That's not what he is saying at all. What he is saying is don't get into a situation you can't handle. Picking a fight with someone younger, bigger and in better shape then you are is simply stupid. The hapless victim here was unarmed and unskilled and was nearly killed. Mas Ayoob and others advocate carrying a throwaway wallet for situations like this. I suppose the thought of that personally offends those people who haven't been in a real fight since the 5th grade and go through life thinking the world is some kind of John Wayne movie where simply living by the "code" is all it takes. Well Old Dog, in this case living by "the code" almost caused this poor man his life.
That is indeed a lot of what I'm saying.
But there is something more. MacYoung's book is a long read, but it
is worth reading. It takes us into the various realms of how different violent people think, what is important to them, and how they might react, at the moment at a later time not of your choosing, in response to various stimuli.
People whose ethos differ from the norm have very different value systems, and they way the may react to being insulted, challenged, pushed, blocked, scowled at, etc. can be very unpleasant indeed.
The ol' mantra that one must "do something" does not work very well at all in many of the worst circles. MacYoung explains that in quite some detail in the book.
MacYoung's compressive "kitchen" is free, and is open for tasting at your leisure. It is nononsenseselfdefense.com
Here is a good appetizer to what your appetite:
http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/preattack.html
Another really good source of information on this subject is William Aprill, a New Orleans LEO, criminologist, and sociologist.
So, it's not just a matter of "don't get into a situation that you can't handle", though that would be a
very good credo to live by.; it's also matter of not getting into situations that involve contentions with persons whom t you do not understand, such as the monkey dance.
Want to skip the study and default to a very simple roadmap? It's ADEE: avoid. deescalate/disengage, escape, evade.
That not only reduces the serious
physical risk in a confrontation, the attempt will also serve, in the event that it should fail, as substantiation of
immediate necessity, which is fundamental to a successful defense of justification.