Jim,
you brought up a good point ( a few good ones actually)
From the time I was 14 until 5 years ago (about 15 years total) I lived in a BAD part of Cleveland. I had guns pulled on me about 8 times, TWICE when I was with my mother! Have been stabbed (with a fingernail file of all things AND by a woman) Attacked by a Van full of "Biker looking" people, a bunch of stuff I could have done without...
But, out of all the fights, the worst one was against a guy on drugs! Even more than the guns! The guns, every time I got away without having to physically engage except once.
But, when my wife and I first got together, we lived in a small three room apartment in a house that was split into four apartments. The landlord was in crime and was well known in the area and always wanted by the police.
Well, this place was always shady, but when some new people moved in, and then another group, it became a drug house!
We were robbed three times, one time in the summer, we had the window open, and the people from across the hall, were climbing in our bedroom window and stepped on me in bed! (That's another entertaining story!)
So anyway, this was the scene of the fight that bothered me most in my live. I remember it was about midnight, I was watching David Letterman
There was a knock on the door, I am thinking who is that? Open the door a crack, and a guy I had seen go to the druggies apartments all the time was there. He was a tall guy mid 30's and was on something! He looked wild!
He says, is Billy there? I knew who he meant, but I acted like I had no idea, Billy was a guy who went upstairs allot. And Billy would NEVER be in my apartment! I said there is no Billy here!
I shut the door. I heard him just standing there. he went across the hall and knocked, but the woman was gone with here kids and her hubby was in jail.
He then went up stairs and did the same thing, pushed his way in (the only man upstairs was a REAL crackhead and was burnt out) I hear him walking around, then he comes down again. My gut KNEW there was going to be trouble, I put my shoes on and waited.
Another knock, and he yelled, I NEED TO TALK TO BILLY!!!! I yelled get out of here, there is no Billy here!
He kept knocking and yelling, so I crack the door, and I say listen man, you need to leave here, there is no Billy here! He says, I need to search your house!
I said, you are not coming in here, he put his hand on my chest, pushed me and said, I'M COMING IN! BAM!
I let him have it! Hit him in the face and followed up with about 25 punches like I was hitting a top and bottom bag, almost all landed most to his head, he was a little stunned, but still fighting!
We had moved out the door into the tiny hallway about three feet wide and six feet long with stairs going up and down on the left side. He either was falling forward or trying to still get in my door, and I got him in a headlock, he grabbed my waist and was getting behind me, I thought, I don't want to do this (the headlock) so I seen his boot between my legs and reached down and grabbed his ankle and sat down a little, and he went down HARD! His head hit the ground SO HARD! But he was still in the game!
Now, he is on his back, his head by my door, me at his feet. There was no room to go around him, and laying there, he took up almost the whole hallway , so, he was kicking his big boots up and out at me, I got in a few groin kicks, and finally timed it and jumped to his head.
From there, I was stomping his head, he blocked with his forearms but I got about five good ones in. Then, my wife grabbed me screaming get in here! And was pulling me in the door, this allowed the guy to get up and he stumbled out the door with"let me outta here!"
There was blood everywhere! I was not touched, but for scarps on my stomach and legs from the boots.
And I was SO tired! I was constant motion the whole fight and he was STILL able to fight back!
A month later, I was in the car with my wife and I seen him walking down the street with a bag of groceries. I pointed and said hey, there is that guy that tried to get in the house! He seen my pointing and THREW his bag into the air and was RUNNING down a main street as fast as he could! THAT is how bad I was beating on this guy!
BUT I stress again, HE WAS STILL FIGHTING BACK!
After that fight, plus stories I had heard from friends who are police and other friends who fought people on drugs, I was always very worried about facing one or more of them, and what if they had a weapon!
In times like this, I really believe that you need a weapon, I would say gun or knife, I am not convinced about blunt weapons on these people, because I hit pretty hard, and I am telling you, I hit this guy in total about 25-35 times and when he hit his head on the hard floor AFTER all those hits by me, and WAS STILL not out of the fight...
When I see people teaching finger locks, and wrist twist against drugged attackers, I get upset. It is almost immoral, there is no way they could have actually faced one in real life..
Enough from me...
-Rick