Contact at 2130 Lima

[Spectre]

Friday night, I was walking over to put a load of clothes in the washing machine when I saw a late-teen/early twenties man wearing a loose jacket and a ball cap. I had never seen him before, and immediately thought of my neighbor warning me of seeing a strange man walking through the complex a few days before.

Later...

I placed my load of clothes in the dryer, and was walking back to my apartment. I was taking the sidewalk up an incline that leads between the sides of two apartment buildings. To my left, I see two gentleman leaning against a truck about 40 yards away, talking. To my right, I see the young man I had remarked previously. 35 yards away, he leans on the hood of a car, in shadow. I begin walking up the sidewalk.

After a few paces, I hear something behind me. I turn my head, and continue walking, seeing the individual running toward the sidewalk. He reaches the sidewalk, and begins running upwards toward me. I point my right foot back towards him, blading me, and placing my P-32 close to my right hand, and my Native close to my left.

The young male is now close at hand, and shows no indication of veering away. He is about 6' tall, and appears fit.

What would you do?

[guerilla1138]

turn around step back and make the opened knife visible, if he was looking right at me and i knew he had seen the knife i would bring the gun up to firing level and see how he reacted.
if he stopped and took off i would make sure the area was clear, and put everything back in its place and continue back home.

if he wasnt looking at me when i drew the blade i would wait and see what he did, with the gun at ready and if he did make a move i would react.

if he kept coming after the gun was in veiw i would declare it to him, just to make sure, and then wait and see if he was an agressor, or just someone stupid enough to keep running to where he was going with a gun pointed at him.
if he did turn out to psoe a threat stopping him is in the priority.

[This message has been edited by guerilla1138 (edited October 23, 2000).]

[tstr]

Don't know what kind of neighborhood you live in, but in any of the places I've lived, I'd asses the situation as probably safe. He's got no visible weapons, correct?

I'd step as much out of his way as possible and brace myself for a close-quarters fight if he did become agressive. I would not make my weapons visible unless their use was imminent.

tstr

[Spectre]

When it was evident he was headed directly toward me, I turned. This placed me with me right foot directly pointed his direction, with both weapons further away (since my .32 was in my rear right pocket.

[twist996]

when i read these scenarios, i try to put myself in this position, and not issue a jon wayne response....

can't mark this as a hostile confrontation, not yet, so i couldn't warrant shooting/knifing this guy...too many kids playing in apartment complexes to justify shooting them, annoying as they may be...myself, i would move to the side, hopefully getting my back against something, getting out of this guys way...wouldn't ne too worried about his reaction to me, as i dropped anything i might be carrying...a little more time is required to see how this situation is going to develop...

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speak now, or forever hold your peace

[Spectre]

I had limited space to move. Large bushes were on each side of the sidewalk at about this point.

[LASur5r]

Spectre,
As far as I can tell, you are responding the best way that you can.
In unarmed or semi-armed defense, if you figure it's going to happen no matter what then you want the element of surprise so you keep your weapons hidden as long as possible, but you put yourself in the best defensive position possible and show that you are not afraid...you could possibly issue a loud command, "Stop where you are!" If the goblin advances, then you might pull the knife as a deterrent which you are ready to use...If he continues to advance or goes into combat stance, I believe you have used up your options other than running like a crazy person and hope that you were really good as a little kid in playing tag and you were never tagged, right?

Only you can determine flight or fight. With his height, I figure unless you get to an obstacle like a parked car nearby that you can run around...he'll outrun you so you might as well stand while you're not breathing hard and you're in a good defensive position.

From what is sounds like, you done good..you're here and posting...good on you.

[Glamdring]

Well Spec if you say he looks "fit" and is around 6' tall I would guess if he didn't know you that he would probably think he had the advantage in hand to hand vs you.

IMHO running at someone is a hostile act especially if the runner is larger than the target.

I can think of several tactics.

You could move off his line of attack/direction as much as terrain allows and if it you felt he was going to try to hit you palm the knife [keep it closed] and use some type of unarmed technique on him. This would be the most liekly to lead to confrontation though.

You could also suddenly spin around and start walking [or running] towards him. If he was planning to attack you that should throw off his timing and force him to adjust his stride or forget it.

I have personally turned around and retraced my steps when things didn't feel right more than once. I figure getting out of the kill zone is more important than looking like I forgot something. I am usually moving towards some postion of cover or concealment. Or failing that some place that favors me [ie only one person can approach at a time].

So are you going to tell us what you did?

[Spectre]

Nah...

Well, at the point I ended with initially, I was facing this individual in a bladed stance. He was only 3 paces from me. I was looking directly at him, so I probably didn't look much like prey- even from hobbit height.

I was trying to stay clear, calm and ready. I was doing pretty well at those, but would have had trouble vocalizing. I had not moved off the path, though as I mentioned, I had limited space to move. I had seen no weapon.

This young man jinked to my left at the last possible moment. One more step, and I would have hit him. Since he was running, it is possible that the blow might have been lethal force.

Were I to do it over again, I would probably take at least one large step back, and palm my Native...and wait.

Since no-one incurred injury, and no legal issues arose, I suppose I did the right thing, or at least a right thing. It is also possible that mischief might have been intended, and the miscreant's alarm bells went off.

Incidentally, GD, I passed my 2nd Kyu test Sunday. Only 2 more to shodan.

[LASur5r]

Spectre,
Way to go, lady...A step backward and a sidestep so that his forward momentum couldn't accidentally take you down with his body weight.
Also way to go on the 2nd kyu...what style?

Because we are in a "civilized" society we are expected to keep our cool and wait to the last minute before we make our "defensive" move...sometimes we cut it too close and we get hurt or worse.
When you get a chance, ask your sensei about "offensive" moves, dodging, closing the gap, etc...it'll improve your odds.
But, good on you...you survived and kept your cool.

[Spectre]

I mentioned the situation to someone else I know, and they said something like:

In Georgia? They was askin' to be shot!

Personally, if I ever had to run close to someone - especially at night- I would do my best to make it evident that I was trying to keep my distance. This person didn't alter his course until the last possible instant.

Thanks- I study Jinenkan bujutsu.


[This message has been edited by Spectre (edited October 28, 2000).]

[Glamdring]

Spectre: so how long till you open your own dojo?

[dragontooth73]

ya, how long is the wait ... i need to sign up for classes ... are you offering package plans?