The other night I got beaten up

Hmmm... the title says it all really. This is going to be a long read, so get yourself a cup of tea and get yourself comfortable. Ready? Well, last tuesday I got into a bit of a scrap. I had been out drinking with friends for the night at my favourite rock club. It is usually a really nice crowd. Whilst we are all metal heads, decked out in our leather jackets, long hair and multiple piercings we are all lovely people really. I know a lot of local bouncers and they all say it is one of the safest and nicest clubs in the city. To be honest I have lived in some pretty rough places in my life and Lincoln is the safest city in the UK I have come across so far. This is the first real bit of trouble I have found myself in in the two and a bit years I have lived here.

So, I'll set the scene. I have been drinking since about 8. I have had several beers, a bottle of wine and about ten vodka and cokes. However, bear in mind I am a bigish guy, a hardened student and this has been over about six hours. I am not wasted, I am not stumbling around, but I am a bit merry. Around 2 in the morning the club is closing down for the night. Everybody is mingling about outside as usual. I am outside saying goodbye to everyone, when I look across the street and a fight is breaking out. I do the natural blokish thing, wander over to have a good look, make sure it is no one I know, make sure no one is really getting pummeled and wait for a good break in the fight to step in and advise both to go their seperate ways. In my experience there is no point charging into a fight you know nothing of, between two equally matched guys trying to break it up. It usually ends up with both of them then going for you instead and the whole scene escalating. I have seen it before and it has happened to me before. By the time I get over there both guys are backing off and it seems to be over. The next thing I know one of them is pushing a girl about. He is getting really violent. Everyone is just standing around, clearly shocked but not doing a thing. Now, if there is one thing thing that makes me real pissed it's a man mistreating a woman physically. He then pushes her again this time in the face and she falls backwards to the floor. I don't know the situation, I don't know either of them, no one else is going to do anything, but I sure as hell am. So I step up.

I am not a violent guy, in fact quite the opposite. So I am like "Hey, calm down dude, leave her alone". To which I get the fantastic yet very over used "What you gonna do about it!?" and he's right in face pushing me away. I reply "Errr... nothing, I am not going to do anything, just calm down man it's all right." Then it's pretty much a blur of bone, blood, really really hard concrete and primal rage. I can't remember much but this is what happened according to my memories, friends and people standing near by. Out of no where he sends a punch right smack into the centre of my face. I rock back bewildered but imeadiately reply with a good right hand into his face. Now, he rocks back stunned but follows up with a blow that sends me straight to the floor. Then he gets a massive kick to my face as I am lying there. My adrenelin is pumping and it forces me to get straight back up, however straight into another incoming punch.

It is about here that my friends, who were across the street realise what is going on and have run over and wrestled him to the ground. I am up stumbling about trying to work out who is on my side and where he is so I can rip out his jugular with my teeth and drown him in his own blood. The next thing I know I am talking to the police. He ends up spending the night in jail. He is a known roughian (I like that word) and has committed countless offences before, including muggings. I am, at the momment, pressing charges of assualt against him.

I haven't been in a real fight for absolutely ages. Looking back I am really proud that I had the guts to actually stand up to a situation I knew wasn't right when no one else was going to do anything. I have been doubting my confidence of late unsure of whether or not I had the balls to stand my ground when it was really crunch time. The one good thing that has come of this situation is a complete reassurance of the type of attidude I always hoped I had. I also have some pretty cool scars as a result. One of my eyes is all bloodshot and there is bruising above and below it, from the kick to the face. It is a bit like Scar from The Lion King, if you can imagine some kind of feline/human similarity. Oh, and I got a big hug from the girl I stepped in to protect.

So, here is the thing. Weeks of lap sau, chi sau, tan pak da etc all out the window. I can honestly say the words Wing and Chun didn't even enter my head. When it came down to it, it was all just instincts, adrenaline and a sense of caveman primal rage. Granted I have only properly been attending martial arts classes for just under a year and I had been drinking, but in the heat of the momment I didn't have time to bong this punch or jut that one. I am not a violent person at all, but in the fight I honestly wanted to kill the guy. I doubt I would have been able to as he clearly had the upper hand though. It was just this massive hatred, rage and fury I felt within me. I think that every person has the natural instincts to fight, it certainly isn't "precious duck swims through the lotus flowers", but just a windmill of fists and pain. Who else has been here before? Does the anger and rage disapear with more training or are we all destined for the dark side? I must say, it is pretty hard to keep a clear head when you have taken several punches and a kick to your beautiful face (it certainly isn't beautiful anymore!). How do you keep a clear head? And, if we have these basic instincts in the first place, what is the point of all our endeavors in training if we are gong to revert straight back to them as soon as the heat gets turned up? I am certainy not doubting the effectiveness of Wing Chun, in fact the day after I was straight back into training harder than I ever have been before. I am just curious as to how we use our natural instincts and incorporate them with our new found techniques when they are needed the most?

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I like these calm little moments before the storm.

sounds as if your responce was like most people

One reason why to me a person needs to spend as much time and effort learning how the mind works and how to manage it as they do the body and its martial training.

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You are not where you have been and you are not where you are going you are only here.

Ahhhhhhh Ginge! Why didn't you call me??

Seriously, glad you're OK. I think that you've learned a valuable lesson. The only thing you can do to train the adrenaline dump is fight. More experience will eventually dampen the response. That's why MMA is a great way to get proficient at self defense in a short time.

Shame you didn't use any WC skills. I have to say that I would think you need to train so that it's second nature, but hey, if you're anything like me you don't go out looking for a fight so you don't expect something like this. Sounds like you weren't thinking of the best way to best him even mid-altercation.
In a similar situation a number of years ago, I did use my martial arts knowledge, but only because the protagnonist was hitting me once then commenting, then hitting me again while I asked him to stop. After 7 punches to my beautiful face I was so mad the dump went, my knees stopped knocking and I was able to cooly dismantle him and his 5 mates.

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Faith itself, compelled by the Holy Spirit, possesses an inner dynamism that necessitates deeper understanding. ~Thomas Weinandy O.F.M.

props for standing up for the girl..

I tend to do stupid things like that as well

“	Originally Posted By: aqira One reason why to me a person needs to spend as much time and effort learning how the mind works and how to manage it as they do the body and its martial training.	”

Chief108

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“	Question Authority. Question Society. Question Reality. Question Yourself. Question your conclusions, your judgments, your answers. Question this. If you question everything thoroughly enough, the truth will eventually hit you upside the head and you will know. But here’s a warning: It won’t be what you imagined. It won’t be even close.	”

all hail Martyr Fakka

Firstly, I parrot Chief... Props for stepping up.

Secondly, everyone on this board who fancies themselves a fighter needs to read your post here.

You learned a valuable lesson. It doesn't matter how many hours or years you have put into performing certain movements. It's all worthless when it comes cruch time. Application and real time, stress induced existentialism is what is needed to ingrain fighting skills and abilities.

“	One reason why to me a person needs to spend as much time and effort learning how the mind works and how to manage it as they do the body and its martial training.	”

One can spend years upon years learning how an automobile works and how to manage it but they will never learn how to drive it until they get behind the wheel.

If you want to learn how to swim, jump in the water.

Peace-
Cam

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Rock On!
Cam
"Raise up your mind....."

there will always be a difference between learning and knowing knowing and doing but when they come together it works but no one of them stands alone.

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You are not where you have been and you are not where you are going you are only here.

“	Originally Posted By: Lugaldamhara Firstly, I parrot Chief... Props for stepping up.	”

but becareful tho...

as I said: it can be a very stupid thing to do

I stepped in once while a biker was "questioning" his lady if she cheated on him...
not a bright idea..
not at all....

“	Originally Posted By: Lugaldamhara One can spend years upon years learning how an automobile works and how to manage it but they will never learn how to drive it until they get behind the wheel. If you want to learn how to swim, jump in the water.	”

weird thing about these sayings is that they only will start to have meaning 'till you do it....
or 'till you're "on the street" and find out that application of skill is something else than doing drill and light sparring

Chief108

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“	Question Authority. Question Society. Question Reality. Question Yourself. Question your conclusions, your judgments, your answers. Question this. If you question everything thoroughly enough, the truth will eventually hit you upside the head and you will know. But here’s a warning: It won’t be what you imagined. It won’t be even close.	”

all hail Martyr Fakka

This is why you need to fight to be able to fight people! Judo has Shiai for this very reason. In the way you have sparring in most arts, this is called Randori in Judo. Then when you go to tournaments and gradings you do Shiai. These replicate similar emotions/feelings to a full on proper fight. However, these are usually very similar. The difference comes because you are fighting people of different skill levels / sizes and they're unknown to you. You don't feel safe.

This adrenaline rush has to be present when training in order to be able to use it in a normal fight. This is why sports such as Boxing, Muay Thai, Judo, Jiu Jitsu, etc have been able to work in MMA. When you are in a sportive fight, you get this same adrenaline rush when you are tired and start losing.

In most MA places, you wouldnt start sparring/drilling until you have got yourself to the point of exhaustion. It is then that the adrenaline will start to flow easier as it is desperation.

Put some boxing gloves on and fight people. Not in a faffing around way, try and knock each other out. See then how much Wing Chun you can use.

I think personally I would of waited for the "What are you gonna do about it" then immediately took him to the ground. As you learnt, letting someone else start puts you on the back foot, or on your back! A quick simple double leg grab, picking him up off his feet then slamming him down on the concrete and he'll be on the floor in agony. Then do as you please. Drive punches into his face, kick him in the face, attempt a submission.. Whatever feels right!

Now you know what a proper fight feels like, go find the best way to make your body feel the same and THEN practice.

However not all fights are the same. You can develope a bad attitude about fights doing a couple and then thinking thats how they go.

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You are not where you have been and you are not where you are going you are only here.

No not all fights are the same, but you should prepare at least for the physical side of a confrontation.

I am quite lucky I suppose in Judo. I sometimes have to fight with the kids I teach to keep the numbers even so no one has to sit out, and when doing this I normally let them throw me around. However sometimes I get them all chasing me around the mat wanting to fight me for a laugh, and because of this I have to use a different type of judo. Against people my own size I just flatten them, but with the smaller children I have to fight not to win but to neutralize them and get away.

I get quite a varied array of fights.

Good job stepping up to the plate.

I have to say that I agree with Cam. No one knows what they'll do, until they get hit. No one knows how their adrenaline will affect them, until they step up. From there you'll show your true colors.

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It's all about the nitty gritty.......

Well done for standing up and acting, glad you're ok.

You can't predict fights and you can't guarantee success. I've known people with a lot of skill and experience get pounded outside a nightclub for 'taking it to the ground' and I've known people with no training or skill come out unscathed with a swift kick to the groin.

As for blending your instincts with your training - I've never been tested against any one with the level of go in them the guy you fought had - so I can't say for certain. I can say that after about three years of wing chun I found my body just moved into the "right" place in the "right" way when people "attacked" me. If they had been any good, or sober enough to coordinate a real attack, or obviously determined, or I had taken a real hit like your kick to the eye then maybe the training would have evaporated but there was a genuine progression from "terrified useless" to "this is what I do" so stick with it. Most of these systems are designed with what you experienced in mind. It just takes time.

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Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you
High mountains are a feeling
I don't need to sell my soul, he's already in me

“	Originally Posted By: jawsman Good job stepping up to the plate. I have to say that I agree with Cam. No one knows what they'll do, until they get hit. No one knows how their adrenaline will affect them, until they step up. From there you'll show your true colors.	”

Better to find out in the safety of a ring/cage/mat, than on a street.

Ginger,

Sorry to hear about your altercation, but its good to know atleast that you are ok.

Give the training time. As small as wing chun is, it is still very intricate and theres a lot to learn and assimilate. If you train consistently and often, there are very few arts out there that you wont be able to use; its mroe about the training than it is the art. But you get back what you put in. So let this be the event that pushes your training into overdrive! =)

My advice: Grab a couple of your wing chun peers that are serious and do some supplemental training outside of class, as was mentioned above. You dont need to do it all the time, but full intent situations should be somewhere in your training. IMO, you dont have to start out 100% all-out right away as technique is still important. Start out at maybe 75% and when you can pull that stuff off properly, speed it up.

You will find, IMO, that as you up the intensity, there is a point at which the rules change and you will feel a whole new learning curve come on. If you approach that point steadily as your body becomes ready for it, then you will be able to break into it more easily....Just my experience...

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

“	Originally Posted By: Inferus Better to find out in the safety of a ring/cage/mat, than on a street.	”

LOL..... been in a ring before (boxing). And it was all about being hit, with the opposing intent of KO'ing me. I've also been in my fair share of scraps on the streets, and it was a different "stage" so to speak. But I will say that there was no broken glass or lava pits around.

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It's all about the nitty gritty.......