Did you know that in some states you have a "Duty to Retreat"? That means that in those cases BEFORE you use self defense you have to attempt to leave the situation. That is a big deal for a martial artist. After being trained to respond you are more than likely to respond instead of retreating.
Did you know that 15 states have an exemption to that Law? And that even in those states you are more than likely going to be arrested even if your "self-defense" was justified. remember that in our country Courts decide guilt and innocence, NOT COPS!
As a Martial Artist there is a lot more to consider than just "fighting back." In fact fighting back will most definitely get you landed in Jail, even if it was self-defense. As I have already stated the police are going to err on the side of arresting all combatants and letting Juries and Judges figure out the details.
So what do you do? Here are some things to consider.
- Do you know the laws specific to your state
- in a real situation is it worth going to Jail
- How will you defend yourself in court
- will your System, Instructor, or Dojo support you in court
- will you be able to stop when you once you are in control
All of these are very important things to know BEFORE you are in a self-defense situation.
For today lets just start with a discussion on what Self-Defense is and isn't.
Self-Defense Justifying your actions as reasonable force used in your own defense, or the defense of others. Now that is pretty vague. it covers a lot of ground, such as what is reasonable? How do you define "in defense of others. It may be easier to define what it is not.
Self-Defense is not "Combatives" most combative systems are developed by the military or by para-military organizations. The rules of engagement in those situations are different. Let me paint a picture for you. During the LA riots the US Marines were providing support for the LA police force. A police officer tells the Marine Automatic Rifle Man "COVER ME" so the marine complied by spraying the side of a building with automatic fire from his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, with a 200 round drum and cyclic rate of fire of 100 rounds a minute. Now I have no proof that this actually happened but it was a story passed around when I was in the Corps. And it shows you the difference from Military to Civilian Police force thinking. The Marine did what Marines do, cover with fire. In the Military it is acceptable to take life in order to achieve objectives, that is a fact of war.
Self-Defense is not about defending your pride. Name calling is not an acceptable reason to "defend yourself." That's fighting and in the courts is considered Assault. As long as there is no threat of Physical Violence, either literal or implied, you don't have a case for self-defense.
Self-Defense isn't about vengeance. If you are forced to defend yourself and you by use of training (or just pure instinct and aggression) gain control of the situation you are required by low to STOP your attack. Any force past what is necessary for defense is Assault. If you are attacked and gain the upper hand, and then the assailant stops his attack you must cease as well.
Depending on the situation may or may not be allowed to pursue an assailant depending on the circumstances. As long as you have a reasonable fear for yourself or others you may continue to try to control the situation or contain it, even to the point of holding your attacker until the police arrive. If however, and attacker tries to flee and you not only chase them down but then attack them then you have crossed the line from Defense to Assault.
As we have seen here there is a lot more to self-defense than just "fighting back" This is not intended to be legal advice, just a thought provoking exercise in what you should think about before you are ever involved in defending yourself. Does this mean you should defend yourself, absolutely not and even if I believed that the decision is always yours. It means that you need to be smart about when, where and why you would engage in a physical confrontation.
here are a couple of good sources for info, much of what I have said here started with Ideas gleaned from these pages if you visit them make sure you have time to ponder and an open mind!
http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/self-defense.htm
http://www.alljujitsu.com/self-defense-law.html
~Sensei TJ
