Coming home on the train from a night out at a fairly local club I got sucker punched by some, what we call in England, pikies or scallies.
There was a group of them (about 4 guys and 3 girls) sitting a couple of seats in front of me and my mate. My mate had a bleeding fat lip but this wasn’t because of the pikies (it happened earlier that night in a drunken tumble). One of the girls of the group came over to see if my mate was ok and he said he was fine and that he just wants to be left alone. Then one of the guys came over saying lots of pikey gibberish saying he’ll give my mate another broken nose and he was saying that my mate said he told her to **** off. I told him he didn’t say that, I don’t think he really wanted to mess with me so he went quiet and sat down. This old guy sitting next to me said (in a funny accent) “you should tell HIM to **** off”. The pikies heard a little bit of what the old guy said and they started shouting at him. Again I said that “he didn’t tell you to **** off” (it seemed really childish what they were saying but they were just looking for a reason to start a fight). Again they didn’t answer back to me and they sat back down and went quiet.
When it came to their stop they walked passed me and one of them grabbed my glasses and chucked them down the carriage and the rest started hitting me in the face and at the back of the head. The only thing going through my mind was “I cant afford another pair of glasses” so I got up from my seat and went to go find them. I?ve done martial arts for about 4 years now and I didn’t even think to hit them back. I probably wouldn’t have been able to do much because they were running to get off at their stop. I must of taken at least ten hits but for some reason I didn’t feel threatened. They didn’t hurt at all; they just felt like some punches you get in semi-contact sparring. I didn’t really take much notice of them so I didn’t switch into “defence mode”…I just wanted to go find my glasses.
After they left a couple of people asked if I was ok and the old guy with the funny accent said that in his country people like them get shot. It turned out he was from Zimbabwe. He was totally switched on and he took a photo of them with his digital camera. He said he worked in security at that he’ll be able to use the photo to do an ID scan or something.
It feels totally weird how with all my training something stopped me from hitting them back. Even though I was getting hit I didn’t feel the need to return the punches because I didn’t feel threatened. I know I?ve learnt a few things from last night (apart from the fact I need to start wearing contact lenses!) but I?m not sure how to put it into words. I?ve got a bit of black eye; I just hope it clears up before Christmas! But other than that I feel totally fine.
bunch o ****ers.. I think it was very strange of them to pull your glasses of b4 striking you. That must have looked reeeally strange. Make a report, make them suffer
Do you have a bad temper? I am similar where I really dont want to fight until the “switch gets flipped.” Perhaps the training increases the threshold of what you can tolerate before you go off on someone. I dont necessarily think thats a bad thing UNLESS there comes a time when its truly a threat and you dont act. Besides, if we all spent our time kicking the a$$ of those who needed it… we would never have a free moment.
However, many aggressors get the mindset that if they can do it once… they can do it forever. You may have inadvertantly labeled yourself as a victim, so next time they see you… they may take it further. The chance to nip it in the bud is lost so now you have to make an even stronger move to contradict your first impression.
Dont fret about it man. I have been in lots of similar altercations with a few actual events where i did defend myself. Trust me, its like something inside you knows the person has crossed the line and you then simply act on it. Some people have a temper though and, in your situation, would have beat them down because they asked for it, not because they were defending themselves.
As far as regretting not doing anything, well think of it this way, fights arent a means to glory as if life were a friggin movie, you could be dead from gunshot wounds right now had you done something. You want to find glory with your martial skill? Then do it in a tournament setting or by challenging other martial artists in full contact sparring. Not by attacking 4 people who probly are armed.
im a very laid back person but i can “switch on” when i need to. for some reason something told me i didn’t need too. im actually kinda scared of the thought of “switching on” because im such a laid back person i think i’d probably take the opposite to the extreme.
i don’t think they actually planned to hit me until they took my glasses off. they took them off me because they thought it’d be funny and threw them down the carriage but they didn’t start hitting me until i went to get up and go get them and then they ran off.
i just realised my signature “satisfaction loses, and humility gains” is pretty relavent to this…i think i can truly relate to that now.
one of these days im going to come on here and be like, man these 5 guys were ****ing with me last night, but i didn’t do anything cause i was too scared to get ****ed up by 5 guys if i didnt have to.
im not passing judgment on your story in particular stubbs, im not even saying it necessarily applies to you, but i have seen a lot of the same type of stuff on the boards and i think that sometimes it’s ok just to be scared.
no thats the odd thing. i didn’t feel scared at all! the only thing on my mind was to go get my glasses. they ran off before i could even think about what was going on. i would thought that with the training i’ve done i would’ve instinctively fought back but i didn’t. i don’t really get why
i wasn’t totally sober (cos i was coming back from the club) so maybe that’s why i didn’t feel scared or switched on. in any case, i ****ing hate pikies!
I live in a fairly large city (Louisville KY) and we have our fair share of shady characters on the streets, but random acts of beating don’t seem to happen much here.
Then again, KY has a concealed carry law that allows liscensed citizens to carry a concealed firearm.
I am not a fan of this law. I think all citizens should be required to carry a firearm out in the open.
As a person who has taken a punch to the face while wearing glasses, you should be thankful that they had the “courtesy(if you will)” to take them off before giving you a sissy pummeling. The Situation is fuct and I have sympathy for you. But you did the right thing, friend. An eye for an eye leaves the world blind. Karma will catch up to the pikies, and maybe the gypsy bastards will get what they deserve.
I have a perma-croked noes thanx to a shot to the face while wearing glasses. But thats okay considering what I did to ol’ buddy I pheonix-eye fisted on the bridge of the nose.
Lots of people in England use the owrd pikies instead of townies, which I prefer, because it doesn’t come with the racial connotation.
a townie is just a low life scumbag, puffa, kappa tracksuit trousers, hanging around the local convenience store, about 14-20 yrs old, baseball cap, reebok classics.
If you and your friend wanted to be left alone you should have moved to a car without hyped up kids in it (I’m guessing these people had to be between 16 and 25). Once the original verbal altercation began, and you could not deesculate it, move!
It being to late to do that, you SHOULD HAVE BEEN SCARED. Caught sitting while attacked by numerouas people and not scared? Did you consider they could have been armed? That’s the only thing you should ever assume.
No reason to “turn the switch”? You have a black eye … how are they?
What good is your training if it hasn’t taught you awareness (situational as well as general), the importance of position (remaining seated as people you just had a conflict with pass), and general combatives. I use the word combatives because you did defend yourself. You held your hands up I’m sure while they kept punching you.
Don’t defend. Avoid! And when you can’t, destroy.
I don’t blame you though, I blame the general state of martial arts as viewed through the filter of this bulletin board where everyone is too busy “Taking the Correct” and doing various things with it instead of critically viewing their training.
A hockey player would have fought back! Why not a martial artist.
Re: Lots wrong with this story as a martial artist
Originally posted by EvolutionFist
A hockey player would have fought back! Why not a martial artist.
A hockey player that fights feels that he has something to prove. A martial artist doesn’t. Some martial artists probably feel that if need be they could sqwash whatever “beef” arises. Some street punks are ignorant like that and will throw a sucker punch and run like little children. An experienced fighter knows that they could end that persons life right then and there if they really wanted to and chooses not to. I think having a more controlled/peaceful mindset gives more patience tolerance levels to experienced fighters. Those losers were obviously bored and decided to be fuckwads and pick a fight. I would’ve felt sorry for them too.
