fighting and things in your pocket

[Octavius]

I've noticed something recently. My firend got into a tussle, and altho he won (he's N.Mantis and Judo guy), he walked away from it with severe cuts to his leg - upper thigh area - all becasue of the keys that he had in his pocket! The fight also broke his cellphone and his sunglasses. So got me thinking, this maybe a problem more for the guys than the ladies, but how do you deal with fighting and having things in your pocket? The ladies have purses that allows their clothing to be relatively unencumbered (correct me if I'm wrong), but us guys, we carry everything in our pants. I for one ave my cellphone, keys (big roll - it's a friggin' weapon in and of itself if I can ever get it out in teh first place ) change, wallet, a pen, palm pilot, and sometimes and mp3 player. kinda weighs my clothes down and i suppose in the midst of a fight that won't really factor in my mind, but they may encumber my movements a little and afterwards, if they're broken, i'll be really unhappy! Anybody have any personal experience with this kind of thing?

[KC Elbows]

I would imagine that there's not a lot of time to worry about it unless you've got an uncapped exacto in there.

[FatherDog]

Strip naked and apply woad before combat.



...but seriously folks... I carry my keyring on a chain that's attached to my belt, so it can be yanked easily out of my pocket (and in a pinch, used as a chain mace... I carry a lot of keys for work.) I had a friend who would always keep a hand in his pocket if he suspected a situation was gonna turn ugly, so that his first reaction would be to fling a handful of change in the aggressor's face. Pretty distracting, at the very least... although if the guy's within a certain distance of you, I don't think you'd want your hand in your pocket.

Fortunately for me, I've never really had to apply either theory, so I can't really vouch for their combat effectiveness.

[Former castleva]

I´d consider this a minor issue.
In the heat of the altercation,it is not very likely that you will notice these slightly uncomfortable factors scratching your skin.
Maybe we could also refer to the rule of making your clothing fit the scene,just like clothing which does not restrict movement,placing those small objects in your coat will probably make them less harmful and better protected.
And as you said,various items also make weapons like keys.
Coins,pens and related stuff can also be used as a projectile or distraction to follow up with attacks (I have the idea though that you would not like to throw your cell high in the air for his eyes to catch it but...)

No personal experience so far.

Considering too that SD experts recommend us to give out property if push comes to shove hard enough...

[Liokault]

I do not think that you would have time to worry or should worry about things in your pockets prior to a fight.


It is good to work out how to use items that you have about your person as improvised weapons to gain an advantage in a fight though.

My car key for example has a large body with the plip door release on it that fits into my hand nicely with the (aprox) 2 inch spike projecting from it. If I had to invent an easly concealable easy to use weapon then i think it would probably look like my car key.

Its suck a good weapon that I always carry it when I go out running at night as if you carry a weapon in the UK and get into any trouble then its automaticaly counted as your fault what ever the real facts are.


Also as has been said above a pocket full of change can be used as an awsome weapon if you have a bit of distance.

[Leonidas]

Get more pockets man, or carry around a little bookbag-backpack thing.

[Diu Sao]

I got into it with 2 taxi drivers on Santa Monica Blvd, in Hollywood and after the fight I had a huge purple bruise from my keys on my upper thigh and I had one of the guys gold chain imbedded into the skin around my left forearm. I have no idea how this happened, but it was good for a laugh after. I know somebody who threw their keys at a guys face and the guy grabbed them and ran, it was wierd.



Diu Sao

[MaFuYee]

stop being a jerk, and people will stop picking fights with you ;(

if you're worried about getting your cell phone, mp3 player, pda, and 88 key 1 bit dac synth broken during a fight... maybe you should just do your best to avoid fights?? - no fight, no broken palmcorder, mini dv cam, or organizer.

either that, or carry a frickin taser to keep the fight short, and minimise contact; which will minimize the likelihood of expensive electronic shoot getting broken.

[Mr Punch]

I was carrying a special edition Guiness glass in my pocket once when I got kicked in jest. Nasty: it was irreplaceable so I had to flip out and kill my friend.

I once carried a chain and padlock which I normally used on my bike (can't remember why I didn't that time) which was stripped out of my pocket when I was mugged, and the mugger then proceeded to swing it at me. Fortunately, my then few months of aiki gave me the presence of mind and footwork to step out of the way, leaving it unhindered in its increasing trajectory to my assailant's shin. Twice. **** did I laugh!

Also once I had my watch kicked into the top of my thigh (I should wear it on wrist I know, but I don't like them) which I did notice even in the heat of the fight. It hurt. The cut and bruising lasted for about two weeks.

Now I

Originally posted by FatherDog
Strip naked and apply woad before combat.

[Shadow Dragon]

Have to agree with MaFuYee.

Getting consistently into fights is NOT good Kung Fu.

And if you are that worried about a little bruise or cut get out of MA altogether NOW.

If you get into a fight, you will get HURT, that is a given.
Who cares if it came from a bunch of keys or the Opponents fist.
If you survive it will heal, if you don't no worries.

Have fun.

[Octavius]

Mafuyee and Shadow:

I did say in the post that the mentioned fith happened to a friend of mine-which lead me to thinking about the subject. I have in fact not been in a fight since I started training so I have no particular experience with the things-in-pocket issue. Never even thought about it. WHich is why I posted it here as food for thought. No need to be so mean in your replies, gentlemen.

And I do agree with all of you in that when involved in a confrontation, such material matters are the furthest from the mind and thus of no consequence (or one should have the presence of mind to make use of them as improvised weapons), but realistically, do you always dress for a fight? I have to wear business casual clothing most of the time and do need to carry all that stuff around for work, so simply getting a man-purse or carrying less things is not really an option. Just something to think about folks.

[Former castleva]

A briefcase will make a good weapon.

[SLC]

Octavius,

I hope you don't think that simply being innocent of any fault is supposed to provide some kind of protection here. Geeze.

[Waidan]

two words for you: Cargo Pants. The majority of my pants have cargo pockets, for just this reason. Darn comfy too

[KC Elbows]

I've noticed something recently. My firend got into a tussle, and altho he won (he's N.Mantis and Judo guy), he walked away from it with severe marks to his leg - upper thigh area - all becasue of the banana that he had in his pocket! The fight also broke his cellphone and his sunglasses. So got me thinking, this maybe a problem more for the guys than the ladies, but how do you deal with fighting and having bananas in your pocket? The ladies have purses that allows their to be relatively unencumbered (correct me if I'm wrong), but us guys, we carry everything in our pants. I for one ave my banana, a plantain(big roll - it's a friggin' weapon in and of itself if I can ever get it out in teh first place ) cucumber, pepper, a pen, palm pilot, and sometimes and mp3 player. kinda weighs my clothes down and i suppose in the midst of a fight that won't really factor in my mind, but they may encumber my movements a little and afterwards, if they're broken, i'll be really unhappy! Anybody have any personal experience with this kind of thing?