I know this question is one that probably has plagued us all before, but i have to ask...
for you to understand this situation i need to explain in detail so my apologies for the verbosity.
Last Saturday I was walking home with a friend once the night club had shut. I was aware of 3 younger guys following us, stupidly we turned down into a lane as a shortcut home, something we usually do. Once in the lane the 3 guys confronted us, with absolutely no reason whatsoever, they were trying to pick a fight.
The main guy (the initiator) came right up close to me. At this point I was concentrating on keeping all three in front of me, so it was necessary for me to back off a little. The guy stepped in closer still. I had my arms up in mun-sau / wu-sau but with the hands in such a way that looked less kung fu and more "calm down".
He stepped in so close that he walked into my hands, which he then started trying to hit out of the way, to my amazement i could read these movements so well that my arms weren't there to hit by the time his hand reached them and also to my amazement i placed my hands on his face, just the same amount of contact i use in chi sau, at one point i had one hand behind his neck, aware i could easily lap and elbow/punch.
My response to his goading was to just repeat the same thing over i.e "calm down", "not going to fight", "we're going home" etc. i still wasnt sure if he was going to attempt to hit me or not, so i was just in a constant state of readiness to hit.
It became more serious when the initiator picked up a fluorescent tube light that was broken, it was very sharp. Without thinking i stepped up to him and held one hand lightly on his elbow at his side, so i could feel him move it, i also didnt want to give him room to swing, the close proximity felt more comfortable.
At this point, one of the three realised how stupid the whole thing had got and tried to calm his mate down. Me and my mate started walking off, they still followed, shouting abuse, but i just kept shouting back "goodnight lads".
Ok, phew, my question really is how do you judge when to hit someone or when to wait to see how it pans out? I was constantly prepared to strike, my brain working on overdrive to pick up on all the clues. After the situation, im always left with a feeling of "i wish i smacked the f*%!"*& w*!£*"s!!!!" but also relieved nothing violent happened. Are there signs and pointers to watch out for in situations like this? or is it best left to your own judgement at the time? So far i've walked away from every potential fight situation without one punch being thrown (touch wood), something im glad of, and i know a lot of people in my situation would have used violence, im wondering how to work out the best time for each.
aaaaaaaaaaand relax
