# In a fight for your life, what are the limits, if any of what you could/would do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 25, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587 "2019-07-25T02:53:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/21 "2019-07-25T17:56:23Z")
If you are really, and I mean\* really\* fighting for your life there are no rules and nothing should be held back. You have only a few minutes of life left. Compound fracture of broken arm with raw bones sticking out? Ram the sharp bone ends into their neck, rip off your hand and stuff it down their throat. Anything and everything that you can do for one more minute of life. But it is very difficult to convince yourself that it is really the moment of last resort, so people are in some way, always holding something back. Humans can be very vicious and selfish and only concerned about themselves. If you are fighting for your life you have to be that vicious human. Honor and concern for others is a good way to die with honor. To abandon all morals and survive, that is very difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/22 "2019-07-25T17:57:32Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Pai-Mei tought me the 5 point palm heart exploding technique. The real trick is to get the person to just stand there and let you tap them on the chest that many times. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/23 "2019-07-25T17:58:45Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > But no, I’ve never heard of any style of fighting that advocated starting off eith an eye gouge. See my post above about Gouging Style. Now you have heard of such a style. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/24 "2019-07-25T17:59:07Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The real trick is to get the person to just stand there and let you tap them on the chest that many times. Works great on rednecks, but they start getting antsy after the third tap. Gotta be quick. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/25 "2019-07-25T18:12:09Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > My son has been doing krav maga for a couple months now, and holy crap is he now the wrong kid to mess with! … Just my experience, but suggest he keep alert to the possibility of his training affecting his personality. The ideal would be for a sense of confidence to make him calmer and serene. But I’m not the only person I’ve known who felt that the continuous vigilance and envisioning possible attacks as you go thru your everyday life can - uh - sorta put you on edge. Or make you cocky. And some guys want to go out and “test” their abilities. Also, training a lot of “streetfighting” requires full contact - which can lead to injuries - even in a safe gym. Just think of what potential pain he is willing to put up with for what amount of gain. Just my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/26 "2019-07-25T18:48:55Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Just my experience, but suggest he keep alert to the possibility of his training affecting his personality. The ideal would be for a sense of confidence to make him calmer and serene. But I’m not the only person I’ve known who felt that the continuous vigilance and envisioning possible attacks as you go thru your everyday life can - uh - sorta put you on edge. Or make you cocky. And some guys want to go out and “test” their abilities. > > Also, training a lot of “streetfighting” requires full contact - which can lead to injuries - even in a safe gym. Just think of what potential pain he is willing to put up with for what amount of gain. > > Just my experience. Thanks for that. He’s actually learning a lot about what tension looks like, which is good because he’s typically slow to pick up on social queues. He’s kind of excited as he’s starting to understand his past altercations, how they developed, and what part he played in unintentionally escalating them. And he’s a stocky troll with a creepy high pain tolerance. He gets stung in class from time to time, but to actually injure him would probably require a gun. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/27 "2019-07-25T19:14:27Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The real trick is to get the person to just stand there and let you tap them on the chest that many times. Only one tap is needed if it’s the "Fingerpoint of Doom! :eek: 😃 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerpoke\_of\_Doom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerpoke_of_Doom) ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/28 "2019-07-25T19:16:42Z")
Some women’s self defense training involves using your keys (holding one between the fingers of your closed fist) to poke your attacker in the eye. And from what I’ve seen, a knee to the groin is the first defense. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/29 "2019-07-25T19:34:56Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > …And he’s a stocky troll with a creepy high pain tolerance. … Encourage him to distinguish between pain and injury. A good portion of training is learning to fight through pain. But continuing w/ an injury just messes you up. I also have an insane pain threshhold. I fought for a good half year with a shattered wrist - just threw a sloppy hook into a thai pad. What did I do? Wrapped it up and kept going, of course! :smack: All my grappling partners came to know to attack that arm and I would be an easy tapout. When I finally got it x-rayed, I realized that even if I had the surgery, at the age of 40 it would be stupid for me to return to hitting things with that hand. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/30 "2019-07-25T19:54:47Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Hell, if I were really in a fight for my life, there are no limits to what I’d do. Use any weapon, inflict the most damage possible. But if it isn’t “for your life”, then there really is little reason to be fighting. Instead, use your Nike-do. This. If we’re talking true survival, they’re trying to kill me, and I can’t run away, then there are absolutely no limits, no rules. I have never been bigger than anyone else and I was taught from a very young age, you go for the throat, _immediately_, because the longer a fight goes on, the odds of me walking away from it quickly drop to zero. If you face me, you face death. Not at all trying to sound like a tough guy here, but that’s how it is. If you come at me, you’d better believe that I will very much try to kill you. And yes, I have been in a few fights before, and yes, I absolutely was trying to kill them. No, I have _not_ killed anyone. Everyone I’ve fought had enough sense to run away before it came to that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/31 "2019-07-25T20:38:12Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > And from what I’ve seen, a knee to the groin is the first defense. A friend of mine was a huge, hulk-type man who did 3 1/2 years of a felony conviction and spent every free second inside lifting weights. His wife was a classically trained dancer (ballet) who couldn’t support herself doing ballet, so she stripped. During the final argument of their troubled marriage, she totally blew her cool. He was standing there and she took a step and a half start, then threw the hardest kick she was capable of, directly to his groin. It was the type of kick that cracks a 2x4. She ended up in pain, with two fractured metatarsals, while he just stood there with a glare that could peel paint. Not even a blink, he wasn’t even breathing heavy. She freaked out and [del]ran[/del] hobbled away. She tried to get a protection from abuse order, based on her assumption that he was going to kill her, and how she felt she deserved it. She went into hiding, and filed for divorce. When my friend told me the story the next day, he dropped trou to show me the horrible bruise he had, high on the inside of his thigh. He’d been icing it off and on, but it still hurt. _RIP Rock_ ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/32 "2019-07-25T20:49:51Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > If we’re talking true survival, they’re trying to kill me, and I can’t run away, then there are absolutely no limits, no rules. Yep. Story time: When my son was very young I was carrying him out of my house with my buddy walking behind us. When we walked out of the carport onto the driveway there was a strange dog standing there. The dog raised it’s hackles and growled. I immediately handed my child to my buddy, put myself between them and the dog, bowed myself up and said in a loud, low voice “STOP! If you come toward us I will kill you!” Now, I know the words meant nothing to the dog, but the tone and demeanor did. The words were just my version of a growl. The dog stared for a moment, then turned and trotted off into the woods. Once we calmed down a bit my buddy asked “Would you have really killed that dog?”. I responded “If it attacked me or my family, yes, absolutely”. He replied quietly “If you’d kill a dog, you’d kill a person.” I replied (and really believe) “In those circumstances, yes I would”. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/33 "2019-07-25T23:58:49Z")
I am too young to die and to old to take a beating. If i get to the point that I am in a hand to hand fight with anyone I am probably over matched. I do, however, have a concealed handgun permit… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/34 "2019-07-26T03:24:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Just my experience, but suggest he keep alert to the possibility of his training affecting his personality. Yes, it’s called transitioning from “pussy” to “badass”.😃 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/35 "2019-07-26T05:21:09Z")
eyes, throat, nads and knees. Depends on what is most convenient ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/36 "2019-07-26T16:53:35Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > I am too young to die and to old to take a beating. If i get to the point that I am in a hand to hand fight with anyone I am probably over matched. I do, however, have a concealed handgun permit… This would be a good sig. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/37 "2019-07-26T17:06:26Z")
All bets are off; I can and will do anything to put you down flat and unable to continue even if that means ripping off body parts or even killing you. And I am the last person you want to swing on or grab unless you really mean it because I haven’t fought for fun since I was a teenager. I assume any attack from someone else is a matter of life and death and respond in that fashion. And yes; I have a permit as well and I’m willing to use it. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/38 "2019-07-26T17:20:36Z")
My signature move, which I don’t use often due to its unsanitary nature, is to chew a hole in my opponent’s throat and then loudly gargle that person’s blood. This usually throws a pretty good scare into them. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/39 "2019-07-26T18:45:35Z")
I once had a large dog jump on me, put his paws right on my shoulders. I knew the only way to survive was to let him lick my face, so I did. I don’t expect everyone to be as hardcore as me though. Nervous laughter while turning my face or a knee to the groin probably would have worked too. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587/40 "2019-07-26T19:00:08Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > eyes, throat, nads and knees. Depends on what is most convenient Ah yes, the less popular version of ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes.’ (knees and toes) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-fight-for-your-life-what-are-the-limits-if-any-of-what-you-could-would-do/837587.md?page=3)