Good advice should you choose to intervene in a fight by Brett Carroll

The blog that follows was submitted as a comment to my article title Risking your life to help someone. I found it to be an excellent take on the thorny issue of choosing to intervene in a dangerous situation where you have only a split second to decide on a course of action and know next to nothing about the circumstances. – Editor

The question, as I read it, seemed to be three-fold:

(1) When is it appropriate to intervene in a violent situation?
(2) What factors ought be considered?
(3) What are some good strategies to do so?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to any of those questions. The situation as posed doesn’t give us enough to make an informed decision. While some may disagree, many of us would acknowledge that there are rare occasions when someone being “beat down” may actually “have it coming” — and acknowledging that doesn’t mean we condone vigilantism.

Perhaps this is gang violence, where criminals are fighting criminals, or perhaps an initiation is taking place, and outside help might be unwelcome by all? Is it a domestic dispute, where the victim could potentially turn on a good Samaritan? We just can’t know. A judgment has to be made, and we have to be willing to live with the consequences, for better or worse. And when it’s time to act, one has to act.

But, applying what we do know — if we can agree that Aikido is, among many other things, about deflecting hostile energy in a way that is least destructive, then it’s easy enough to conceptualize ways to do this in such situations without engaging the attackers directly. Distraction comes to mind immediately as something anyone can do that can redirect hostile action. Bright lights, alarms, blaring horns — these are things that can capture the attention of assailants, which may be all it takes to convince them to clear off. Or they might not.

If the victim(s) is in bad enough shape that intervention is a matter of life or death, it may be too late for distraction — but a quick hit-and-run attack might get them to cease their assault on their previous victim and chase you instead. But perhaps running isn’t your best option, either.

If it is a foregone conclusion that you must engage a group of attackers, and getting away is not an option, don’t get fancy — stick to basics. Be aware of your surroundings, use them to your advantage, and don’t allow yourself to be cornered or held — you have to move fast, and look to incapacitate — joints, eyes, throats — there’s no dishonor in “fighting dirty” if you’re being attacked by a group that’s intent on harming you. You have to assume it’s a life or death situation.

The decision to intervene most likely needs to be made in haste, and if you are going to assert yourself into a violent situation, you must be all-in, totally committed to “winning”. Making that sort of commitment, on the fly, is not easy to do. Having foolishly done this myself, on one occasion, I can only tell you what saved me from harm. It was not my wisdom or my skill. It was my bearing. It was successfully selling the lie that I wasn’t afraid, that I was totally prepared kill with my hands. My apparent lack of fear was enough to end the encounter without having to fight. I was greatly fortunate – -having made the commitment to involve myself in that situation, there were many ways that could have ended more poorly for me than it did.

At the end of the day, thugs who run in packs to commit acts of violence are obviously cowards. They seek weak prey. Of course, I was scared silly, but I absolutely was prepared to engage them all, and do whatever necessary to protect myself. That sort of confidence can be formidable. But, they might also call your bluff, which can have grave consequences for everyone. So the question is really, do you have sufficient reason to take this sort of risk?

Anyone cowardly enough to roam in packs to fight is also likely to be cowardly enough to stab you in the kidneys, hit you in the head with a bottle, or pull a pistol and shoot you in the back. Even experienced fighters can find themselves surrounded, and in most group attacks, once that happens, they will hit you, probably with weapons, and they won’t stop until you quit moving.

Also, in any altercation, there can be legal ramifications. Until you make the decision to intervene, in this scenario you are not being attacked. Self-defense laws in your state may not cover good Samaritans. Depending on the demographics of those involved and where you live, there may, sad to say, be racial implications that could effect how your involvement is characterized — by witnesses, by police, or perhaps by media — which may in turn create more conflict. Again, one has to be willing to accept the consequences, for better or worse. In almost every case, if you are alone, it’s best to call 911 whether you get involved or not. If you don’t, and you join the victim on the ground, help won’t be on the way. If you’re not alone, you can’t necessarily count on others to think to call for help, so prompt them to do so.

We train our bodies to be able to respond to violence. We try to condition our muscle memory to take over when we need it. But that doesn’t mean that every time we are faced with violence that we have to rely on automatic responses. If you are forced into an encounter where you have no choice but to resort to violence, you have already lost — at that point it’s just a matter of damage control. We’re far better off if we have also conditioned our brains to foresee consequences, so we can choose whether — and how — to engage adversaries with sense and honor.