Fight that happened between two visiting softball tournament dads from NJ outside our local Civic Center. Men appear to be approximately the same size. Winner possibly stronger. What mistakes did the losing dad make? Could he have won with better strategy or was he doomed from the start?
Two assholes getting in a fistfight over a child’s ball game.
Looks like they’re both losers to me.
Big ones.
Yep, great message for the kiddos there.
The answer to your question is simple:
Hit them while they are talking.
When the guy is up in your face cussing and pushing on your chest, at this point, what he anticipates is for you to do the same, cuss and push and show how belligerent you are. That’s what people who don’t know how to fight do/expect. Someone who does know how to fight is going to kick you in the balls while you are screaming in his face: “Oh Yeah!!! What are you going to do about it!!!”
But of course that answer is wrong.
You really do, allways, avoid the fight. No posturing, nothing to prove, just walk away. Do it. You never know, maybe that guy’s brother in law is the sheriff. Maybe he was in the marines and knows how to kill people. Maybe you freak your daughter out and now she thinks your a jerk. Never. Fight. Unless. You. Have. Too.
But if you do have to fight… kick them in the balls or poke them in the eye when they least expect it.
Really good self defense videos:
https://www.youtube.com/user/creativecombats/videos?sort=p&view=0&flow=grid
Hit them while they are talking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMccyOHP6iE
Disclaimer: I am not a tough guy. I am not a “fighter”. Marital Arts is a hobby and I know enough to beat up someone with no martial arts training but that is about all I know.
This followed (IME) the standard development of such things - talking and posturing, then a chest bump, then pushing, then a brief tussle which is over in seconds.
Loser mistakes -
[ul][li]Not walking away during the talk phase.[/li][li]Each idiot was following the dance. Bad idea - either react to the first touch (or immediately before it) with violence, or run. IOW if he pushes you, you don’t push back. You either launch an immediate attack, or run. [/li][li]Don’t go to the ground unless you know what you are doing.[/li][li]If you do go to the ground and have pulled guard, you pull the top guy’s head down and try to lock him in. That way he has to post on one arm to maintain balance. [/li][li]Otherwise, get a double overhook on both arms. Get a spider guard, flatten out his legs, and sweep him and secure the top mount. [/ul][/li]The “winning” guy did a pretty good single leg pickup/inside sweep for the takedown, and he was tall enough and had long enough arms to do a ground-and-pound without passing the guard. The loser had a chance to take his back, but missed it. He should have gone all the way around and attacked the far leg, take him over sideways, take the back and sink in your hooks.
The loser looked marginally less skilled than the “winner”, so his best bet would have been an interruptive attack to the face, and avoiding the clinch.
Whoever attacks first has the advantage in a street fight.
Regards,
Shodan
You’re a Judoka right? What belt/level, if you don’t mind me asking.
From one of my favorite authors - Jim Harrison, in A Good Day to Die. The 2 protagonists are in a bar, and a third guy is mouthing off. Without saying a word or giving any warning, one guy cold cocks him with a pool cue. Paraphrased from memory: 2d guy says, “What were you thinking? He might have known karate!” First guy says, “No one knows karate if you get a good enough shot in first.” I love that line! 
Walk away
Is that what you kids are calling it these days?
But the rest of your post is spot on.
The loser’s heart didn’t seem in it and I don’t think he really expected a fight to occur. He seemed too worried about breaking his cell phone. He seemed a lot “softer” than the other guy, who looked a tad more muscular, and appear to have watched 1 or 2 mma fights and just went for the ground and pound. Neither one looks like particularly good fighters.
My father told me this at a young age: “Never talk a fight.”
I asked him what he meant, and he said “Talkers don’t win fights. If somebody is aggressive and you can’t walk away, hit the fucker in the gut as hard as you can while he’s running his mouth. If he doesn’t go down, pick up the nearest object and beat him flat.”
He was in WWII, was a bartender, and played poker for a living, so I have to believe he knew something about brawling.
Regards,
Shodan
It doesn’t seem to me like they were particularly evenly matched. People who appear overweight, especially when wearing oversized and ill-fitting clothing, like these bozos were, can vary in strength significantly. Your typical ‘big guy’, like these people, may be anywhere from a powerlifter who can move hundreds of pounds to having the strength of a high school freshman. There’s a huge variation that isn’t immediately visible, and it seems to me that the winner of this fight was substantially stronger than the loser.
The loser appears to be picking something up from the ground when he is hit on the neck by the winner. He would have had a much better chance if he didn’t do that.
Oh, so cool!!!
I was at a YMCA gym once in NYC that had a Judo club. Half the class were Black Belts because they all just went to that one location and trained together year after year, as opposed to most Martial Arts classes where over half the class were beginners. I never took much Judo, I allways regretted not singing up at that location and taking classes.
Is there audio? I didn’t listen. I thought loser-guy was toast before the other guy even got on screen. There is just no physicality at all to that dude. Just nothing there. ANYWAY, the main problem for him (which I assume stems from the fact that he’s unfamiliar with physical activity) is that he doesn’t realize he’s in a fight until he’s getting punched. He appears to think they’re both going to just keep bickering like old ladies, but burly guy’s body language is advertising that it’s go-time. At 1:13 burly dude is in it, but loser guy is dicking with putting shit in his pocket? Then when Shove Fest starts he bends over to pick up his coinpurse/Bluetooth earpiece/Bite Size Snickers Bar or whatever the hell that was? I’m sitting here watching this and going “DUDE!? FIGHT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”
…and screw those two dudes who just stood there and watched.
Fortunately there was someone to get it on YouTube. 
I didn’t listen to the audio either. What were they fighting about? (As if it mattered.)
Regards,
Shodan
Didn’t watch too closely, but the winner impressed me as more than “marginally” more skilled - or at least considerably more committed to inflicting damage, than the loser.
My strength/experience was as a striker, so I focussed the wild haymaker that missed, but he followed with a pretty massive (and massively telegraphed) uppercut that landed and had to cause some damage. IME, an uppercut is not a punch someone uses who doesn’t have some striking experience. When they went to the ground, the guy on top was committed to following up. You don’t get that many shots in that quickly if you don’t have some experience throwing punches in combination (and a strong desire to mess someone up.) Again, in my experience, throwing punches in combination - or at least rapid succession, is another sign of experience. Capitalizing upon an advantage. The guy on the bottom was just trying to cover up, but didn’t know how to do so. Of course all those closed fists to the face - I imagine the “winner’s” right hand didn’t feel too good after.
They both sounded like jerks - the loser more so. God, I hate people!
With the amount of blood the loser left on the concrete, I’d bet any money a lawsuit is in the offing. If the “winner” has any kind of fighting experience, with this tape in evidence I would expect him to end up a loser in court.
At the start, the loser was just tossing f-bombs at some people. When the winner came out, he told the loser, “That’s why your daughter is off the team, because of you.” The accompanying article says the daughter had not travelled to the tournament, but the loser drove down looking for a fight. Well, he found one!
Best line, loser told the cops he was not in a fight, but hurt himself falling down! Both guys were charged. An expensive afternoon for both clowns.
Based on the article in the OP, it sounds like the loser instigated things and got what he deserved.