I always avoid getting into fights, especially in my country where you don´t know if the other person is carrying a gun or a knife; there is also another factor to consider, back in my dad´s days, two men would get into a fight and solve their issues one versus one in a fair combat, no outsiders, no weapons and most importantly, no retaliation in the future from one of the parts, now, it is nothing like that.
Getting into a fight is a serious matter, especially if you are an adult - whatever that may be - from whom a good behaviour is expected. Besides if you get injured you don´t heal as fast as if you were 16 years old. It also doesn´t speak highly of you to go to work on monday with a blue eye or a swollen chin.
Long story short, fighting is no good for you, no matter the circumstances.
But sometimes you just can´t avoid it.
I am not someone who runs away from a fight, I was raised to stand up for myself whenever it was needed. I was also raised to avoid a fight as much as I can, to always try to use reason, logic and politics to avoid an argument getting to the point where fists were needed instead of words.
I trained Tae Kwon Do for 8 years - my belt is out of question, but I´m fairly advanced- and I have gotten into street fights a few times - never started by me - so I can say I have some experience but still, I was never the one who started them; Once you understand that a fight can end up in very unfortunate circumstances, you pretty much avoid getting physical unless it is unavoidable.
The thing is, once you realize you are not made of glass and that you can take a few punches without falling, you stop being afraid of fights, you no longer are terrified of someone attacking you with their fists up. This can be good in a certain way - example, I wouldn´t like my kids to run from fights - but it can also be negative, because you stop *taking care of yourself*, you start taking risks you didn´t take before.
But let´s be real, in a street fight there are no rules, your skills count very little and it is a matter of suckerpunching your way to victory. In a street fight the most important factor is weight, then surprise and after that, skills. Skills are pretty much nonexistent in a street fight, mainly because there are too many uncontrolled variables that come into play.
Like yesterday, when someone sucker punched me.
It was my fault. I am always, always in a constant *alert mode*, paying attention to my surroundings, taking mental notes of everything around me, observing all the small details in every place and person, looking over my shoulder from time to time - for example, when I go to a restaurant, I always sit facing the door and I try to sit with my back to the wall - and I procure to never be distracted on the cellphone while I´m in a public place.
Call me crazy or maybe I watched a lot of spy movies when I was a kid but that´s how I am. It is tiring and sometimes I drop my guard. Usually, when people drop their guards is when accidents happen.
Yesterday I was very happy drinking my 3rd Rum and Coke with my brother in a random bar, and some dude decided that my face looked punchable and decided to go for it.
If I had my guard up and if I had been paying attention the guy would never have had a chance to get to me. But I didn´t and he punched me. I don´t know if he recgnized me from somewhere and he hated me, or if I bullied him when we were young, perhaps I looked like someone he hates... I don´t know, perhaps I was just picked by luck. A second later I punched back, he fell and the bar´s security got him out, no big deal.
The true experience from here is that none of us should drop our guard anywhere. We live in a crazy world where everything can happen and in a matter of seconds our lives can change forever.
The good news is, I was having trouble breathing because my nose is more damaged that James Wan´s mind, but with this punch I received, suddenly I can breathe better and I probably don´t need surgery anymore, so thank you random drunk dude, you fixed my nose! :D
Lesson learned. Never drop your guard, keep paying attention to details, be aware of your surroundings, be alert and...