Attacked with a bottle

So here's my story,

I was out 2 nights ago celebrating my birthday. On my way to the bathroom I brush past a man, he claims I barged him. He's in my face, has 2 of his friends next to him, the walls behind me. Without any warning he glasses me, bloods coming out of my ear but I'm on my feet. His friends step in and separate us, to cut the story short I got the cops down who arrested the man and he's in custody awaiting trial.

I know there must be many out there who have been in a similar situation, I've seen it happen a few times, but to actually get glassed with so little warning or build up was completely unexpected to say the least.

I was in hospital all day yesterday running the incident again and again in my head. I'm 3 years out pf practice in martial arts. I practiced Wing Chun Kung Fu for a couple of years, 10 years before that I trained intensely in Tai Kwon Do.

I know that I could of punched this guy out. I know I could of predicted and blocked the attack. My training, which has been neglected, was for situations just like this. But when it came down to it, I didn't even have my hands up in the 'fence.' Even when I'd been bottled, I could have kept fighting, I've been wacked way harder than that in training. But the freeze took over. The shock and the fear.

My ear has been stitched up, the glass pierced the cartilage, I'll have a scar there but nothing too serious. Could have lost an eye, or could have been down on the floor with 3 thugs stamping my head. Read about someone who died after been stamped on the head recently.

Had to lay off martial arts because of back issues, I could still train but as I was restricted I stopped.

Now I'm thinking, the only way to live in life, to walk down the street, is by totally immersing myself in martial arts practice. Not just 2-3 times per week, but dedicated daily practice. I feel like **** right now, but this thought is what lifts the shock I've had to my system, the constant replaying of glass smashing against my head, the feeling of 'the freeze.'

Friend of mine who'd been in a similar if not worse situation shared with me how he felt after being brutally beaten up, for a while he was anxious about walking in public, he felt like he wasn't a 'man.' Though my experience is not as bad as the my friends, or the many acts of violence occuring tonight, I too feel this.

But I'm determined to make myself into the best martial artist I can be from this point on, regardless of back issues or any other restrictions. I'm taking this as a turning point and a lesson to not neglect my training and prepare for a world that is sometimes a violent place.

If anyone has experience and insight they could give me, would be great to read.

 

Chicks dig scars

At least it doesn't hurt hey? I nearly lost an eye 20 odd years ago in a glassing. Don't let it worry you, the odds of it happening twice are slim

 

I do have to warn you I later married the person that glassed me. Just a thought

 

Ew.

 

Feisty women :love:

 

girls glass too! I know a couple of women who both hate each other (I hate them both too, but thats another longer story) so was shocked and amused when I'd heard one had glassed the other in my local pub. I dunno if it was a glass or bottle but she doesn't have a scar nearly two years on, maybe lucky. Both of them are bully types (but they'd deny it). The one who did it is a bit psycho, too much charly and other party drugs me thinks. Fortunately I haven't seen her for ages and avoid the other one. The one who got hit is a loud mouth no BS ladette (I hate that word but it sort of fits) but she went to pieces (at the time). Okay now

 

heh. yup.

 

If it was as abrupt as it sounds, then there is probably not a lot you could have done. If someone is getting in my face I'll hold my right arm out in front of me as a barrier and to maintain a safe distance (because, for one thing, I am incredibly bad at defending against head butts). I'll try to keep my arm slightly bent so I'm still in striking range with my left, but none of that is a result of martial arts training (well, maybe a little).

All you can do now is move on. A couple of weeks ago...this anecdote is going to sound really tame after your glassing story, but anyway...a couple of weeks ago I was walking down the street minding my own business when all of a sudden something smacks me in the face. Hard. I literally didn't know what hit me. Anyway, it turned out to have been an egg that had been lobbed from an oncoming car. I cleaned myself off, removed the shell fragments from my face (surprisingly sharp, egg shell), went home and did a stack of laundry. Then I moved on. Don't get me wrong, I was fit to kill someone in the 20 minutes immediately afterwards. Whilst walking back covered in egg, I was praying for someone to make a smart alec comment so I could release some of that anger, but alas, a man bleeding from a dozen tiny wounds covered in egg with wrath filled eyes is apparently enough to stopper the cheek from the local youths.
But my point is, I just let it go, the wounds healed up, most of the stains came out of my clothes and I realised that there was not a lot I could have done to prevent it.
Yeah. Really tame, but I think the lesson holds.

 

Posting out of empathy - had a similar situation (although not as bad) last year, and felt pretty much exactly the same things you're describing in your post - the confusion, the anger and the shame/embarassment. I tried to (peacefully) separate a mate and a random angry guy in the street, and the angry guy's girlfriend smashed her mobile phone into the side of my face near my temple. Fortunately there was no freeze at all, which is good because angry guy decided I was now his target and started trying to punch me out - kinda crap considering I wasn't the one arguing with him to begin with, but it's not like anyone's rational mind was engaged at that point.

Anyway I stayed out of distance, he didn't manage to get me to ground or even really hit me again, and eventually bystanders called the cops and the two of them ran off. This was on a busy street at 10am.

Immediately afterwards I had friends asking me why I didn't "take him out", even taking the **** out of me a bit for not smashing the guy, asking "What's the point of all the martial arts you do if you can't fight?"...wasn't great for my self-esteem, to be honest. Made a hard situation harder. I ran over it again and again in my head the same way you're describing, but I didn't get any answers, and that's because (I believe) there really are none - you're trying to use your rational, civilised mind to understand something irrational and subconscious and savage, and you just can't. It will never make sense, no matter how hard you try. At least, that's what I believe at the moment...but I'm hardly an expert on real violence, maybe it's possible to understand it with enough time and exposure...but I don't think I'd want to.

I kept on training just as I had been, but there was a change of mindset for me - it was broken outside of the limits of being just a friendly game and I found a new level of meaning ("What am I really doing here?"), I just saw things differently. I didn't become some gung-ho psycho, it was more like...I dunno, just appreciating the gravity of what I was learning a little more.

If you haven't already, I'd strongly (as in, buy it NOW) recommend you read [ame=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meditations-Violence-Comparison-Martial-Training/dp/1594391181]Meditations on Violence[/ame] - it was a huge help to me in making more sense of the psychological gap between the dojo and the street.

In the end you will be stronger for what you went through, and the guy who glassed you will just stay the same or get worse. Your ego is dented now, but you can put that down easily if you choose to - it means nothing because you're alive and you have a chance to learn. Don't throw it away by dwelling on the negative, and don't allow it to make you obsessive about your training - that's fear controlling you. Use it to make yourself stronger.

Ganbatte mate, take care.

 

Hi Tman and Drewcifer. You're not alone. I've been bottled too. What you're feeling if 100% normal. The fact is that dojo training doesn't translate perfectly into self-protection. Not even Muay Thai (!) which is what I'd been training in at the time.

Meditations on Violence is a very good book and recommended reading. After being bottled (twice!) I came across Geoff Thompson's books, notably Dead or Alive. These helped me make sense of martial arts compared to the reality of violence. Dead or Alive is very, very highly recommended reading.

www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Alive-Self-Pr...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302386162&sr=1-2

I subsequently did some workshops with Geoff Thompson's chief instructors (www.realcombatsystem.co.uk), which were utterly brilliant.

Peter Consterdine's Streetwise book is good too: it gives lots of explanations about awareness and avoidance, as well as adapting martial arts to the reality of violent confrontations. The book suffers from bad editing/spelling, but Peter is an authority on self-protection and covers awareness/avoidance based on enormous experience in this field.

www.amazon.co.uk/Streetwise-Complet...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302386038&sr=1-1

 

Normal people who haven't been there hesitate. Once you've been there, you'll never hesitate again. It's a good lesson, if expensive.

BTW, that individual now exists solely for your pleasure, if you're so inclined.

 

Would it have been bad for him legally/morally if he started attacking while the verbal aggression was going on? I mean like... if he had made the first move?

 

Thanks for this advice, I agree with not letting fear become the master, that can turn you into an idiot pretty quickly...
I do feel the situation could have been handled better with correct training, at the same time it could have been alot worse, I might still be in hospital right now...

 

Yeah, wounds heal and I've been through alot worse, thanks for the reminder. Some things are unavoidable, they just happen. I could have taken better steps than I did though, as someone who has a basic understanding of martial arts I know this.

My instinct had been telling me to get out of the place, I was actually on my way out but decided to use the bathroom first, that's when the incident kicked off...

 

This was good to read, thanks alot.

I reckon what shocked me was not the sudden pain of being hit, but the sheer violent intent behind it. Mental dirt if you like. I can't understand why anyone would actually want to use glass in a fight, especially if the other person is unarmed. No, I can't understand it in the slightest and with the exception of understanding what I need to understand for self defence, I would never want to.

I like to get from a to b with minimum fuss, never really been into the whole fighting thing, always found checking out girls and playing music to be a lot more interesting. But others around don't quite see the world that way and its important to consider that. Just because I'd never consider biting a Doberman, don't mean the dog wouldn't bite me.

Going to check out the book you recommended.

Yes, the idiot who did the glassing will probably remain one for life, until someone kills him or he ends up in prison. I can use this for my development, thanks for pointing that out mate.

 

Instinct can tell you a lot, but mother nature can interrupt even your sharpest sensory awareness. You were really, really unlucky there.

As the years go by, I become much more cautious in public places and what kind of company is there.

 

Been reading up Geoff Thompson stuff all morning! Just finished watching Romans 1220...
I've ordered two of his books and will study them carefully, there going to be my 'survival manual' for a while. Very interested in 'The Fence,' I did something very similar in Wing Chun a few years back.

My first reaction to the intro of 'Dead or Alive' was that this guy is a hard nut and that's something I can't relate to, I'm pretty active and love training, but am not into violence. But as the intro went on my jaw dropped....

The extracts of his workshops on youtube are very moving, after I've read his books I might well check out the workshops as well.

Thanks for the recommendations, I will be checking them out. Cheers mate...