L. Camejo

Hi Mike,

Funny you should ask that.

This topic is posted on Budoseek.net as well and also has some interesting opinions.

The general premise on the original mailing list was that the subject of the attack lacked awareness of his surroundings and the degree of danger he was in and basically should have taken the opportunity to get out of the place before it escalated to the physical assault. It appeared that the cell phone somehow had him psychologically insulated and distracted from what was going on around him (much like drivers who use cell phones and cause accidents by ignoring their surroundings).

They pretty much agreed that the attacker had come into the pizza parlor intent on beating down somebody from the outset and the cell phone guy got elected. Generally it was agreed that the use of lethal force was not recommended (mainly for legal reasons) since the attacker, though huge, was unarmed, however to survive that encounter one should be prepared to use that level of force (i.e. enter the mindset) but end the conflict as quickly as possible by initiating the attack. The key would be to use extreme, targeted violence in a precise manner that would shock the attacker and end the conflict quickly before he launched his first bomb. Basically let him know he was not the only "killer" in the room so to speak (of course this calls for the requisite mindset and cannot really be faked to someone who already has it). Something I alluded to with my Shomen Ate concept - take him out before he takes you out and LEAVE. Ideally though, folks should have tried to leave the situation during the slight pause between the woman walking to the door and her boyfriend coming in to set it off or even earlier if possible. Escape, escape, escape.

One comment on that list was that folks did the typical "social norm restoration" thing where they were mulling around trying to regain psychological balance and a sense of normalcy after they thought the manager had evicted the woman. So they were all caught flat footed when the big man came in ready to rumble and they were trying to return to peace and harmony mode.

It was apparent to these folks, who deal regularly with criminals and that sort, that the boyfriend was accustomed to using his size etc. as intimidation tactics and doing that sort of assuault, which is a very popular method used in prisons for the shock factor. The idea is to shock the entire group by making a quick, devastating "Blitzkrieg" atttack which serves to destroy the target quickly while effectively extinguishing any ideas from the audience to jump in and do anything. It basically does not last long enough for the bystanders to start thinking about the situation and get emotionally riled up enough to do something while at the same time giving them a sample of what they may be in for if they did do something.

The mailing list basically consists of a lot of current and ex-law enforcement and military and a lot of folks who have learnt the principles of real life self defence by being in real life self defence. There are also a few martial artists on there too. Makes for some interesting discussion when the Dojo Darlings meet the Survivors of the Real. Good thing is they are very good about sharing information and thoughts so that others don't have to repeat their mistakes and get their injuries to learn.

This was part of why I liked this video. In an instant it shows how things can go from zero to WTF? and helps us see what the real world looks like a bit, which I hope would act as some sort of aid to that fringe group who may attempt to train their martial art towards effective real life self defence as part of their training.
LC