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Many people consider fighting and self defense to be the same thing but they are actually two totally different concepts. From a legal stand point, it is dangerous to consider fighting and self defense to be merely two sides to the same coin. If you are caught fighting and it can be proved you are fighting (we’ll get to that in a minute) then your argument of self defense will not stand up in court. In fact you will be viewed as an aggressor in the eyes of the law, even if you didn’t start the altercation you were involved in.
So lets take a look at the two terms fighting and self defense and see what the differences are between them.
Self Defense
Here is a legal definition of self defense from the ‘Lectric Law Library:
Use of force is justified when a person reasonably believes that it is necessary for the defense of oneself or another against the immediate use of unlawful force. However, a person must use no more force than appears reasonably necessary in the circumstances.
Force likely to cause death or great bodily harm is justified in self-defense only if a person reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm.
The Right To Protect One’s Person And Property From Injury.
So in the eyes of the law you must only be reacting to someone trying to harm you in order for you to plead self defense. This means you cannot willingly enter into a confrontation for whatever reason and still expect to plead self defense. The law will still view you as an aggressor in that case and you will be judged guilty of fighting.
Fighting
Here is a dictionary definition of fighting:
To attempt to harm or gain power over an adversary by blows or with weapons.
To contend with physically or in battle.
To wage or carry on (a battle).
These definitions clearly show that fighting involves the willing participation of both parties. In terms of a confrontation true self defense would involve running away from the confrontation instead of willingly entering into it. As I stated in a previous article, this is the problem with people who are trained in martial arts. Many martial artists will refuse to run or avoid a confrontation because pride and a need to prove themselves won’t let them. They therefore end up fighting instead of defending themselves.
When the law gets involved and they realise you didn’t do anything to back away from the confrontation they will assume you had motivation to stay and therefore motivation to escalate the situation. As far as the law is concerned, these are not the actions of a reasonable person interested in defending themselves, these are in fact the actions of someone who has reason and motivation to stay and engage in conflict.
How to Avoid Fighting
The simplest way to avoid fighting is to simply turn tail and run when someone makes an aggressive move on you, something that will not sit well with many of you reading this, I’m sure. You may be thinking, what’s the point in all those years of training if you are just going to run away when something actually does happen?
That’s your pride talking there, not your common sense. Is it really worth taking the risk of being arrested and jailed just so you can feel better about yourself in the short term? If you have those insecurities about yourself, if you constantly feel the need to prove yourself, doing so one time will not alleviate them. Your insecurities will return soon after to plague you once more. No amount of fighting will rid you of them. Those are things which must be worked through in your own head until you find a way to make peace with yourself. Try taking your ego out of the equation. It is your ego that makes you feel like that and as such your insecurities about your ability to handle yourself are irrational and even stupid. Stupid because allowing them to dictate your behaviour can get you in trouble.
So what if you can’t run from the scene, what then? How to you deal with someone being violent towards you without crossing the line into a fully fledged fight and actually becoming the aggressor yourself?
Firstly you have to rid yourself of any notions of winning or loosing. If you’re trying to win over your opponent then you are fighting, because only fights have winners and losers. What you must do then is just enough to subdue your opponent and no more. This means not kicking him while he is down or breaking his limbs because he threw a punch at you. It also means you cannot goad him into fighting with you by calling him names or putting him down verbally. Even if you are backing away from an aggressor but you are hurling abusive and provocative language at him, this is still seen as fighting, not self defense.
The Realities of Street Self Defense
All of the above information is based around the requirements of the law and we all know how irrational and unforgiving the law can be. It is okay saying that when it comes to defending yourself you have to do this or you can’t do that otherwise you’ll get arrested and charged with assault. In the heat of the moment things happen that are often out of your control and you will find it is extremely difficult to consider everything that you’re supposed to consider in these situations.
I think the best thing you can do to help yourself in this regard is to try and avoid street confrontations in the first place. This not only means using prevention tactics but also backing away from aggressors when they do try to provoke you. Do this and you are out of harms way in all respects.
If you are left with no choice but to defend yourself using your training then things get a bit trickier. If it kicks of you are in the hands of fate and chance because anything can happen and everything has been known to happen in these situations. All you can really do then is stop yourself from getting hurt by whatever means necessary but still try and stay in control enough that you don’t go over board and cross the line into being the aggressor. Just remember that the police often view the “winner” of these confrontations to be the aggressor and therefore the one most liable in the eyes of the law.
Personally, if someone attacks me then I will do what I have to do to subdue the attack. I’ll go as hard as I have to protect myself and whoever might be with me. If that means crossing the line a little, perhaps putting in a few more strikes to make sure my attacker stays down (you don’t want then getting up and attacking you all over again) then so be it. Afterwards I won’t hang around to wait for the police unless they are already on the scene. Why would I want further hassle?
You take your chances in life, don’t you? Self defense is no different. Avoid violence at all costs but don’t be afraid to engage with it when it leaves you no choice.
