Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me?

[Dallas Williams]

Many people wonder exactly when they have the right to use physical force to defend themselves from the actions of another human being. You are justified in using whatever force is necessary and whatever means you have at your disposal to eliminate any physical threat to yourself or your loved ones, even deadly force. In other words if somebody attempts to physically assault you or even signals that intent by getting up in your face and threatening you and you see they have no intentions on backing off despite every effort made by you to establish distance between yourself and them or otherwise resolve the situation by non physical means then at that point you have the right by law to use physical force. However, in situations where a person is standing at a distance and simply hurling insults at you or calling you names or even slandering your wife, girlfriend, mother, etc. if they don’t invade your personal space or do anything else that constitutes or suggests a physical threat to your safety then you legally have no right to use physical force in those situations, even though they may be jackasses and deserve the ultimate beat down.

For instance the past few days when I have been outside in my own lawn minding my own business even doing SDTS drills on my backyard deck this group of half a dozen or so construction workers who are doing some repair work on my neighbors house have been taunting me, calling me names, whistling, throwing insults at me, etc. Mind you I’ve done nothing to them to cause them to behave in a hostile manner towards me and haven’t even had any direct contact with them. Even in talking to my neighbor she’s even said they’re assholes and they get on her nerves but do the best roofing and siding repair work of anybody here locally so she’s just tolerating them until they’re done and she pays them and they go on their way. The point is some people get a thrill out of running their mouth and belittling and harassing others but fortunately in this case(as in most) they haven’t taken it any further or physically threatened me in any way or even tried to come on my property, although I wish they would ! But that’s the thing most people have balls when they’re behind the safety of a computer screen, vehicle, fence, etc. and will run their mouth like hell all day but will do all they can to avoid backing it up and engaging themselves in a physical confrontation. Maybe it’s not worth it to them to go to jail for assault or battery or risk their job or career or tarnish their reputation by being a violent individual, but the biggest reason of all is deep down most bullies are big fat VAGINAS and are scared of getting hurt or fucking up their pretty face to take things to the next level.

In such situations you will not help yourself or anybody else by being the first to take it to a physical level and become the aggressor as good as it would feel and as much as one would like to do so. We must as difficult as it may be at times be the bigger man and exercise great care and responsibility in our martial arts and self defense training and treat it with the same respect as we would a loaded gun and not deploy such tactics unless there is no other alternative and our life or safety or that of our loved ones depend on it. It is not worth the consequences that can follow an unecessary physical conflict such as most importantly putting your life in danger for no good reason, risking the possibility of an assault conviction and jail time, setting a bad example for your children or others who may look up to you for guidance and influence, and possibly even living with the guilt and consequences of killing someone which can very easily happen even in the most benign of fist fights. A much better alternative is just to ignore the assholes(trolls thrive off of being fed), or better yet heap coals of fire on their head by waving at them or blowing them a kiss and walking or driving away . It’s not worth wasting your time or worry on people who don’t have the maturity to grow the hell up and act like a reasonable adult.

[James Goolsby]

I agree 100%. I’ve pretty much learned over the years that the ones who run their mouths the most are generally not the one’s you need to worry about; it’s that quite little guy in the corner that really knows something!

Stories like yours always remind me of that scene from the movie, Roadhouse, when Terry Funk says, “What if he calls my momma a whore?” Swayze responds, “Is she?”

[Damian (Instructor)]

Roadhouse reference always appropriate [James Goolsby].

[Dallas Williams] I know it eats at you and pisses you off and it get’s frustrating.

Now, I know retaliation is beneath us and we really shouldn’t do anything and if you were a lesser person you would possibly do something to one or more of their vehicles that would reveal itself many days later.

Just saying…

[Damian (Instructor)]

The old cut the valve stem trick works better than slashing the tire itself. Hehe. I gotta agree most people run their mouth behind a safety net, weather that be the car door or a computer monitor. While it is best to save face and be the adult… Sometime they just need to be bitch slapped. At some point everyone needs a high five… Right in the face

[James Goolsby]

@Archie said:
At some point everyone needs a high five… Right in the face

Ahhh… the ol’ “I coulda hadda V8” moment. Love it!

[Author]

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