When you're sitting down, a dude comes siting next to you

[TzuChan]

Here's the scenario :

I'm going to school this morning, ready to kick in overdrive for my exam. I'm waiting in the tubes for the next sub, then a fellow comes sitting next to me, so we're both facing the wall (the rails ..) so if I turn my head 90° I look right in his face, and the distance between us was .. not much at all.

The dude tells me to give all my money .. I'm like uh ?
Then he asks again and he tells me 'Give me one Euro or I'll kick your teeth out' , funny as it sounds I was trying to find a way to give him a smack in the face and run really really fast. But I like lol totally didn't know what to do in that position I just said something like 'chill chill, give me a sec' stood up, took my wallet, then I did that thing like 'uh what's that behind you ?' you know, when you suddenly 'gaz/stare' somewhere behind him, well he turned around to look too, I simply ran as fast as I could lol, not a scratch on my body, but I'm guessing this won't always work, so how would you hit him, no way to get out, only fighting, how exactly would you neutralise him to be able to run off, when he's down for a few sec (suppose that one actually tries to hunt me down ..)

[Former castleva]

I hope I got this right,he is sitting close to you,at your side? (may it be left or right)
If that is the case,it would seem to be relatively ease to drop him while he wants you to act.
You could try to:
1.hit his temple with your elbow-strike to side (blow to side,supposing that he is close to you as you told)
2.Strike him to throat with your forearm,elbow or knifehand-strike to rear/side (if distance and his position fits in)
3.Strike him to peak of jaw with your elbow-strike to rear (previous techniques are extremely dangerous,even though it might be a threatening situation,think carefully.This one is slightly more "understanding")
4.Strike him to area right below the ear (nerve center,touch/rub it,you´ll sense it ) with spear hand (fingers lining up,slightly cupped) maybe phoenix-eye or related hand maneuver that covers target area and suits you (not with full power,but in a "drilling"/jabbing motion,to cause distraction/pain and possibly momentarily unconciousnes (not sure of my spelling though...)
5.Grab his right wrist with your right (supposing that he is at your left side,if not,then left) if he has grabbed your lapel,sleeve,shoulder or neck with his right (again,supposing that he´s at your left side,it will help you to use his body mechanics against him.If not,and his position seems difficult,you´ll have to reject this technique)
Put your left forearm,or alternatively wrist at his side and put it under his chin (you can add a light side strike with previous areas to his adam´s apple,chin or throat) lift/twist his head backwards with your arm and violently smash it against the wall.

There would be more.
All of these are my own improvisations,built on actual MA body mechanics and forms though.
BTW,If it´s only that one euro he wants,you may give it to him.
You really don´t have to,it´s legal to defend yourself but he might be armed and willing to do harm to you,sometimes it´s better to do what they say to stay healthy,then let people of authority know about it afterwards.

I hope this helps a bit.

[Unstoppable]

hi budyy! from this position an elbow Strike to the Head is appropriate and will often hurt and cause bleeding. The Stunning afdfect of this type of Strike should not be Undersestimeated and will give you an opp. to escape!

[Boffo]

I think the defense you choose (redirection and run) was probably the safest and definately the most legal.

Sadly, if you are assaulted, you can get in trouble for hurting your attacker in your defense.

Rather than quote any specifics of the legal issue, may I suggest you check with your local police as to what lengths you can go with self-defense before getting into trouble.

[Hau Tien]

Other than the ego issue (which can be annoying :P ) you chose exactly the right method of dealing with this guy... although I would have reported him to school authorities.

ALWAYS choose to escape if you can... you may get a bruised ego from "I know I coulda kicked his ass!", but at least it's only a bruised ego and not a knife or bullet in the gut.

Again... good choice!

Hau Tien

[Budokan]

BWAHAHAHAHA! You mean to tell me this dumb f*ck fell for the old, "Hey, what's that behind you" trick? That's classic.

You handled it perfectly, seeing as how this guy was obviously f*cking retarded to fall for something like that. My only carp, you should have blasted him in the nuts, rupturing them into jam just so he couldn't reproduce and spread his stupid genetic material throughout the herd. Other than that, you behaved honorably, IMO.

[Ludeviews]

One thing to think about

This dude didn't want one Euro off you.....he was waiting for you to go to your wallet, then he would have nicked the lot......sometimes they do this in pairs so always be wary but never get your wallet out.

....peeps like this would probably turn around and leave you alone if you told 'em to **** off but its not worth the risk.

You pulled a good move!!

[MonkeySlap Too]

Back in college I knew a German exchange student that this happened to on his second day in the states.

Only there was a bunch of them and they had a dull, rusty knife.

The train lurched to a stop, and he kicked one in the nads and ducked out the door.

Doesn't really answer your question, but it shows we have stupid criminals too.

Next time try these:

"Your shoelace is untied"

"Pull my finger"

"Your Philtrum is showing."

[NPMantis]

You did the right thing mate, the guy was an idiot - you're not.

Give him a finger strike to groin or eyes and make sure you don't leave yourself open, keep up a good guard.

It's terrible people can't walk the streets without sometry trying something, in an ideal world kung fu would really be for spirituality and fitness alone

[WingTsun20]

Well, if I was sat next to the guy and he said that. I would do a nice gam sau(downward push out of S-N-T always lead with elbow!) into his bladder hopefully they will make him wet himself and take mind of things. That would probably bring his head down and I would finish him off with a back fist uppercut out of Chum Kui form!
Then **** OFF!
But it depends what comes naturally, and what mood you are in!

[woodsnake]

Good form, TzuChan - I always think it's better to gauge your response to what the situation is. No need to kill someone if you can get away unscathed. I would always prefer to use my little Kung-Fu legs to run the hell away from a bad situation if possible.

Staying out of prison for killing a worthless idiot is always a good goal - and I agree with Hau Tien on the bruised ego stuff - it's always tough (but smarter) to run away.

Cheers!

[SSgungfu]

As much as I'd like to fight off a mugger in the subway who probably has nothing to lose, id rather just run away. i would probably use forceful methods if he grabbed my arm or did something of that nature, but when that happens it could be too late.

i prefer a forearm strike to the neck, its the simplest of the attacks in that situation (you dont have to worry about missing the spot behind the ear or something), and would probably stun him long enough for you to get away. haha, hope i wont have to do that anytime soon though.

[Shadow Dragon]

TzuChan.

I think you did the right thing.

Yes, you could have hurt him when he was sitting there.
But unless there is a witness that heard and saw what happened you might be in a bit of Doodoo if a Cop or Security Guard got involved.

It appears as if the Guy was not armed, thus your reaction could be construed as excessive force.

Plus, what if you got him hurt/arrested and his Buddies decide to pay you a courtesy visit at 02:00am??

Peace.

[norther practitioner]

back hand to the eyes or something...I would have left also...but if push came to shove

[Kristoffer]

Nice handeling the situation. If I would have chosen to attack I would have executed a elbow attack against his head from that sitting possision, then probebly would have tried to get away.