[JShirley]

This comes from a close friend of mine in the Atlanta area. He is fairly thinly built, but very fit, and is a training buddy of mine, so he knows quite a bit about fighting. He holds a first dan rank in the Jinenkan, IIRC. This happened this morning.


I had a very interesting start to the day today. They say it can happen to anyone. Now I know it's true.

It's 8:55am and I'm crossing the busy intersection of Capitol Ave. and Memorial Dr. and suddenly, out of nowhere,this guy crossing the other way clotheslines me trying to knock me down. He is unsuccessful so he tries to choke me with one arm while trying to get my backpack and into my pockets with the other. I had turned into him to avoid the tackle and this also nullified the choke however he still had hold of me and was jerking and pulling on me while trying to get my backpack. While my right arm was busy holding on to my pack I managed to ram a left thumb into his crotch area. I must of hit something because he let go.

At this point I let loose a string of explicatives that would make a sailor blush. I had made eye contact now and finally had the presence of mind to try ready myself for another attack. I backed away and squared off with him. He just kept looking at me, breathing very heavy, and walking backwards. He finally turned around and ran off.

Keep in mind this all happened in the middle of the street with people and
cars everywhere. I was crossing the street and thinking about what I had to get finished at work today and the attack came out of nowhere. I was
caught completely by surprise. The good thing is I didn't freak or anything. I was actually relatively calm. The struggle probably lasted
about 8-10 seconds and during that time I really wasn't thinking at all. It
wasn't until we separated that I realized what was going on and was able to mentally and physically prepare myself. Another interesting thing is that
although we were in the middle of the street I was only partially aware of
the cars and stuff around me. It was like we were in a bubble or something. The only thing I could clearly focus on was him.

The guy was my height and chubby, p robably weighed around 180 or so. He looked and acted like he was strung out on something. I just happened to be in the right place at the wrong time. If nothing else I've now got a good story to tell.

[JShirley]

Well, lessons I draw from this:
1. Stay aware. Attacks can happen in the most unlikely places.
2. Trained responses will probably kick in under stress, so train well.
3. Don't depend on others to help or save you.

Others?

John

[El Tejon]

Live a Life of Peace, but train hard and watch 6!

Your friend did well.:)

[Don Gwinn]

Sounds like he trained well. Just staying on your feet is a good trick when hit hard out of the blue like that.

Lesson: Condition White happens to everyone--even black belts--but you still have a fighting chance if you keep your head.

Lesson 2: Ingrained, trained responses carry the day. A person who tried to think the whole thing through to figure out what was going on would have been on the ground getting kicked as his stuff was taken.

Lesson 3: Don't expect help. The average person on the street doesn't care if you get pounded, and if they do care, they probably can't process the event fast enough to help anyway.

Lesson 4: You have to be a bit of a moron to attack a man and try to strip a backpack off his shoulders rather than simply taking a woman's purse and running, but I guess one more stupid criminal surprises no one.

[pwrtool45]

I agree with El Tejon. The friend really had his act together on a subconscious level and it paid off in a big way. Good on him.

I bet he won't skip practice for a few weeks to boot. ;)

[Matt G]

I've always hated the term "mugged"-- it's a euphemism, in this case, for "Strongarm Robbery." It's often even used to describe "Armed Robbery," or even the cause of "Murder." Had your friend been knocked down so that he hit his head or fallen before a moving vehicle, the title of this thread might well have ended up being "Friend Was Murdered." :(

Some people in larger cities seem to accept this as a natural consequence of life, and even take to considering one's "first mugging" as sort of a rite of passage. The ONLY appropriate response to such an outrage is immediate, focused violence. My good friend Dennis Bateman said it on the afternoon of 9/11/01: "Put aside fears. They don't do you any good. Focus on the rage, and let it work for you."

[Penforhire]

That's a tough situation. Even with better awareness I can't say you'd automatically react better to someone crossing a crowded intersection against you. Even if he looked suspicious he might have picked you out from across the street and be visually blocked during the crossing by people between you. Sure it would be great to keep your distance but that's just not going to happen in a crosswalk. Glad your friend wasn't injured.

[JShirley]

Matt,

I've always thought of mugging as a robbery/assault.

[El Tejon]

Tilecrawler equation: Robbery=assault+theft

[JShirley]

Hm. I thought regular robbery was stealing from you by threat of violence.

[morganm01]

Not to turn this into a "I knew this guy...." thread. But I knew this guy who was mugged at an ATM, mugger attacked him with a knife, this guy being a boxer with years of experience managed to somehow acquire the knife, stick the guy, run away. He did not report the incident to the po-po. 1 month later. At an ATM with his mother-in-law, man runs up to him and attempts to rob him, and recieves a vicious beat down in return for his troubles. The police are called this time, and they all get to talking. Turns out mugger #1 whom he stabbed, died. Mugger #2 was not doing very well.

To make a long story short, manslaughter charges were brought, and dropped. This guy was pretty short and scrawny. But he packed a punch.

[El Tejon]

JShir, intimidation (give me that backpack or I'll pounds ya)=assault (in broad non-statutory terms).:)

[Quartus]

A crosswalk is NOT the first place most of us would expect an attack!


Good lesson for all.

[JShirley]

Well, my friend was assaulted- the initial action. I was just commenting that I had always thought of mugging as an assault and robbery.

John

[10-Ring]

Good to hear your friend was able to negate the attack & walk away from it unharmed. Awareness & preparedness win again!

[4v50 Gary]

Good of your friend.

BTW, robbery is a theft accomplished by use of force or fear. In this case, the robber used force.

[45R]

Another win for the good guys.