Meaningless until you go to a bar. Then it’s the most important job in the world.
Just kidding, I know what you mean.
But I did work as a bartender during some summer hollidays and when you’re single and in your 20s it really comes with some nice perks.
Amazing how an indoctrinated rube like doogie has a better reading comprehension than the enlightened castoli.
And I train MMA and hide knives all over my vehicles and under my bed for no reason too. Had some prick jump in through my window when I was young, thankfully i was out, and steal a bunch of stuff out of my room and now I’m as paranoid as Putin visiting Crimea. At the end of the day, no matter the laws, if someone threatens my family I would prefer to act like Israel in the Six Day War and bugger the consquences
I’d personally think all those places would be better than NZ, as much as we need some skilled people coming into this country. I hope your move works out well for you tho!
It’s going to be at least three years from now but have to start planning as soon as possible.
Many places are specifically looking for my skill set though which helps.
Just those impressive biceps in ya pic should get you a job most places!
I’m in Aus
Considerably less politically correct country relative to New Zeland BUT the self defence laws are similarly heinous
With exception for WA (lets you carry pepper spray), about the only thing you can reasonably do to defend yourself is learn a martial art
Problem is… properly learning a martial art is dangerous and requires you to commit quite a lot of time to training… and no matter how good you are, a lot of ‘street altercations’ here involve a group of say twelve teenagers jumping one guy.
No matter how good you are… multiple opponents are multiple opponents… and no amount of martial arts can save you from getting stabbed if they’re armed. It’s just a matter of how many times you wind up getting stabbed.
Best ‘self defence’ tool is having situational awareness.
100% correct mate.
Some ugly situations over your way in Alice Springs etc. My mothers family come from Tamworth/Armidale area and its rough enough in places there.
There are mitigation strategies
Yesterday my best friend saw a pretty girl, he looked at her and she started screaming about child rape… he was stunned… and due to shock/fight or flight response activating he froze… she began dashing towards him, screaming “YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CHILD RAPE! CHILD RAPIST!”
He sped up, and eventually had to sprint home as she was following him… screaming. He’s in a good neighbourbood…
I was recently walking out at night with my parents and some gacked out crackie was screaming at the top of his lungs… fighting some invisible figure and throwing glass bottles… this was also in a good area…
Sometimes I wonder if we would be better off with the opiate epidemic that America has. Australia now has the highest per capita use of methamphetamine in the developed world.
I say this because the opiates seem to lead to zombies sleeping on curbs, occasional violent crime as addicts of harder substances like meth, heroin, alcohol etc sometimes resort to crime in order to support their habit.
But meth induced psychosis is scary… and it lasts DAYS… we actually have very strict drug laws in most of Aus… the laws don’t seem to matter.
I think people are resorting to methamphetamine out of desparation and boredom.
Martial arts could help you here (1v1 violent assault). But they also have crazy strength. In this 1v1 scenario provided the individual isn’t armed (most don’t appear to be… not armed… just psychotic) grappling is probably the go to
I imagine they’d hardly feel even the hardest of punches… but a takedown is a takedown… a pin is a pin… a blood choke is a blood choke
All the meth in the world can’t stop you from being put to sleep. Leverage + skill… probably better than relying on boxing prowess when the person will never go down in a million years.
As to the don’t get drunk aspect. Of the people I know who have been beaten up (usually by eshays)… it usually goes down like this
Not that I think this is acceptable… but play stupid games… win stupid prizes… predators prey on the weak
A few piss drunk young adults on their lonesome? EASY target
King punches happen like this too.
Public transport because… lot of muggings on public transport. My cousin was held at knifepoint over his phone and laptop.
Ive been fortunate. Worst thing that ever happened to me was relatively minor. Had my nose broken and my phone taken at a metal festival (long story). Once again… I was by myself, and I was drunk
This was years ago. With around 80% of the fights i’ve seen unfold, alcohol was somehow involved… 10% of the time other drugs… other 10% = bad luck.
With Alice Springs the perpetrators of violent crime are predominantly indigenous, and victims are selected indiscriminately. In areas like rural vic the perpetrators are bogan/white trash subtypes.
In Melbourne it’s a mixed bag, largely dependent on the suburb you are in. Thank GOD we don’t have a lot of racially motivated violence here.
Much more common in USA and Europe.
What’s your focus in MMA? Striking or grappling?
Or anti grappling (decent striker with good takedown defence and mediocre ground fighting)?
Before my body fell apart… as a kiddo/adolescent I did contact karate for seven years (the kind that spars. Not the kata focused or point sparring karate). Having done Muay Thai and a bit of kickboxing now… I can only really describe what I did as ‘kickboxing in a Gi’. I was one stripe off getting my shodan before I quit. I was chronically injured, had constant tendonitis etc.
When I got older I got back into martial arts. Did boxing for around a year. 3-6 months of muay thai, some basic grappling
Once again… constant injuries no one else seemed to be getting, excessive bruising. I was known for having a particuarly hard straight punch + right hook. I attribute that to the seven years of karate. There was a decent amount of carryover from ‘kickboxing in a gi’ to muay thai… not so much boxing (head movement)
I never forgot how to throw a punch. Almost every altercation I’ve ever been in has ended with one or two hard strikes. Lot of benefit to learning how to actually throw a punch. Almost every man thinks he can fight, almost every man thinks he will “just see red”.
In reality they’ll throw telegraphed punches that lack speed and precision. Sometimes you’ll find someone who is aggressive and has a naturally powerful punch… but they’ll still ‘spray and pray’. As to grappling… the mere four months of grappling I did (mostly wrestling, a tad of BJJ) at the time still enabled me to take down someone who had just walked in for their first day, and it made me harder to take down… four months is NOTHING…
There’s the concept of a punchers chance. Striking is intuitive, anyone above say… 150lbs can in theory throw a punch capable of knocking someone out… there is no grapplers chance… you either know how to sprawl, takedown, pin and submit or you don’t.
Trying to grapple with someone who actually knows how to grapple will always end badly. Trying to box/strike with someone who has more than a year or two of decent grappling experience will end terribly 9 times out of 10. Same for striking… but a grappler can REALLY hurt you.
Imagine a high crotch takedown or a suplex/ura nage on concrete… my favourite takedowns were blast double and snatch single. I wasn’t technical and relied a lot on explosive strength as opposed to decent grips/setups… I wasn’t a good grappler. Even then… blast double on concrete?
But also a lot of risk. The injuries can be catastrophic. I’ve seen cracked ribs, broken noses, dislocated shoulders (including my own), torn MCL/ACL’s, concussions… I remember going into school with a black eye and a swollen face in the 7th grade from sparring with some kid who was absolutely nuts (and was significantly taller and heavier than I was). He landed a kick to my face that was so hard I saw stars… I’ve never been hit like that since…
A family man can’t necessarily afford to take the risk associated with learning martial arts
If I can ever do martial arts again (my pathologically hypermobile body really won’t like it)… I want to get into grappling… particuarly BJJ. It’s VERY technical/technique driven and I don’t have to worry about head trauma.
I’d probably limit myself to 2-3x per week as opposed to the 5-7x/wk routine I previously had. Perhaps a freestyle wrestling class every now and again. Wrestling is SO much fun… but easily the most injury prone MA I can think of… perhaps Judo is worse due to the high amplitude throws, twisting motions (knees, shoulders etc).
Fighting is retarded. You never who is armed, whether the individual knows how to fight, how many assailants are present. Some guys who look like lanky noodles can kill you barehanded without breaking a sweat. Another muscle bound, lifelong weightlifter might not even be able to throw or take a decent punch.
Generally the ques to me knowing “this guy can’t fight” are
“I just see red bro”
“I’ll just sucker punch/hit to the groin! I’ll make sure I win”
“I don’t need training! I’ve learnt from the streets”
"Fighting angry’’ when “seeing red” or whatever means you’ll gas out quickly, you’ll throw wild punches and make mistakes. It is very easy to take someone down who has NO idea how to spawl, scramble or maintain decent posture.
Seriously… most people (myself included at the moment) can’t take ONE good punch from a boxer, nor could they stomach an explosive takedown from a wrestler… nor are they going to ‘bite their way’ out of a BJJ submission. It’s amazing as to how men in partiucar greatly overestimate how good they are at fighting. I bet the average joe can’t even take a good low kick/calf kick. It took me a long time before I could tolerate low kicks (provided they were done with power).
I’m NOT a fighter… I’m too crippled and deconditioned to fight… but I can still throw a better punch relative to the vast majority of men because muscle memory + many years of refining techniques = having an advantage.
I find it very frustrating when non trained individuals get all insecure around trained individuals (NOT ME… I wouldn’t even consider myself trained anymore!) and start spouting off about how bodies hit the floor when they see red.
It irritates me because it is insulting to those who have put in the time and effort into learning these arts… all the risk, dedication etc
It’s like some fatass telling a buff colleague “oh that’s not that impressive. You’ve got 17 inch arms… bro when I was your age I had 17.2 inch arms with 5% bodyfat and… what? You said you could bench 315? I could bench 320… for ten sets of fifty reps!”
No… shut up and give credit where credit is due.
If you don’t want to train… great! But don’t talk about how you can best the martial artist unless you are actually willing to step on the mats/in the ring. If you can’t even win in a controlled environment… you definately can’t best him in hand to hand combat when all bets are off. Your punchers chance… you better hope that sucker punch/first strike ohases the fighter. If the guy has a decent chin, you are FUCKED!
Even pure wrestlers seem to be able to take a decent punch from an untrained individual… getting thrown into the mat again and again will do that to you. Wrestling might not have strikes… but there’s a lot of rough grabbing, slapping hands down, the occaisonal accidental knee/elbow… and a cross face done right feels fairly similar to getting smacked…
They might not take a barrage of punches from a boxer well… but chances are they close distance and only have to eat a shot or two at most.
The martial artist can also gouge eyes, aim for the groin, throat, ear drums etc… AND they’ll be better at it relative to the untrained individuals attempt
Very few adults train martial arts. The chances a street fight breaking out between two martial artists is very low. It’s usually between untrained individuals or ‘street fighters’.
Martial arts are second to none for self defence against unarmed assailants. They can even be effective against assailants wielding blunt objects (baseball bat etc). Dare I even say the odds MIGHT be in your favour depending on how good you are.
But against someone wielding a knife or a gun? No way… you are dead…
Perhaps grappling someone with a gun mignt save you 10% of the time… but against getting stabbed? Or pepper sprayed and smacked with just about any odd object (rock etc) in the vicinity… Grappling or striking… zero chance… just run
Also. Self defence laws are too harsh here…
But they shouldn’t be too lax either. There is a fine line between self defence and excessive force
If someone runs at your wife… you shoot him a couple times and he goes down… you call the cops… after you hang up you empty the rest of your clip into the guy and/or shoot him in the head… that’s no longer self defence.
It’s lost on him, which is the hilarious part.
We talk a lot about how bad America has become, but it’s really not bad except in some major cities.
I would suggest, if he is no longer a threat, to call a lawyer first. If it’s not at your home, I would suggest leaving the scene, you need to assure the safety of your wife, then call a lawyer.
What? And leave the greatest nation in the world behind?
I am no longer young, born in 1971, those days are long gone.
More like oligarchy. We, contrary to popular belief, do not live in a democracy.
Even worse.
Plenty of other African countries were colonized by invaders from countries other than the U.S. So they were slaves under the rule of others. Living in the ghettos of the U.S. is no excuse for slavery.
Curious, do you think those soldiers thought that the slaves should have been paid for their labor?
Correct, but I can’t just let the immense amount of ignorance on here go on w/o being challenged.
But leave it’s legacy in tact.