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Worth noting: participants' size, strength, or degree of training doesn't even signify. The simple fact is that whoever gets the first shot in probably gets th

Worth noting: participants' size, strength, or degree of training doesn't even signify. The simple fact is that whoever gets the first shot in probably gets the last. There can be exceptions if the other person is both trained (in the right kind of martial art) and ready, but that combination is damn rare. So here are your options: (1) Never visit bars, or at least limit yourself to the very top tier. (2) Be willing to throw the first punch (kick, whatever). (3) Be trained (again, in the right kind of martial art) and be ready all the time. That means being ready through an awful lot of false alarms, and also taking the risk of your readiness being interpreted as escalation. Your friends probably won't want to hang around in bars with you if you're like that. (4) Learn how to de-escalate potentially violent situations. Really, having been in a few fights, I highly recommend #4. That one skill is likely to be more useful than everything you'll ever learn in a dojo.

insickness 9y ago
Even if you are the best-trained fighter in the world, you hit a guy and he could fall and hit his head on something hard and potentially die. It's not that uncommon. Most of the time, the best option is to leave the situation.
basseq 9y ago
#4 the right answer, but many people jump to aggression. I clearly remember in college where I was pushed into a rather built gentleman while holding two drinks in a crowded bar. He was immediately ready to drop everything and fight about it. But backed down immediately with a simple, "Hey, sorry man." There's a certain class of person who would just keep escalating.
travmatt 9y ago
Even if you get the first shot in, there’s no guarantee that the persons friend won’t hit you in the back of the head with a bottle of beer and leave you struggling with a nasty concussion. Or the person you hit strikes their head on a hard surface, killing them. Or some cop or DA decides to make an example of your assault case, and you lose your job or have to do jail time. Just because you only intended to throw a punch doesn’t mean things can’t go badly out of hand.
dsfyu404ed 9y ago
>Never visit bars, or at least limit yourself to the very top tier. I.e. "don't have fun if you're not rich enough to do it the best way possible." This is probably the most common advice given on the Internet. The Internet loves telling other people how to spend their money.
santaclaus 9y ago
Do bar fights actually happen in this day and age? I’ve hit up bars of ill repute around the world since before I was of legal drinking age, and I’ve only witnessed a single bar fight between two grumpy locals in rural New Zealand.
- donatj 9y ago
  My friends brother was hospitalized around 2 years ago after getting into one, he’s fine now. I’ve had a number of drunk angry people try to start things with me and my friends, but we’re all too polite and apologetic to get into a fight. One guy, who very drunkenly threw a punch at a friend (and missed) for unknowingly taking his chair even told us that his mother had just died and he only went out to the bar to punch somebody.
- dogruck 9y ago
  I have personally never been in a bar fight in my life. But, yes, bar fights still happen regularly. That said, my experience is: 1. They are somewhat cultural. More common in some regions/bars/demographics 2. They happen more frequently as the night/drinking deepens
  - dagw 9y ago
    But, yes, bar fights still happen regularly. Where are you going to find regular bar fights? Is it more a US thing, a rural thing, a college town thing? Because despite having spent way too much time in bars in various parts of Europe, I've basically never seen anything escalate beyond shoving and shouting.
    - RobertoG 9y ago
      My personal observation is that it depends mainly on your culture (nationality?) relationship with drinking. In some places, drinking is just something that do you do when you go out, in others, it seems like drinking is the goal of going out and they try to get drunk the faster the better.
    - dogruck 9y ago
ErikAugust 9y ago
4 is best, by far. I look romantically at my time as a doorman for a dive bar, especially now as a software developer, haha. Seriously, I do pride myself in the fact I went to school full time while working at the bar as often as any other employee - 5 nights a week, for over a year. Pair this with the fact we threw many dozens of people out on my watch without any serious interpersonal altercations. Yes people broke stuff, etc. But mostly it was about communicating an out. They were told to leave, first off, and that was in all senses, nonnegotiable. But, 19 out of 20 times, they were just too drunk to be there. So I always let them know it was no big deal, come back tomorrow night or whatever. Just not now. Downplay it. If it seemed they didn't want the fun to end, I would slyly make the suggestion to try other places, or to go eat. I would work with their friends also if possible. Friends sometimes do the physical stuff for you if needed. Kicking out whole groups is easy usually, as you can sort of stoke the group dynamic to dislike the bar for the perceived injustice. The ones who actually like the bar come back and apologize later in time. Drunks will bait you, etc. which should be treated as comedy. There is really never a reason to initiate physicality. Certainly not without help either.
BrandoElFollito 9y ago
What I learned after 20 years of combat training in a dojo (full body fights) is that 3 seconds of inattention and my 4 years old son kicked me in my testicles after missing the ball. It is a miracle he now has a brother. #4 is great, your ability to run a 400 meters in 70 s is awesome too. Do not get into fights if there is any way to avoid them (including begging). I you have to fight to full throttle and be the one to hit first.

insickness 9y ago

Even if you are the best-trained fighter in the world, you hit a guy and he could fall and hit his head on something hard and potentially die. It's not that uncommon. Most of the time, the best option is to leave the situation.

basseq 9y ago

#4 the right answer, but many people jump to aggression. I clearly remember in college where I was pushed into a rather built gentleman while holding two drinks in a crowded bar. He was immediately ready to drop everything and fight about it. But backed down immediately with a simple, "Hey, sorry man." There's a certain class of person who would just keep escalating.

travmatt 9y ago

Even if you get the first shot in, there’s no guarantee that the persons friend won’t hit you in the back of the head with a bottle of beer and leave you struggling with a nasty concussion. Or the person you hit strikes their head on a hard surface, killing them. Or some cop or DA decides to make an example of your assault case, and you lose your job or have to do jail time. Just because you only intended to throw a punch doesn’t mean things can’t go badly out of hand.

dsfyu404ed 9y ago

>Never visit bars, or at least limit yourself to the very top tier. I.e. "don't have fun if you're not rich enough to do it the best way possible." This is probably the most common advice given on the Internet. The Internet loves telling other people how to spend their money.

santaclaus 9y ago

Do bar fights actually happen in this day and age? I’ve hit up bars of ill repute around the world since before I was of legal drinking age, and I’ve only witnessed a single bar fight between two grumpy locals in rural New Zealand.

donatj 9y ago
My friends brother was hospitalized around 2 years ago after getting into one, he’s fine now. I’ve had a number of drunk angry people try to start things with me and my friends, but we’re all too polite and apologetic to get into a fight. One guy, who very drunkenly threw a punch at a friend (and missed) for unknowingly taking his chair even told us that his mother had just died and he only went out to the bar to punch somebody.
dogruck 9y ago
I have personally never been in a bar fight in my life. But, yes, bar fights still happen regularly. That said, my experience is: 1. They are somewhat cultural. More common in some regions/bars/demographics 2. They happen more frequently as the night/drinking deepens
- dagw 9y ago
  But, yes, bar fights still happen regularly. Where are you going to find regular bar fights? Is it more a US thing, a rural thing, a college town thing? Because despite having spent way too much time in bars in various parts of Europe, I've basically never seen anything escalate beyond shoving and shouting.
  - RobertoG 9y ago
    My personal observation is that it depends mainly on your culture (nationality?) relationship with drinking. In some places, drinking is just something that do you do when you go out, in others, it seems like drinking is the goal of going out and they try to get drunk the faster the better.
  - dogruck 9y ago

ErikAugust 9y ago

4 is best, by far. I look romantically at my time as a doorman for a dive bar, especially now as a software developer, haha. Seriously, I do pride myself in the fact I went to school full time while working at the bar as often as any other employee - 5 nights a week, for over a year. Pair this with the fact we threw many dozens of people out on my watch without any serious interpersonal altercations. Yes people broke stuff, etc. But mostly it was about communicating an out. They were told to leave, first off, and that was in all senses, nonnegotiable. But, 19 out of 20 times, they were just too drunk to be there. So I always let them know it was no big deal, come back tomorrow night or whatever. Just not now. Downplay it. If it seemed they didn't want the fun to end, I would slyly make the suggestion to try other places, or to go eat. I would work with their friends also if possible. Friends sometimes do the physical stuff for you if needed. Kicking out whole groups is easy usually, as you can sort of stoke the group dynamic to dislike the bar for the perceived injustice. The ones who actually like the bar come back and apologize later in time. Drunks will bait you, etc. which should be treated as comedy. There is really never a reason to initiate physicality. Certainly not without help either.

BrandoElFollito 9y ago

What I learned after 20 years of combat training in a dojo (full body fights) is that 3 seconds of inattention and my 4 years old son kicked me in my testicles after missing the ball. It is a miracle he now has a brother. #4 is great, your ability to run a 400 meters in 70 s is awesome too. Do not get into fights if there is any way to avoid them (including begging). I you have to fight to full throttle and be the one to hit first.