Behaviour is not skill, and the issue is not hanging out with specific people, but living in the same area as them and walking the streets while they are as well. Suppose you don’t want to change your behaviour for example by always walking with others, but instead choose to pick up a new skill. Any significantly better options than martial arts come to mind?
As katydee mentions, awareness, and running are going to be much much more likely to help you. Having the mindset that leads one to “martial arts would be useful” are what will get you into trouble.
Running is a good idea, although I’m not sure how much difference practice really makes for someone who already is somewhat athletic. Parkour might be more useful.
Anecdotal evidence, I know, but I was once going home in the evening and passing through a semi-underground metro station, when out of the blue some guy from a clique was grabbing me by the wrist and aggressively blabbering something. I was rather thankful for having done Aikido when I was still in school because it’s a lot easier to run when you’re not being held back.
Funniest part is that getting out of wrist holds is one of the basics of Aikido for which there’s a wide variety of techniques, but I’d never have expected anyone to actually try wrist-grabbing. I had never encountered wrist-grabbing in the few fights I had in school and I used to assume that if someone wanted to beat you up, they’d just try to beat you up.
Perhaps the whole situation could have been avoided by more caution or alertness, it’s difficult to say. The whole thing was a unique experience for me; it was still rather early and while the sun had set (winter) there were lots of bright lights and some normal people around, so although I saw the clique and the guy, I didn’t expect him to actually try anything. And of course nothing like that ever happened again.
Still not sure what to make of the whole incident in regards to useful skills. I did move away eventually, though.
I have reason to believe that the chances that trying to run would increase my risk of harm are above average. In all likelyhood, if I were in a place where there was a significant risk of being attacked or otherwise threatened by another creature, I’d probably be carrying a big stick. If I were still put in a fight-or-flight situation in spite of this, I’m not entirely confident that my extremely limited aikido/judo/Tai Chi training would be sufficient. (Semester courses in college with the latter two, sporadic classes with the former that are no longer an option for logistical reasons).
This past December, I got a wallet filled with fake money, for the specific purpose of using as a decoy in the unlikely event of a robbery, since I have only about $1000 that I could conceivably use for… anything. (This was a simplification of my original idea, which was to fill a fake wallet with flashpaper and matches...). Of course, if such an idea caught on, it’d rapidly lose value, since criminals would adapt, but for now it seems sufficiently paranoid to have a decent chance of success.
Of course, if anyone reading this tries to rob me, I’m screwed, having just divulged my entire arsenal (assuming I’m not lying/won’t add something). But what’s the probability of that?
I have practiced parkour as well and consider it similarly less than optimally useful. Aside from a few basic vaults, most moves are not practical unless you anticipate a foot chase through dense terrain with a determined pursuer, in which case altering other aspects of your behavior may prove more useful.
In terms of actually getting out of dangerous situations fast, practicing moving through crowds quickly is almost certainly more useful than parkour.
That said, parkour is really fun and a good workout to boot.
Behaviour is not skill, and the issue is not hanging out with specific people, but living in the same area as them and walking the streets while they are as well. Suppose you don’t want to change your behaviour for example by always walking with others, but instead choose to pick up a new skill. Any significantly better options than martial arts come to mind?
Or just suppose you’re still in school.
As katydee mentions, awareness, and running are going to be much much more likely to help you. Having the mindset that leads one to “martial arts would be useful” are what will get you into trouble.
Running is a good idea, although I’m not sure how much difference practice really makes for someone who already is somewhat athletic. Parkour might be more useful.
Anecdotal evidence, I know, but I was once going home in the evening and passing through a semi-underground metro station, when out of the blue some guy from a clique was grabbing me by the wrist and aggressively blabbering something. I was rather thankful for having done Aikido when I was still in school because it’s a lot easier to run when you’re not being held back.
Funniest part is that getting out of wrist holds is one of the basics of Aikido for which there’s a wide variety of techniques, but I’d never have expected anyone to actually try wrist-grabbing. I had never encountered wrist-grabbing in the few fights I had in school and I used to assume that if someone wanted to beat you up, they’d just try to beat you up.
Perhaps the whole situation could have been avoided by more caution or alertness, it’s difficult to say. The whole thing was a unique experience for me; it was still rather early and while the sun had set (winter) there were lots of bright lights and some normal people around, so although I saw the clique and the guy, I didn’t expect him to actually try anything. And of course nothing like that ever happened again.
Still not sure what to make of the whole incident in regards to useful skills. I did move away eventually, though.
I have reason to believe that the chances that trying to run would increase my risk of harm are above average. In all likelyhood, if I were in a place where there was a significant risk of being attacked or otherwise threatened by another creature, I’d probably be carrying a big stick. If I were still put in a fight-or-flight situation in spite of this, I’m not entirely confident that my extremely limited aikido/judo/Tai Chi training would be sufficient. (Semester courses in college with the latter two, sporadic classes with the former that are no longer an option for logistical reasons).
This past December, I got a wallet filled with fake money, for the specific purpose of using as a decoy in the unlikely event of a robbery, since I have only about $1000 that I could conceivably use for… anything. (This was a simplification of my original idea, which was to fill a fake wallet with flashpaper and matches...). Of course, if such an idea caught on, it’d rapidly lose value, since criminals would adapt, but for now it seems sufficiently paranoid to have a decent chance of success.
Of course, if anyone reading this tries to rob me, I’m screwed, having just divulged my entire arsenal (assuming I’m not lying/won’t add something). But what’s the probability of that?
I have practiced parkour as well and consider it similarly less than optimally useful. Aside from a few basic vaults, most moves are not practical unless you anticipate a foot chase through dense terrain with a determined pursuer, in which case altering other aspects of your behavior may prove more useful.
In terms of actually getting out of dangerous situations fast, practicing moving through crowds quickly is almost certainly more useful than parkour.
That said, parkour is really fun and a good workout to boot.
I can do that, but I guess the technique I use only works for large people (I’m 1.88 m (6′2″), 93 kg (205 lb)).