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The self-defense scenario

In this article, I will describe a personal defense situation that happened to me (Kongling) in front of a KTV (a Karaoke club). As I have done previously (read for example Self-defense: brawl in front of a grocery store), I will not go into too much detail (in order to protect the privacy of the involved people).

A note by Master Kongling – Writing about this “adventure” (even after so much time), I notice 2 things: the first is that I am not able to correctly describe the level of tension involved and the second is that, even if I am sitting quietly at my desk, the simple fact of bringing those facts back to the mind, made me sweat (it’s like my body is getting ready to fight again, this is the power of remembering, read Fighting and mind control: the anchors).

The background (in short):

I was about to go to sleep and I receive a phone call (apparently) from a friend of my master (yes, again) who asks me if I could help to take a girl back home who was a little drunk (after a dinner with friends)
I said “ok”; unfortunately, I have the bad attitude to do not leave people in difficulty; after all, it was a question of accompanying a person at home, nothing dangerous (I had no idea what would happen shortly thereafter)
In this situation I was rather bad in psychophysical conditions, I had just finished the last 4 hours of training and besides, I had a certain dizziness

The situation that has triggered the criticality:

The girl outside the restaurant was very drunk; when I arrived, the effect of the alcohol was near its maximum (probably 90 minutes after the assumption)
The season was suddenly changing, it was very hot and humid, I was tired and I felt a little dizzy
The girl wanted to take her shopping bags left in the KTV and to say goodbye to some friends
What we didn’t know is that outside the KTV there was a big brawl between drunken people

Trying to break down sequentially everything that happens next, let’s see what my analysis of the situation (based on the S.A.F.E. method of 6 Dragons Kung Fu) has been (despite my bad psychophysical condition).

The application of the S.A.F.E. method

Safety:

Arrived at the restaurant everything was fine, the girl was drunker than expected but the situation was completely under control
I asked the girl to go but she said that she wanted to remain another 30-45 minutes to say goodbye to her friends at the KTV; also this was not particularly annoying, I told her that it was ok and that I would go to visit my master
So I went to see my master and after the agreed time I went to the meeting point; unfortunately, outside the club there were several people shouting, jostling and breaking everything near them
The first reaction was to assess the situation from a safe distance; I quickly realized that the situation was out of control; so I picked up the phone to alert my teacher and call the police
While I was telephoning, amid the noise, I saw the girl right in the middle of the brawl, pulled by more men and in a state of clear difficulty; the only thing to do was try to go and get her

Argument:

Approaching the entrance, a drunk comes up to me and offers me a beer telling (in the least credible possible way) that it was non-alcoholic
I refuse (in the least rude way possible) and tell him that I have to accompany that girl at home; so I try to get into the crowd but the situation quickly falls

Flee:

While I advance, I try to keep every side under control but amidst the chaos, I feel grab, push and pull while the man from behind tells me (screaming) that I can’t take the girl away
I try to move forward, ignoring the man, but it becomes increasingly difficult

Engage:

I get pushed and hit over and over again in the middle of the crowd; that until I see a bottle come over my head
Although it was empty (and it had not centered me) the blow was very strong; the bottle broke and made me superficially bleed (for an instant I was completely stunned)
I can’t exactly tell if it was the conditioning (read also Conditioning check for the impact), the automatic change of body state (read 6DKF’s interactions: from the strong blow to the light touch) the case or the weak hand of a drunk that made me “resist” but that happening has triggered off in me a real survival instinct
From that moment on, my mind went blank (read Become the absolute zero), an injection of adrenaline made fatigue, pain and dizziness disappear completely; I can describe this as the classic fight-or-flight condition (all the muscles were lined up, ready for combat)

The final result

How the scenario has been solved:

I remember hitting at least 4 people at full power and dropping at least 3 on the ground (these were people of medium stature / age, deprived of balance and normal reflexes from alcohol, read Forget everything you know about multiple opponents fighting)
Immediately after this, I opened a way by violently pushing away all those who stood in front of me until I reached the girl’s arm
After instinctively putting myself in a very stable position (like Gong Bu, read The correct position of the bow / arrow (gong bu)) I grabbed her firmly and as the others were holding her, I dragged 2 more men to the ground (read The Spiral Muscle Chain: twists and screws of the body)
Once the girl was freed (in a state of confusion and with her dress partly ripped off) I made her put an arm on my neck and holding her up I used the elbow to open a passage to the road
Out of the crowd, it was necessary to escape, many of the people present had focused their attention on us; as we move away (as quickly as possible, the girl could hardly stand up) we meet my teacher and 2 friends of him who came to our rescue
They tell us to go while they try to stem those who were already chasing us; in that same moment someone, from the overhanging palace, throws 2 bottles of beer (this time full)
We manage to walk away from the streets but suddenly the girl (who had almost collapsed a little earlier) recovers and tells me she has to go back to the place to get her things (which I later discovered to be afternoon shopping)
She is not lucid and there is no way to make her understand what danger we were running; first she collapses on the ground and then, suddenly, she gets up and starts running towards the KTV
I can’t do anything but follow her; the brawl was not over but the people who followed us were no longer there and the crowd was considerably diminished; she thus risks entering through a secondary entrance, retrieving her things and passing them to me
The story (and the problems) does not end exactly here but with some difficulties we manage to reach the car, contact my master (to find out if they were safe) and leave

Final notes

Some things to think about:

The most serious mistake was to allow the girl to go back; in the confusing context of escape, the deep respect I have for women prevailed over rationality and I did not feel like keeping her against her will
Even in the worst situations, a serious daily training never completely disappears (read Self-Defense: is it possible to always be ready to fight?)

To conclude, I would like to list some realistic “alternative endings”:

Me losing senses – If I lost consciousness I would have been trampled and the girl would have been left at the mercy of people who had already laid hands on her
Not drunken opponents – Fortunately, our aggressors were people yes “bad people” but without martial preparation and in an altered mental state (otherwise that evening could have ended very badly)
Beer bottles from the building – If only one of those bottles hit me or her, the damage would be 10 times worst
The pursuers block us – No one can cope with a crowd of people (this happens only in the movies) it would have been a massacre

A note by Master Kongling – The photo is not related to the real event.

In the next article of this series, we will analyze other cases of personal defense ended badly, so as to work not only on hypothetical situations but amalgamating theory and practice through a concrete basis of real events (if you want us to give priority to this topic read Learn Kung Fu online: request a specific article).

In-depth video courses

Basic free hand fighting techniques – Fundamental 6 Dragons Kung Fu’s fighting techniques
Hand grip strength conditioning – How to reach the best combat grip capability

In-depth articles

12 tips on how to survive in a brawl – A few ideas on how to manage a brawl
Self defense: 10 correct attitudes during a quarrel – What to do to avoid the violence escalation

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

How would you have behaved in the escape phase?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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