Another option my friend employs which works very well is to strip down naked and start running around in circles screaming gibberish.
Have unfortunalty seen it employed a few times and each time the assailant left confused and no punches thrown. Could be hard to get out of the waders quickly enough though:). -sean On Wed, 12 Dec 2001 12:08:15 Lisa and Jeff Hale wrote: >Roger- > I grew up as an amatuer boxer, also. I was also a damn good wrestler >and am a wrestling coach at the school I teach mathematics (so I get >lots of practice with 14 year olds pounding on me for two hours at a >time). I am 210 pounds, and 6 feet tall. Not real big, but not real >small either. I am in good cardiovascular and muscular shape, and can >be mentally tenacious. However, I am not stupid and most importantly, >have had my ass kicked enough times that I am very realistic. I do not >feel capable to always guarantee the total defense of myself (and >perhaps family) against one or multiple assailants. Anybody who has >ever been in a real physical confrontation knows two things: 1) There >is no-way in hell one man can take on two or three and leave them lying >on the ground while he walks away unscathed. It just doesn't work that >way. Anybody who thinks different has either been lulled into a false >sense of physical prowess or has watched too many Bruce Lee, Steven >Seagal, and Jackie Chan movies. 2) No-one "WINS" a fight, somebody just >gets hurt less. > I have had three major incidents in the last ten years. Two involved >men threatening me with a piece of pipe and a baseball bat, >respectively. In both cases, I was completely surprised and did not >have a clue as to why these individuals were upset with me. One pulled >in front of my car on a dirt road and blocked me, similar to your >experience, and insisted that I was purposely driving slow to piss him >off. The second fellow followed me up a dirt road towards a piece of >public water, and said I drove over his lawn and intruded on his >property. I had no recollection of EVER doing this. I offered that >perhaps he had the wrong person. I apologized anyway, was polite, tried >talking my way out it. He would have nothing of it. He wanted to hit >me with that bat. I could smell the beer on him from 10 paces. I just >kept moving and never let him corner me. Eventually, he got tired of >this game and left. Thank-God. > The last encounter was on the Skykomish while I was fishing from the >bank. To make it short, a very large, tattooed man muscled downstream >into my drift and started throwing gear. I approached him (big mistake) >and told him that it was not polite to do that. Words flared, he put >down his rod on the bank and was preparing to pummel me, which I have no >doubt he could have, when several other anglers watching came and stood >beside me and made it clear that he was now going to have to knock-out >five of us, not just one. He turned and left. Again, thank-God. > Anyway, I have never carried a gun even though I own them. My biggest >fear is that if I did have a gun with me, I might actually use it, and >perhaps out of anger rather than appropriate self defense (and you know, >smoking somebody could really throw a kink into your fishing trip). I >have considered carrying one in my truck to use as a last line of >defense. But, in two of my three confrontations, I was able to talk my >way out of it. In the last situation, the worst case scenario was that >I would have had to endure a whippin' and nurse my pride. > As one of the other members responded, I do believe that we attract to >us what we send out. I know this sounds like some kind of karmic BS, >but I have found that lately, I have had no run-ins. I decided to >forget about the jerks, have fun, and most importantly, to leave my >fears OF WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN at home with the rest of my troubles. When I >fish, I do not want to have to be in an offensive, defensive, and >aggressive frame of mind. To stay in that space is uncomfortable as >hell and really detracts from my focus on the fishing at hand. > To carry a firearm is a personal choice that may work well for some and >not for others. I am going to try the method of not carrying one and >relying on my brain to get me out of any trouble I might encounter. >But, at the same time, I do acknowledge that real danger exists, that >there are BAD GUYS, and it is completely possible to be in a situation >where a gun could save your life. Roger, I think that carrying a gun >might be the right choice for you. You sound like a even-tempered, and >intelligent kind of guy. I wish everyone that carried guns where as >well-trained and thoughtful as you. I have nothing against individuals >that make that choice. But for right now, I am choosing different. >Jeff Hale > P.S. I nailed seven nice bows from 14-18 inches at lake Tahuyeh near >Seabeck on the peninsula. Was using an intermediate line and a #10 >black bodied, brown hackled woolly bugger. > > Get 250 color business cards for FREE! http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/
