Is it cowardly to walk away?

[Deleted]

Just gotta share this story.

Got a very good friend who is very creative about getting himself out of any kind of trouble, including angry spouse, police officers, angry fans of the opposite football team etc.

So we were at a bar, the bunch of us. Saturday night, bar packed with people. We were already few drinks in, he split to go to toilet. I guess he must have shoved someone on his way there cause next thing we saw was him surrounded by 3 guys. Two friends and me stood up and walked towards him wondering why the shit hasn't still hit the fan. When we came close enough we saw him with the most bewildered look in his eyes, and drooling from the corner of his mouth, looking at them without blinking. The guys actually just stood there frozen wondering what to do. When they came to their senses, they concluded he was retarded and backed down.

I got massive respect for people who are able to back down when threatened. Of course, there are some situations when you're forced to stand your ground. Too many factors involved.

[Deleted]

I'd personally make them feel like dumbasses by insulting them with exceptionally large words.

Unless you got the stuff to back up those words I doubt you do. I used to do that in school aswell though, because I was protected by school anyway and I knew they would be caught within 2 mins even if they did get a punch in.

[Alcomo]

Its not at all cowardly to just walk away. In that scenario the real cowards are the ones who need to group up to feel tough. Although if it were one on one I would give a high five to the guy if he stuck around pounded the mouthpiece!

[yurano]

Funny, my country was mourning recently an athlete that died a year ago. He was a really well built man, and was in a bar and 2 little skinny guys took on him (it was recorded from bar cameras) so what did he do? Well he beat them both... and a third guy came behind him as he was beating one and stabbed him.
Morale of the story, you can be tall, muscular and proud of yourself, you'll only fall harder on the ground.

Morale of the story, self defense training like Krav Maga is more important than being big and tall.

[Merie]

When Romulans illegally entered the neutral zone, Kirk knew he had to fight and he had to fight them now. He knew that if he did not confront them for crossing the line now, that the entire Federation would have to fight later after the Romulans were emboldened by the ease of crossing borders unopposed.

The moral of the story; Knip that in the bud and do so now. Show a submissive stance to a bully and they'll hound you forever. Lash out with clenched fist once and they will quickly discover future engagements are not worth their trouble.

[Saif]

"Sorry guys, didn't meant to look at you that way, my mind was elsewhere, wasn't thinking. Have a good night, ok?"

[Snuupe123]

The Classic Chav Encounters

A group of 4 - 5 youths (late teens) approach you and try and start a fight with you for 'looking at them weird'. You glanced at them and that's it. They starting spitting at your feet. You keep on walking. It's obvious they want a fight. What do you do?


A) Keep on walking. Ain't nobody got time for dis shit.

B) Summon your inner Chuck Norris and lay them all out. Get a cigar out after the 'battle' and proceed to tea-bagging. You're so hardcore you get one of the chavs to take a picture of it on your smart phone. You upload it to Facebook and tag the photo as 'Just another day yo'.

C) Fight dirty. Bite, scratch, gouge the mother-fuckers. Fighting 4 v 1 dirty so why not fight dirty back?

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In all seriousness, if your ganged up on unexpectedly, do you think it's cowardly to walk/run away? In reality there isn't many people who could handle four or five people at once unless you're a pro boxer or some shiz.

If you votes "Yes". Please explain what would you do in the situation? (without some macho "I could beat 5 people up at the same time" bullshit)


P.S I forgot to untick "Multiple Choice". Don't vote twice foos.

If its 4 or 5 teens that just saw a gangster flick for the first time and have never been out of their culdesac then yeah id fight them. id recommend keeping it on your feet though. going to the ground when out numbered is always a bad idea

one time i was approached by 3 guys that were so wreked you could smell the alcohol and mary jane on them and they asked me for my ipod. i looked at the guy in the back and saw he had his hand in his pocket grabbing something, maybe a weapon? so i just turned and started walking away. they were so wasted they could barely walk straight and i got away. in that situation im glad i walked away idk what they had and i was in the park by myself

[melodramocracy]

d) Get away, start the process of finding out where each one lives, and start your very own Buffalo Bill skin suit.

Why isn't that a listed option?

[Vizardlorde]

A) If its just spit and namecalling, now If they actually hurt me it becomes C) I will bite and gouge eyes if i have to. Its not cowardly to walk away and Im not superman or anything, so acording to 1st grade math 5>1 so ... Not running away while they havent done anything serious is just dumb.

[Soxxy]

I always just walk away from neds (Scottish chavs), quite a few of them tried to have a go at me this weekend actually, because I couldn't be bothered swapping my joggies for a pair of jeans.

Neds/chavs are but simple cavemen, who think that their "fighting prowess" compensates for their lackluster intellect. I'm not the brightest person I know, but they make me feel pretty damn smart when I have to listen to them.

[Mihalik]

If you are able to walk away from a fight always do so. It is pointless to fight, there is always a risk to yourself and to others. It does not matter if you are a New Zealand rugby player or a skinny nerd, if you fight there is always a chance something will go wrong. So try to defuse the situation by maintaining distance, appear confident but not agressive. Don't get into stupid cockfights. Don't turn your back. Face them, stay calm and walk away.

But in the case you are cornerd and unable to walk away and you MUST fight always fight dirty. Attempt to reduce distance betwen yourself and your attacker unless he is wielding a knife (which is already and extreme scenario). Place yourself with your back to a wall and try not to turn your back to anyone, less distance means that blunt objects, kicks or punches will have less space to pick up momentum thus reducing potential damage. (Read hug your oponent in a similar fashion as boxers do.) And if you hit back atempt to punch the base of the jaw with a sideways punch or deliver full fisted blows to the ear, and hope you will dislocate the jaw or burst an eardrum. Both are usually safe and not deadly. Punches to the nose also work but they are dangerous as they can causing bleeding that obstructs the airways and that is potential fatal. (You really don't want to kill anyone in a fight, not even in self defence.) Both a burst eardrum or dislocated jaw are usually disableing but none fatal.

Other thing you can do is to place a long key in your palm with the pointy end sticking out of betwen your fingers once you form a fist. And atempt to do the same punches. Only do this if there is a significant difference in body size. It causes much much more damage but you will also probably rupture your own skin in your palm or maybe dislocate a finger or two if you deliver the blow with sufficient force, so be careful. Works great using car keys, thanks to the plastic covering of the base.

But again. Only fight if you feel you are in serious danger and you can't walk or run away.

Shit you learn when you own a bar and you bartend.

[Lenonis]

This is just begging for internet tough guys to come out and spew some BS....

The reality is that unless you have a habit of carrying a weapon, you aren't very likely to win 4 or 5 vs 1 against a group of troubled teens/young adults who may or may not have weapons on themselves.

Frankly I don't really even care if you have a gun -- if even 2 of them do odds are likely you're going down if you draw.

The smart thing to do is to escape. Has nothing to do with cowardice or bravery -- it has everything to do with risk vs reward.

[Mihalik]

This is just begging for internet tough guys to come out and spew some BS....

The reality is that unless you have a habit of carrying a weapon, you aren't very likely to win 4 or 5 vs 1 against a group of troubled teens/young adults who may or may not have weapons on themselves.

Frankly I don't really even care if you have a gun -- if even 2 of them do odds are likely you're going down if you draw.

The smart thing to do is to escape. Has nothing to do with cowardice or bravery -- it has everything to do with risk vs reward.

Obviously you are right. Even in 1v1 scenarios flight or any other means of avoiding a fight is the most logical thing to do. Even if you are being robbed or anything. You should only and only fight if you have NO CHOICE and NO ESCAPE, but then you have to fight dirty and you have to act first, otherwise you are placing yourself and others in serious danger, also there is no shame in calling for help, calling the cops, asking others to do so etc.

[Pony Soldier]

First I'd just like to say in this day and age there's no such thing as a fair fight anymore. So even if it was just one person and you beat the fuck out of him, he'll call on his other 20 friends to come jump you in an alley one day or night and possibly kill you. These 4-5 guys trying to pick a fight on you are more cowards than you even if you walk away. If you need 4 other people to back you up to fight just 1 person than you're a fucking worthless coward. This is the main reason why I never fought in my school years. I would just look at the kid and just think to myself "you know, this kid just isn't worth the time, he either has a knife on him or he'll probably call on his gang to come jump me after I knock out his front row teeth" and then I would just ignore him and walk away.

People these days are too afraid to fight a one on one fist fight anymore. They either approach you with back-up equipped with knives or other lethal weapons or they'll call on back-up after their hilarious beating to jump you later because of how humiliating it was for him to get the shit beat out of him. You just have to laugh at them and walk away that's all you can really do anymore, there's no more fun in fighting someone anymore. My dad once said back then if you were to fight someone and beat him, you would get respect from that other person and before you knew it, you were friends with that person. Well those days are over all we have are weak cowards who have no respect.

[GKLeatherCraft]

Obviously you are right. Even in 1v1 scenarios flight or any other means of avoiding a fight is the most logical thing to do. Even if you are being robbed or anything. You should only and only fight if you have NO CHOICE and NO ESCAPE, but then you have to fight dirty and you have to act first, otherwise you are placing yourself and others in serious danger, also there is no shame in calling for help, calling the cops, asking others to do so etc.

But how can you act first? if by what you say you have to know there is "NO CHOICE" but to fight? Because the only way you will know for certain if there is no choice, is if they are already about, or have hit you, by then they'v acted first

[smelltheglove]

But how can you act first? if by what you say you have to know there is "NO CHOICE" but to fight? Because the only way you will know for certain if there is no choice, is if they are already about, or have hit you, by then they'v acted first

in my experience ive known there were no other options long before any physical shit started. if it starts with yammering then you typically have a good idea when you arent going to be able to walk away without a fight and when its just talk

[Deleted]

I'm very lucky as im a big guy as my normal build and i go to the gym quite a bit, so normally they avoid people like me. But if it did happen i dont think it is cowardly at all, it is problaly the smartest idea unless you truly think you can handle all 4-5 at once.

[Hyve]

You mean like these culture expanders ?



Yeah, try to walk away.

Find them and hang them. People like this sicken me to my stomach, and I will use extremely agressive force against anyone I see like this. To the pit of my stomach, I hate them.

[Zaelsino]

I'd use a lot of big words and alien terms (like "shower" and "dress sense") to mentally confuse them, and turn them into my pet minions.

Or walk away. I don't like those odds.

[Carnaby]

Walking away from a fight doesn't make you a coward. Some people just aren't made for fighting. I think people who hide behind the internet and troll people are cowards. And I think bullies are cowards. I was once a kid that worried about fitting in to the wrong group and as such was a bit of a bully at times, and I regret it everyday.