Fighting is a last resort; just like pulling a gun.
However, when it is time to fight, or pull the gun, you must be first on the draw.
As a kid, in the schoolyard, there was "reputation" to think of. In an assault, there is only survival to consider. There are no rules except blitzkreig.
I'm older, a little heavier, and not as strong as i used to be, but i can still grapple someone and strike them in the adams apple two or three times, a several nasty uppercuts to the chin and nose, locked thumb gouged into an eye - all this in a furious flurry of about 2 seconds or less. Then destroy their knee or break down an elbow or distend the shoulder joint as i'm spinning away. Then i'm running away, as fast as my carcass can wobble down the street.
People don't keep fighting when they:
a) cant breathe
b) can't see
c) cant stand up
d) can't feel their arm
e) are in excruciating pain (not always, but it definitely detracts from their concentration).
In a multiple attacker situation, you have to do this to the biggest toughest guy there - and fast - and you're still probably gonna get a bad beating. But maybe not. If you've just destroyed the "leader" in a mere couple of seconds, the next one may hesitate to jump in.
I'm thinking seriously about buying a cane - that has a 1 million volt stun gun built in. There are distinct advantages to carrying a striking weapon, especially one that has the ability to incapacitate an attacker. Either that or a sjambok - a very useful piece of plastic. The south African riot squads used them to great effect in the past. Of course theirs were rhino skin, but the plastic ones are pretty devastating too. Check them out.
http://www.donrearic.com/mightysjambok.html