Good for you, girl!! I agree w/ your post 110%. I was born too late, I would have loved to live in the old west, or at least the early 20th century in America when you could sock pricks w/ zero legal consequence. I would not worry about being socked myself, because I am polite whether people are larger or smaller than me. I am frequently in the presence of groups of men who have violent histories in the volunteer work that I do, and I get no disrespect ever. And NOT because I'm perceived as being tougher than them, oh God no... I'm talking about serious tough guys. Luckily this bozo did not mess with one of them and with me instead, prison-type guys do not have an "in-between setting" that allows pimp-slapping someone, it's more like an on/off switch.

I've had a couple of GFs who could really defend themselves, I'm not talking scratching and pushing. And you are right. When bullying people are met with some blunt-force trauma and a willing combatant, they are frequently shocked. As if they don't have a plan B when their intimidation doesn't work. :cool:

Sorry bout the pooch. That sucks.

You did the right thing.

I find a strong offense works well for guys like that.

Have been there many times and even if the guy is three times your size they tend to rethink when a little guy shows confidence and a lack of fear.

LOL!

Nice to know we have Len here to put things into perspective. :D

I think the problem with the dog might have more to do with this than we are admitting. A depressing event like that can cause subconscious anger that will manifest itself in strange ways. When I had my dog put down I signed the papers, strolled around to the side of the vets office in a daze, sat down at the curb and started crying... some guy came walking by and gave me a snotty WTF look... I swear if he stopped I would have jumped his a$$... and I have never been in a fight in my life.

Fintstone, you're right about the risk/reward, (I was thinking about getting shot at the time), but in the instant when someone steps into your face in a threatening manner you just react. Or at least I did. In all seriousness, if I had not just downed a double espresso and if I was having a more pleasant day maybe I would have paused first. The combination of anger and caffeine had me buzzing afterwards.

That said, if there were more people like you, the world would be a far better place. Especially on subway platforms, etc.. See my old west comment.

I've had large dogs put down in our home before, and there is a service in LA that will pick up the dog after the vet's visit and take him for cremation or burial. Contact these people:
http://www.lapetcemetery.com/html/pagesplt.html
They are fast and respectful. IMO it really is better to do this at home.

My current Great Dane is also suffering from the same ailment as your dog, and I'm dreading the day I need to call the vet. Good luck.

I feel the same way...you are pretty close to my age...I guess we grew up reading the same comic books and watching the same movies/TV shows. Although, like you, I am not a really big guy...I had my share of scraps as a young man and can handle myself fairly well. The only thing holding me back some days...is the thought of them driving a new 911 that their lawsuit against me bought them.

I already stated that I support Denis on this...but I am still having a little trouble visualizing the P.S. You mentioned the Tiger Woods swing, so is a P.S. truly a backhand? So, you are lefthanded? An interesting, and obviously effective choice (I laughed out loud at the break dancing reference), but I wonder what would trigger the use of a backhand as a first choice in this situation...is it just quicker, or did the trap just spring automatically without a lot of thought of where it was going to come from?

Once again...props to you Denis for standing up for yourself to a bully.


JA

Good for you Denis!! Gotta buy you a beer if we ever meet! http://forums.pelicanparts.com/support/smileys/wat6.gif

So sorry to hear about Romeo. My heart goes out to you.

The pimp hand is strong in the land of the bear.
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Touching him (slap) is maybe a civil offense (tort) or possibly even a low level crime (assault). Hope they don't have any video cameras.

BUT - in your case - it was self-defense, as you say he quickly moved into an attack position and invaded your personal space. Bad thing is he has witnesses tho you can argue they are biased. If they have a camera, then they might try editing the tape too.

I think I'd let this one rest.

You might have been keyed up about your dog. I know I would have been.

It is always a "good" idea to let the other person actually attack first - not just move in but throw a fist. That way, if there is a camera (and they are everywhere now) it's clear you acted in self-defense when you broke his arm or ripped out his rib and beat him over the head with it until he died. Actually that last is a joke, once you get a superior position and have the guy down or unable to attack, you'd durn well better stop.

In martial arts classes, I always emphasize that you don't have the luxury to "do what's right" by wailing on some aggressive moron.

If you can possibly train yourself, take a step back if he moves in (and move to the side also). Then if he throws a punch block or dodge and then nail him. Obviously, this takes a years of training and a very "cool head."

Last but very important, YOU call 911. Don't wait for him or his friends to do it. Or if you don't have a phone, ask somebody else to call 911.

If you have a 996, then you have assets. Some scumbag will attack you and then try to twist it all and go after your assets.

I'm really sorry to hear about your dog.

And I agree, use that credit card then disallow the charges next time.

No, no, no, the pimp hand is properly "let fly" with a big wind up and an open palm.

Open hand. Like Mule's video. Remember the other video a few months ago of the German pimp giving a tour of his hotels who slaps-down some druggie guy? It was like that. Depending on the circumstances, a hard biotch-slap to the head can be good opening move as long as you are ready to begin punching immediately. It is humiliating and painful to the recipient but not really dangerous like a hard first punch, you will not hurt your hand and the guy will be OK but owned. I'm talking about a *knock him off his feet* slap to the side of head.

Randy, I do not disagree w/ anything you've written, but sometimes things happen so fast that you must improvise. Ideally in a hostile situation, you are ready to be attacked and have reflexes and training on your side. If there was a video camera that showed the whole exchange w/ sync sound, I would not be afraid of it in the least. He would definitely not have a job anymore in that case. As to paying w/ CC, in this case I am glad it was cash. They never got my name, walked out to look at my license plate, etc... Once again, it was weird. I thought about calling 911, but the threat was over and it was pretty clear that all involved just wanted it to go away.

Bullys act this way because "nice" people accomodate them - usually. I don't know if father's tell their son's this anymore but my dad told me to avoid a fight as best I can but if there was no way to avoid it, "take the profit out of it" for the bully. I haven't punched anyone since grade school.

Thank you speeder for standing up to the a**hole and making the world a little better for "nice" people like me.
-Chris

Where is that video of the German pimp slapping some mook on the street????

Back in the day we used to bet for slaps, instead of money. Made it a lot more interesting

..

- Yup. It will all be fast and 'improvised' or 'automatic' - That's why it's critical to train ahead of time so the right reaction will "pop" out. There won't be any thinking (usually).

You make a real good point re the cash.

I agree re the camera (except for having to explain why you didn't back up as DariSC notes), BUT videos can be edited. And it would have been their camera.

At any rate, I'm kinda glad you did it.

i agree that in a perfect world, denis could have maybe made space for the guy to throw the first punch, block it and then knock his lights out..'legally in the clear'. but it's one thing to sit in front of a keyboard and break it down like that..a whole other thing when a man jumps quickly, unexpectedly into your face in real life. i'd have to assume pretty good odds that the guy's intentions were hostile. i may have reacted differently by immediately 'shoving' him back away from me, then waiting for his reaction, but that's if i had time to consider it..doesn't sound like denis had time to really consider all these scenarios and was justified in taking some action. it's not like he chose lethal force..the guy wasn't gonna die from a hard slap, but a guy jumping into your face so abruptly? i'm sure it'd be easy to make the 'correct call' if we had instant-replay, but i'm sticking with the call on the field - 'justified to take defensive action'. as rare as it is to see this sort of behavior in other than a stadium or bar, i'd have been quite surprised and reacted same.

denis..man..romeo..i'm dreading your next thread.. :(

In defense, the ghost of Johny Cochran would offer, "If he let the pimp hand fly, ya' gotta ask why."

Love that vid, classic.

Was on google but taken down.

:D
Pretty much says it all imo.