadly force in self defense if you believe your life is in danger. But you may need a good lawyer because you can be sued or the court could determine that deadly force wasn't necessary.



If a guy has a knife and tries to kill or cut me. I happen to kill him using martial arts or a gun. This is justifiable according to the law. Now if a guy ha a knife, but throws the knife down or drops it and decide to back away or run. If I chase him and beat the tar out of him or kill him I have now broken the law. It is no longer self defense. The threat was ended when he backed away or when he ran.



I know a guy that got into an altercation with 3 guys trying to rob him. They had some weapons.He took one of their pipes. He then proceeded to beat the tar out of those 3 guys. Even though he was defending himself he went to jail. He was charged with assault. To this day he doesn't understand why he went to jail. He calls it self defense. It was self defense until he continued to beat them when they were no longer a threat. He should be happy no one died. He would have gotten a much longer sentence.

Answer 7

"Try not to kill" is the only rule I think should be observed. Not that the other does not deserve death, but more like to avoid legal issues. If I'm in that situation, I'd disable/incapacitate him severely if I can, then run away like the wind. You'd know it's an overkill once he's down and you're still beating him like a boxer with roid rage.

Answer 8

The International Street Fighting Association (I made that up) has a sheet of rules all street fighters must follow. Seriously, you must not have thought this through before posting this question. I can only speak for myself, but if attacked in the street, I will not hesitate to do what ever I need to do to escape injury. Anyone that has rules is asking to get stomped.







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Answer 9

"Acts of Terror" and "Terrorist assaults" are no longer any distinctive. yet oftentimes referencing "Acts of Terror" alongside with 9/eleven isn't pointing out that what befell on the consulate in Benghazi grow to be a terrorist assault. Obama did no longer do this. yet enable's say he did understand and did say that it grow to be a terrorist assault the day after. Why did participants from his administration, alongside with himself in his U.N. address, proceed to paint this as a spontaneous crowd reaction to a YouTube video for the subsequent 2 weeks? Incompetence or willful misdirection?

Answer 10

I never started a street fight but i tried to kill my opponet every time.. It never happened but not for the lack of trying .. so yes anything goes including the throat the eyes the ears and what ever else you can rip off their body .. Morrow of this deal is if you are not ready for this then please don't do it ...

Answer 11

No rules in a street fight. If somebody attacks you anything goes, you do what you have to do to survive, and escape safely.

Answer 12

This is why I always bring referees around with me. When a violent criminal tries to squeeze my balls, the ref simply deducts one point. The criminal risks loosing on the judges score card.



Once you are loosing in the street, everyone breaks the rules. It is not the same when you don't know who is attacking you or why.

Answer 13

It depends on your opponent, for example when bruce lee was fighting chuck norris he hit him hard and norris fell on the ground but bruce lee didn't finish him and let him stand again.

Answer 14

as long as you dont kill them you shouldnt be held responsable for anything depending on your state and if you can prove it was self defence

Answer 15

stay away from street fights unless you are attacked

then= you fight to survive

Answer 16

If your life truly is at stake, do anything you need to.