talking the talk

[Aefibird]

This is from another forum I visit. I thought it was an interesting story and reminded me a lot of the saying "the empty can rattles the most".

"This is based on an incident that happened a while ago.

While out on a mates stag night (eight of us), we were having trouble with a stranger that had had too much to drink and wanted to join us, we explained that we were on a stag night and would soon be moving onto a nightclub.

He had obviously been drinking for a while and would not go away.

One of our party ( a fellow blackbelt) being a rather BIG man who always has plenty to say and gives the impression that he can handle himself, quietly spoke in the guys ear, to which the guy turned and walked away muttering that there would be trouble.

Thirty minutes later, upon leaving the "pub", we were confronted with the drunk and four of his mates.
And guess what ? They were ready to rumble.

Well, heres the point of this "posting".

Our big mate who always has plenty to say, ran down the road like a rabbit being chased by a fox, leaving the rest of us to deal with the situation. Which we did by talking them down and calming the situation. With NO violence.

As for our mate?

On next seeing him, his explanation was that he couldnt get a signal on his mobile phone to call the police, so was trying various locations.
However, we reminded him that the police did not arrive and that he did not return.

Just goes to show that its all very well "talking the talk" but you never know how you will react until it really hits the fan.

I was shocked and suprised by his behaviour, but very sympathetic to the fact that he was obviously very scared.

Have you ever experienced this?"

Thoughts?

[Andy]

I've had some related experiences.

The most relevant, is a guy I've known for a few years.
He worked as a doorman in Glasgow for a long time.

There was an altercation requiring some patrons being removed from a club one night.
According to Peter, it's a regular occurence that someone thrown out of a club 'threatens' to come back.
This was the last occasion Peter worked on the door, as the Algerian immigrant who got kicked out did return that night, and stuck a knife in his heart.

It was a miracle he survived.
He never returned to door work, and rarely goes to clubs any more.

The moral of the story;
Be civil.
Don't make threats you are unwilling to backup.
Absence of body beats presence of mind.




I was returning from a night out with a couple of 'worse for wear' mates one evening.
We all played Rugby together.
I was Scrum Half, another guy, Gordon, was a prop (so well built), and the other guy, John was a Hooker.
John was particularly 'into his cups', and started hurling abuse across the street at a bunch of 10-12 guys not far behind us.
We made efforts to shut him up, and we didn't have far to go before we all split up and headed for our own homes.
I left Gordon and John at a road junction, but looked back on impulse, to see this group of guys all running after my mates.

It was one of those 'what do you do' moments.
Leave them to it, or go and see what you can do.

They had all run around the back of the local library, where it is unlit.
As I arrived, John was nowhere in sight, and Gordon (big lad that he was) was held against a tree, getting a beating.

This was prior to any MA training on my part, so I just ran into the whole lot full tilt, taking five or six of them down with me and freeing Gordon.
Gordon legged it.
The rest of them turned on me, and basically kicked me around the ground like a foot ball.

I was lucky, as this was 20 odd years ago, and times have changed.
These altercations don't stop when someone is no longer in a position to defend themselves any more.

I knew the route my mates were headed so I went looking for them.
John, the instigator of all the trouble, had been knocked out cold, as a guy chasing him had thrown a metal dust bin lid after him like a frisbee, and got him in the back of the head.
Gordon had a few more dings on him, as well as a torn ear.

The moral of that story?
If you have a mate who's intent on causing trouble, then you're better knocking them out yourself.
It's not just a kicking they might get.
These days, they're more likely to get stabbed, glassed, curbed or killed.

[random]

The moral of that story?
If you have a mate who's intent on causing trouble, then you're better knocking them out yourself.
It's not just a kicking they might get.
These days, they're more likely to get stabbed, glassed, curbed or killed.

This is probably one of the most sensible things I have read on a forum, there is nothing big or clever about shouting the odds.

[random]

The other problem with this is it encourages the outrages stories, this isn’t fantasy land, or a reality programme, there are lots of stories we can, I am sure relate and describe, the only real story is…avoid trouble…never start a fight…if some else does it is their fight, even if they are a good friend, IMO good friends don’t put you in that sort of position but of they do then survive, by any and all means, then deal with the pratt that got you there in the first place. But make sure you can go home with your body and soul intact.

I have been involved in rugby since junior school and ma for far too long and have never found myself in the situation that is describe, you can pick your fiends , pick them carefully

[Andy]

random said:

I have been involved in rugby since junior school and ma for far too long and have never found myself in the situation that is describe, you can pick your fiends , pick them carefully

That's the thing though.
You can only describe a situation 'post event'.
You don't know what is going to happen.
That is impossible.

A good 90% of potential situations can be avoided by just not drinking/going to pubs or clubs, or hanging about with those who do.

That's an age issue.
Once you get past say 30 y/o, you're less likely to be in those kinds of situations.
You're probably in a long term relationship, possibly struggling for expendable capital while paying for a mortgage or rent.
You've most likely moved on from testosterone fuelled bravado, and caveman mentality etc.

Your needs change.
Your reasons/methods in practicing MA change?

[random]

Do you think that the extension of drinking time will have a considerable effect on the caveman behaviour that all too frequently effects town and city centres, or will it just happen later.

In my previous post I was trying to get across my thankfulness of never being in that kind of situation not just being critical, sorry if it came across like that.

[andym]

There's always going to be a small section of society who can't handle their drink and end up causing grief on the streets.

With 24 hour opening/licences it'll just happen at random times during the day/night...not just at 3/4/5am

[AngelaG]

If someone wants to drink / create hassle they will. 24 hour opening won't change that. I foresee a messy entry into the 24 hour drinking system, but over time the whole mindset of the average drinker will change and people will learn to start to pace themselves etc. It's about our culture as much as anything.

[trevor35]

Yep I must agree with AngelaG with this one. Trying to change the way that we go out on the town is going to take sometime. On the continent later drinking is part of the norm, not because everyone is out drinking from 7pm but because the whole way an evening goes is different. Dinner usually doesn't start until 7 or even later because of the long lunches ppl have on the continent 'siesta' and that lasts for ages so ppl don't get out to a bar until 9 or even 10 at night. Even in the family enviroment wine is taken with water and given to youngsters to drink something that just isn't done in this country. I mean the first sniff of a proper drink in a pub will have been when I was 14 and i'm sure kids to day are drinking even before that. I'm sure attitudes will change but it's going to take some time and even a change in the law to raise the age of drinking in a pub or bar.

[Aefibird]

I think that certain people in Britain will drink themselves senseless and want to knock 7 bells out of someone else, regardless of how long the pubs are open for. 24 hour will probably be (as Angela says) very messy at first as people realise that they can drink for as long as they like without the place closing. In practice, most people will not be like that, but there's a small sector out there who are determined to get as drunk as possible and cause trouble. 24h drinking will just given them more opportunities to go to a pub and get bladdered.

[Mr. Precision]

random said:

Do you think that the extension of drinking time will have a considerable effect on the caveman behaviour that all too frequently effects town and city centres, or will it just happen later.

We've had it for a while, 25 years or so now. It really won't have a big affect there will be the same amount of trouble spread over a longer period. It won't be the end of the world the papers are screaming about. Kids need to be educated on how to use alcohol by their parents. As it is, the get it illegally and get bladdered. Then they grow up a bit, get it legally and get bladdered.