Adapted from Murphy’s Laws of Combat & Andy Moynihan

1. The Police don’t always come to the rescue.
2. If the aggressor is in range, so are you.
3. Incoming attacks have the right of way.
4. The only problem with leaving before trouble starts is the trouble has already started.
5. Aggressors invariably attack on two occasions:  1) when you’re ready for them and 2) when you’re not ready for them.
6. A throbbing head and sore ribs are nature’s way of telling you to leave before the trouble starts.
7. If your counter-attack is going well, then it’s an ambush and the aggressor’s friends are on the way.
8. Anything you do can get you punched, including nothing.
9. Every off-handed comment which can be misunderstood will be.
10. Finding yourself under arrest and in jail is nature’s way of telling you to leave before the trouble starts.
11. If you’re short of everything but aggressive yahoos, you’re in a danger zone.
12. Remember, a retreating aggressor is probably just falling back and gathering his buddies.
13. If at first you don’t succeed … clear the danger zone.  Try running.
14. Street experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
15. If enough data is collected, a lawyer can prove ANYTHING.
16. When two tigers fight one dies and one is injured.
17. Whatever technique you plan to use will be the wrong one.
18. Never argue with an idiot, people won’t be able to tell you two apart.
19. Not wanting to ‘hurt’ your attacker ‘too much’ will result in more hurt for both of you.
20. You are not Superman; 1^st Dan Black Belts take note.
21. If it’s stupid but it works, it isn’t stupid.
22. No self defense plan ever survives initial contact.
23. Important things are always simple; the simple are always hard.
24. An emergency room visit for multiple contusions, fractures and soft tissue damage is nature’s way of telling you to LEAVE BEFORE THE TROUBLE STARTS!
25. Once you are in the fight it is way too late to wonder if it’s a good idea.
26. Sometimes, being good and lucky still is not enough.
27. There is no such thing as a fair fight — only ones where you win or lose.
28. If you can think clearly, know exactly what’s happening, and have total control of a fight, then you’re not in a fight.
29. Fighting does not determine who is right, fighting determines who is left.
30. If it’s worth fighting for…it’s worth fighting dirty for.
31. Never use a contact weapon (like a stick) when you can legally use a distance weapon (like a gun), never use pure hand-to hand when you can legally use a contact weapon, never engage at all if there is a REASONABLE way not to.
32. Incoming unarmed attacks always conceal an incoming contact weapon.
33. Your cell phone will fail as soon as you need 911.
34. However you may choose to go armed with whatever is legal for you; always expect that your first defense actions will be unarmed.
35. If you ever need to defend yourself, at least one of the attacker’s relatives will be a lawyer.
36. Well-rehearsed self defense routines tend to fail at night, in bad weather, and especially during both.
37. The longer and more complicated the movement sequence, the greater the opportunity for the attacker to counter it.
38. The longer you allow the fight to continue, the greater the chance of sustaining serious injury.
39. Base your movement choices on principles rather than techniques. You can screw up something like a technique, but you will have to get up real early in the morning to screw up something like, say, gravity…..
40. The witnesses are never watching until you make a mistake.
41. The police never arrive until you make a mistake.
42. The more you’ve done your homework on both legal and tactical fronts, the longer it takes to make the mistake.
43. If someone is giving you trouble in front of witnesses leave the area. That way, if he follows, he cannot claim it was self defense but you can.
44. If everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane. Get OFF the line of attack.
45. If you allow the attacker to keep his balance and mobility, he will have control of his body and you will be in a fight.
46. A good plan, now, beats a perfect plan dreamt up 10 seconds too late.
47. Most of your attackers will be bigger, in a group, armed, or any combination thereof. All things being equal, you lose. Cheat fair and square.
48. Body parts will sustain damage in direct proportion to their value. Get done, get away.
49. Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.
50. The more parts there are in a technique, the more there are to go wrong. Make sure you have a technique to swear BY, not AT.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 8th, 2006 at 6:47 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.