A question about attacks and response levels

I'll back all this up by simply saying I like my brains and I intend to keep them and all my other organs inside my body. My life is precious to me and to a significant amount of other people and I don't believe that anyone would want to take it for anything other than malicious reasons. The world and the people in are not "kill or be killed" by default, but there are killers out there and there are a lot of crazy a$$h013s who would just as soon rip your face off as look at you and they don't deserve the pleasure.

If someone's pulling a gun on me I'm going to make sure they either end up no longer able to do that to anyone else or seriously enough hurt that they won't be doing that for a long while. If they pull out a gun the usually intend to kill you. If that's the case I'll make sure it's them not me.

Not sure about where you guys live but over here, it is perfectly legal to disarm an attacker and smack him around a bit (so to speak). It is *not* legal to take the attacker's weapon and stab or shoot him.

I trained in Chinese and American Kenpo Karate for several years when I was a teenager. Now that I'm a little older and training in Krav Maga I still see the same basic mindset that was instilled in me in my teen years. If someone attacks me on the street, I defend myself and I respond with everything I have.

You can never know your attacker. You won't know if they are on drugs (PCP), if they are psycho, if they are a serial killer etc.

All you need to say if someone asks is that you're not sure what happened, but you were so scared and everything will be fine.

Being attacked on the street is not a mutually consenting action between two individuals as in sport fighting. It's one individual minding their own business being attacked by someone else.

If someone thinks the response is brutal, they are perfectly welcome to step in and take the place of the person who got attacked.

Let me rephrase what I said then. If you disarm an attacker and take his or her weapon, this does not automatically give you the right to use that weapon against your attacker. In some cases, using that weapon against your attacker could screw you royally in the eyes of the law. But how cases are decided are according to the evidence that comes in, witness statements, CCTV footage if any, etc.

I don't know how an attacker would respond when disarmed. My initial guess is that in most cases, they would try to get away from you.

Has anyone gone through this in real life?

Though I have never been in the situation of being attacked with a weapon outside of training, I would venture this guess. A weapon is the source of power for the attacker, it's what makes them feel in control and gives them a false sence of security. Take that away and they lose everything, they panic.

Yes, but do they panic and run or panic and attack? Is it more likely to go one way or the other?

I have been in the situation of being attacked with a weapon. My mindset, even though I am new to MA, is that a weapon changes everything. They are a 'threat' only until they move. That is why I study weapons.

I always told my kids, that as far as I am concerned, the minute someone picks up a rock you should consider that they are willing to use it.

I think they would panic and try to regain that power, they would fight to get the weapon back. But that is why you do not try to take the weapon until it is time to do so. Control the weapon and beat them until they drop it.

If somebody attackes you with a weapon, you then should do what ever you can to destroy them. it may, or may not, be the best tactic to use their own weapon against them, but in terms of the right, yes, you have the right, untill such time as they try to run away and cease the hostilities. if you think that they are simply trying to gain a little distance to attack you again, you could argue that.

I think that the key phrase to remember here is "reasonable use of force". If a person attacks you with any weapon and you manage to disarm the attacker you have every right to use a reasonable amount of force should that person attack you again.

I would also like to add that the way you articulate your actions is also a key. I would certainly not mention the fact that you have any specialized training. This does increase your liability should a conflict ensue. Just my opinion.

My Krav experience is from the eighties, and it is not my primary style by any means (PDK is), but I am also someone who has been in a great number of altercations in my life, and experience has taught me that anything goes. It is not just a saying.
When my jaw was broken by a joe six pack I was too young and cocky to take seriously, i ended up with two screws in my jaw for the rest of my life, a $14,000 hospital bill, and six weeks out of work that led to my losing one of the best jobs I'd ever had.
Over twenty years later that nerve is still severed, I can only feel half of my face when I kiss my wife good night, and should I ever have future medical problems because of it, they will be pre-existing and not covered.
I was a black belt(had nearly 12 years in at that point and had done a lot of street fighting), the kid was an idiot...one of many in a long life of fighitng, cooking. bouncing.
Any attack- armed or unarmed can kill you, the attacker's intent has absolutely nothing to do with what effect they might have on you.
A broken hand can mean weeks out of work, a broken leg the same, etc... and a sad reality is that most who will attack you really don't mean you grievous harm, it is simply at the moment that more often than not they don't care.
Put them down, take them out...the faster the better.
Don't call the police unless you must, walk away. Wake up the next day go to work, train, live and love. Whatever happens to an attacker is more than deserved. Personaly at this point in my life I have learned to not even see them as humans.
I may sound sick to some. But I am going to work in the morning, I will wake up next to a loving wife, and I will train and work with others of similar opinion who are not stupid enough to die or be seriously harmed to hold up some societally accept concept of right and wrong.
I wish you the same.

I kind of agree with dalen, my sensei always said if you got into it with someone stop them any way you can then walk away, if you do hurt someone, even if you are in the right, oftentimes the police will just see it as two guys fighting and you will go to jail anyway, not to mention the guy who jumped you may sue. so unles you got seriously hurt just walk away, if you dropped the guy or girl who just attacked you, you do have liability if not legally at least as one human to another to check them first to make sure you didnt do fatal damage even if it means just pulling them off the street and making sure they dont choke on their own vomit, at least then if you do go to jail or court they will take into account that you administered first aid to someone who just attacked you. also the one time i did disarm a guy with a knife he practically dove for the knife, i kicked him in the head, he was so fixated on it he didnt even protect his face! generally on the street they will fight to get the weapon back or they will run.