Dear Friends
I didn't had the chance to write something in this beautiful forum for some time now, due to various job issues and I apologize for that.
This forum consists of fine people and I am always happy to read the words being written here.
Now I just came up to the question of arjay and I am willing to share my
personal experiences, plus a fact that I ran into today.
First of all we say in Greece that "The Tongue has no Bones, but it can crush them", In all aspects of a "fight" its is better speak than to act. The only possibility that the latter could be wrong is if the defenders life is greatly threatened. Better to talk to someone than to enter a fight with him/her.
If someone is attacked he/her should firstly assess the situation:
Does it seem light/moderate/high risk?
In most of the cases the risk will be low/moderate (unless you are in a combat zone, i.e. Normandy 1944, or in the worst parts of a city-don't go there if you don't have to)
So in most cases fights start with no actual/apparent reason/threat and in many cases they lead to bad/point-of-no-return results.
I am not saying someone should start running, but everyone can understand simple words, and all of us can understand the existence of a weapon (even a flashlight can be assessed as a threat by someone who
might not be willing to actually enter a fight).
Only in the case when there is no other way (i.e. hand2hand combat initiates or a weapon is presented) only then someone could use the maximum amount of a counterstrike (hand2hand or combat respectively)
The presence of a "weapon" greater than the "threat" (even as a method to scare someone of) could result in a greater fight than "requested" by your attacker. So if someone would come near me with no weapon then I would never draw a knife or my 9mil, just because hand2hand combat may never initiate but as soon as you draw knifes, pistols, shotguns and bazookas then you are surely in for a fight. Additionally if approached by sm bearing no weapon, the defender pulls out a knife, god knows what the attacker may also have...
In your case my friend you were also escorting a lady and if something would happen to you, then she could be twice as vulnerable. So it is better that you did not present any sort of "weapon" and left the scene.
Today I entered a courthouse here in Athens, Greece (yes everyone can attend and hear trials, it can be very interesting to see how lifesometimes can get ugly with no reason whatsoever) and there was a guy (A) from another country that entered a fight with another guy (B) from his country and stabbed him with a small Swiss army knife in self-defense. The A was going to meet his wife (he had various problems with her as he explained to the court) and she was with the B guy (who was his fellow-worker) she apparently wanted B guy to harass A guy and she lured A to her house. As the A guy approached he saw her and B and didn't leave the scene, thus entering her plan of harassment. B attacked A with his hands, A had the small SAK in his key ring, he used it and stabbed A.
-If A would just go away (and to to the police) as soon as A saw her and B approaching he would not have commited a murder
-If A woulf not have used his SAK he would not have commited a murder
In both cases he would not have ended in a court being accused of murder. Maybe in the second case would have ended up in with some bruises, but better than in jail.
Sorry if I tired you with my ideas, but I strongly believe (even if I carry a small knife-for general purposes on me) that it's always better to avoid a fight that you can avoid.