Hello everyone I have been reading this site for a while and decided to join in. Just to introduce myself I am 5' 8" about 180lbs and have no experience in hand to hand martial arts. Have trained in Kendo for 10 yrs and have a BS degree.
On to the question. This last new years eve after a fireworks show downtown a friend and myself decided to take public transportation home. What a mistake. The bus turminal was totally packed with people like sardines, and tempers were short. After being pushed and pushing towards the doors for the bus, tempers were even higher and it finally broke. A young black kid (approx 20 yrs old 6' tall and skinny) started to get in to a verbal argument with someone in the crowd I assume about 15 ft away. Then lunged toward that person. There were people shoulder to shoulder between the two. As the kid lunged through the crowd girls started screaming as they were being run over by the kid. I at this point was right behind the kid and grabbed the back of his jacket holding him back. The kids girlfriend was also trying to hold him back but I think that I was doing most of the work. The shouting continued and he lunged a few more times. I did not let go untill his other friends moved in and held him back and tried to calm him down. They were about 4 to 5 young males of mixed race. The things his friends were saying were "you can beat the sh*& out of him" and " he is just a punk" etc. There was no visible police presence and no one called security. There was a sea of people behind me so I could not get to the terminal to get security. Strangly, no one else did anything. I was the only one that grabbed the kid besides his girlfriend until his other friends moved or pushed in and that was it. No one seemed to care or were afraid of getting involved and getting in to a fight with the group. This group of kids pushed towards the front of the mass of people seperating them a little more from the person that the kid was shouting with. But it then errupted again with a shouting match and his friends holding him back and threats of beating the sh%$ out of the other person at the next bus stop. after a while I had enough, since we were near the front I pushed through and walked out of the terminal via the bus exit probably not the safest thing and started to walk happy that there was no crush of people or idiots.
My question is what could I have done if the kid had decided to come after me. The fact is that he did not know that I had held him. He was totally focused on the other person and I assume thought that his friends were holding him back. Did I do the right thing? I reacted with out thinking in responds to the screaming. I assume that this situation is rather tame compared to other situations that I have read about.
student2
On to the question. This last new years eve after a fireworks show downtown a friend and myself decided to take public transportation home. What a mistake. The bus turminal was totally packed with people like sardines, and tempers were short. After being pushed and pushing towards the doors for the bus, tempers were even higher and it finally broke. A young black kid (approx 20 yrs old 6' tall and skinny) started to get in to a verbal argument with someone in the crowd I assume about 15 ft away. Then lunged toward that person. There were people shoulder to shoulder between the two. As the kid lunged through the crowd girls started screaming as they were being run over by the kid. I at this point was right behind the kid and grabbed the back of his jacket holding him back. The kids girlfriend was also trying to hold him back but I think that I was doing most of the work. The shouting continued and he lunged a few more times. I did not let go untill his other friends moved in and held him back and tried to calm him down. They were about 4 to 5 young males of mixed race. The things his friends were saying were "you can beat the sh*& out of him" and " he is just a punk" etc. There was no visible police presence and no one called security. There was a sea of people behind me so I could not get to the terminal to get security. Strangly, no one else did anything. I was the only one that grabbed the kid besides his girlfriend until his other friends moved or pushed in and that was it. No one seemed to care or were afraid of getting involved and getting in to a fight with the group. This group of kids pushed towards the front of the mass of people seperating them a little more from the person that the kid was shouting with. But it then errupted again with a shouting match and his friends holding him back and threats of beating the sh%$ out of the other person at the next bus stop. after a while I had enough, since we were near the front I pushed through and walked out of the terminal via the bus exit probably not the safest thing and started to walk happy that there was no crush of people or idiots.
My question is what could I have done if the kid had decided to come after me. The fact is that he did not know that I had held him. He was totally focused on the other person and I assume thought that his friends were holding him back. Did I do the right thing? I reacted with out thinking in responds to the screaming. I assume that this situation is rather tame compared to other situations that I have read about.
student2