Street Stories
Real life experiences on the street & in
the dojo
Be Careful Who You Attack
By Christopher Caile
The old gray haired man walking along the street with his pension check
in hand looked frail, an easy victum to a band of muggers.
Sixty seven years old, 187 pounds, and five foot eleven, George was not
such an easy target. And did we mention he was a former amateur light-middle
weight boxer title holder and an ex-Army unarmed combat trainer?
Guess who was surprised?
The attack happened on a street near his home in Byaliss of Edmunds,
Suffolk, England. When the gang leader tried to mug him, Byaliss responded
with a left hook hitting him on the jaw. The whole group then just ran.
Bayliss later commented that he didn’t think they were very tough
and that he had faced more formidable opponents in the ring. According
to a BBC news website account, he commented that they “picked on
the wrong man.”
Bayliss’s quick encounter with the leader may have just saved him
from more serious injury, if they had that intent in addition to robbery.
It has often been observed that in group situations, removing the “head
of the snake,” so to speak, will often end an attack. With the leader
gone, followers become shocked, confused and intimidated and fear most
often wins out over bravery. It is for this and similar reasons that in
warfare leaders and senior officers are targeted.
On the other handd if you find yourself alone and unskilled (in self-defense
or combat) on the street facing muggers who just want your money, it is
best calmly and without resistance to give over what they want. After
all, money can be replaced. You and your health may not be.
The final lesson is to be careful of your judgments. A person who looks
frail might not be. If someone doesn’t look like he can fight or
resist you might just be very, very wrong.
If you have an interesting real life story that
you would like to share with our readers, please email it to us at: street_stories@fightingarts.com
About the Author:
Christopher Caile is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of FightingArts.com.
He has been a student of the martial arts for over 43 years. He first
started in judo. Then he added karate as a student of Phil Koeppel in
1959. Caile introduced karate to Finland in 1960 and then hitch-hiked
eastward. In Japan (1961) he studied under Mas Oyama and later in the
US became a Kyokushinkai Branch Chief. In 1976 he followed Kaicho Tadashi
Nakamura when he formed Seido karate and is now a 6th degree black belt
in that organization's honbu dojo. Other experience includes aikido, diato-ryu
aikijujutsu, kenjutsu, kobudo, Shinto Muso-ryu jodo, kobudo, boxing and
several Chinese fighting arts including Praying mantis, Pak Mei (White
Eyebrow) and shuai chiao. He is also a student of Zen. A long-term student
of one branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qigong, he is a personal
disciple of the qi gong master and teacher of acupuncture Dr. Zaiwen Shen
(M.D., Ph.D.) and is Vice-President of the DS International Chi Medicine
Association. He holds an M.A. in International Relations from American
University in Washington D.C. and has traveled extensively through South
and Southeast Asia. He frequently returns to Japan and Okinawa to continue
his studies in the martial arts, their history and tradition. In his professional
life he has been a businessman, newspaper journalist, inventor and entrepreneur.
|
