Stealth: I'm not talking about times when you'll be called chicken**** if you walk away. I'm talking about times when, if you turn your back, you're going to find yourself very suddenly with your nose into the wall and your back feeling like it's about to snap 'cos someone's got their foot on it, pressing it at an odd angle to the wall, while said someone pounds away at you from behind.
i apologize, i thought you meant walking away when you've been pushed/challenged/etc. was stupid.
yeah, obviously if you can't get away (see a few posts up what i said) and you know you can't turn your back then you fight back in
self-defense (note!)
And I'm not encouraging him to fight. I'm just pointing out that stretching the truth in order to back up some blanket statement isn't exactly demonstrating reliabaility, and that since everyone knows there are times that fighting is not only the solution, but something that cannot be avoided, denying that fact just discredits you, and makes ANYONE less likely to pay attention to what you have to say.
if you're not encouraging him to fight then why even bring up the thought! he's managed without fighting until now, let him realize that it's not going to work now!
There are times for fighting, and times for not fighting. If you're weaker than the person you're fighting, common sense alone would dictate that it's best to avoid getting physical. Most of the time, this is the case no matter what. But not always. And it's usually handy to be ready for that "not always".
yeah, well there's been plenty of times i can remember that i could've fought someone (i.e. someone "challenged" me that i know i could beat) but i turn and walk away.
one occasion i remember clearly was about 6 months ago, in the halls, i was walking, and suddenly these two freshmen (yeah, freshmen, a good 2-3 years younger than me, and a good 6 inches smaller than me) attacked each other right in front of me, and started punching and stuff... they were like locked together, you know... heh... well i kept on walking, it was too late for me to avoid them, and i just seperated them gently (what else could i do, i'm suddenly on top of them... but no one noticed this, no circle was forming, or anything) and i said "c'mon guys...".
i thought nothing of it and kept walking... about 3 steps further, the one smaller guy had run away, this hispanic (mexican) guy (the other one) pushes me from behind! (now that's one thing i can't stand)... he's like "what *****? what?"... stands his arms out.
now i know, i KNOW i could've destroyed him in about 3 seconds... i'd just seen him "fight" someone, and i knew everything he knew about his fighting style... he had nothing he could use against me that he hadn't used against that other guy, and all he did was plain punch and kick like an animal, so i knew he had no chance. in that split second i was thinking all the ways i could just put him down and walk away, but that's also considered fighting... what did i do? i nodded, turned, and walked away. sure you may get a few "you afraid to fight?" or similar remarks, but in the end you're respected... always. i'll avoid a fight if at all possible... if there's any way to get out of physically fighting, then i'll take it.