Should YOU Punch First in Street Fights?.. What's BEST 

My god, Nick died inside and still stood with a painful smile. Respect you guys.

Haven't had to actually fight since highschool but I ALWAYS went first. I waited until I knew there was no way I was going to get out of this without a fight so...go first.

I worked for years as a bouncer and I’ve seen countless people run their mouth right up until they get punched. My rule is if your aggressive and moving towards me as soon as your within my arms reach I will swing.

ive never really laughed during these but holy shit Nicks reaction to these punches is everything lmfaooo cheers i needed that!

I was just in country jail. I got into it. I don't care if it's inside or outside, hit first and fast. Put them on their heels, on the defense. Be aggressive but measured. Go for the knockout imo. End it fast. And close the distance after you throw a jab or two followed by a big right. Don't stop till you feel the threat is over. Attack and don't give them the chance to recover. Cause you will regret it. I'm no Master Ken but this much I know. Be safe.

Some rules I have lived by. 1. Fights, either get into them or get out of them. I prefer to walk away and avoid, if someone brings it to me then I have no option but to get into it. The best defense is a good offense, if you are defending means you are losing. 2. I am not one to escalate, so if an aggressive person gets into range, then go first. No since giving them the opportunity of when. They have chosen to attack you, or they would have stayed back an ran their mouth. 3. Don't stop until you are sure they incapacitated. I have made this mistake. One was a one sided fight that the other guy started. I beat him down to the ground and he wasn't fighting back, I got up and walked away. Someone yelled to "watch out", he landed some really good shots that rocked me. I took him down and survived until my head cleared up. Lesson learned, don't let them up until you are sure they are done, when you do make sure you stay guarded and not turning your back on the threat. 4. Leave immediately. Nothing good can come by sticking around. I don't care if you were getting mugged and beat the mugger, leave immediately. Two things are likely to happen; A. the cops are going to come and arrest you for fighting, or B. His friends are going to show up and it give it back to you worse.

Once you feel like it's going to get physical, be the first one to strike hard and fast.

Mark: "Sorry about that!" (Proceeds to hit Nick in the solar plexus 4 more times) Lol!

I love how you guys analyze the reality of uncomfortable situations, how to progress through them with intelligent decision making, timing and philosophy. Everyone encounters that uncomfortable situation at some point in your life where you must react or attack. You guys help people to avoid the life long question that plaques losing fighters, and that question is, "what if?". What if I had attacked first......

A rule of thumb I have adopted for situations like this is to yell “STOP” at the person and throw your hands up as if the police just told you to put your hands up and say “I DONT WANT ANY TROUBLE”. That will attract attention and people will see that you attempted to leave and/or deescalate the situation (assuming people are around). If that person continues to move towards you and is now in your space (with in arms reach) then all bets are off.

So generally speaking in The States, if you hit first you can be charged with assault (felony or misdemeanor). Secondly most states in The States have a "duty to retreat" in the law. So again if they can show you didn't retreat you're liable to be charged with asault if you hit first. Certain states have "stand your ground" laws in which remove this duty to retreat. Due to this, though it may be tactical to "hit first", as shown in the video where the aggressor pushes his intended victim, that act constitutes assault and "reasonable force" used against that person is then legally in the clear. Thus I would say that if you cannot retreat, make sure you let that person touch you. I would also say that it is important to "make a show" of non-aggression. There are cameras everywhere that can and will be used against whoever is getting arrested. By making a good show of "leave me alone. I don't want any trouble", you create evidence in your favor in whatever camera happens to be covering the situation.

“Ninety-nine times out of one hundred, the answer will not be violence. It will be avoidance or de-escalation. But that one time when violence is the answer, make no mistake, it will be the only answer.” Tim Larkin

Based on Nick’s and George’s reaction, wouldn’t wanna be on the receiving end of one of those solar plexus punches 😖

The last fight I got into was at a party many years ago, I had no idea this guy was a judo expert. I started by kicking him in the never parts but was surprised when he didn’t flinch. So I started punching but within a short time he had me in some kind of neck lock on the floor. He asked me if I had had enough but I couldn’t speak because he was crushing my vocal cords. I am a bit more reluctant to start now, maybe best to wait.

Best advice my brother ever gave me. We are a small set of guys. Hit first, hit hard and win the fight.

Not even once have I found occasion to disagree with this man. He's still on the money accurate. Osu and respect. 🙏🏼🐉🐅

Best self defense instruction available on line. Love what you do. Always admire the dedication of you students (?). Nicks capacity for abuse is truly awe inspiring. Nicely done.

Absolutely AMAZINGLY PERFECT advice in EVERY way, with ALL questions answered! LOVE IT, and the SMILE...as always!! 👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 #FIGHTBOSS

I have a pain in my belly of watching Nick get those punches... and still smiling. Kudos for him

Can't really say how much these videos help me and empower me in being prepared. Thanks and go easy on our man Nick.

Can you do a video on the legal ramifications of either striking first or defending? I think it would be really interesting and informative

These videos have helped me a lot. Today I was walking back to my car after previously passing a guy I got strange vibes from, he was looking at me in a subtle way that made me uncomfortable. Thinking back I should have been much more alert on the way back to my car. As I walked back to my car, I suddenly heard someone behind me, I decided to stand to the side and let them pass. Right as they are about to pass they turned to me, it was the same guy before that was scoping me out. He leaned it very close while point in. He asked “do you know what street we’re on?”. Before answering I took a large step back, (from this channel I learned you want to remove the opportunity by creating space, also it’s important out of self respect.) With his hand still extended out while holding my gaze, I didn’t break eye contact or divert my attention to what he is pointing at. Afterwards I realized his pointing could have easily been a trick to get me to look away then snatch the stuff in my hand. I took 4 seconds to think about the question and simply responded “I don’t know” in a neutral manner. He said “you don’t know the street we are on? Alright” then walked away with an odd smile, I smiled back. Btw, another thing that raised my suspicion was the way he approached me, when asking the question he stumbled over his words in a nervous manner and the question seemed pointless. I experienced the same vibe and nervous expression from a guy that tricked me into giving him $20 for gas once. Nothing beats knowledge + experience. You really learn how to handle situations better and control your focus, emotions and thoughts. Being able to take your mind and focus beyond what they say and think independently! Stay safe everyone, stay relaxed and aware of your surroundings.

Can't say I've ever seen a video on this channel that wasn't useful in some way. I like how you ground everything within your own experience. Keep up the great work!

My favorite opening is to feign a punch to the face, then low kick to shin or knee. It's quite difficult to hit the solar plexus, as it is a small target, and brawlers usually have good abdomen muscles, so body blows do very little to them.

In English Law if you have someone coming up to you in a threatening and aggressive manner - you don't have to wait for them to throw the first punch - you can hit first. However, if you have calloused knuckles you can expect a trip down the nick to explain yourself.

This is true most people assume that if the bad guy throws a punch at you , you should react and yes of course you should but my dad and uncle once told me that even if he puts his hand on you or grabs you, you should be ready to defend yourself because he is going to punch you after the grab anyway.

Best YT channel about fight. Thx for your work !

its so good to see someone teaching people the right way. its all about the hips. hurt them they will stop. no need to beat them down,

Id like to add to the discussion a bit regarding the strategem in this particular video. I believe measurable things are better to determine to make a decision to strike. Feelings are vague. You can feel your space being violated. Someone can argue they arent violating your space. And thus my thoughts is we need what is measurable; When it involves being in physical contact and you had to move backwards twice to sever that contact. Physically contacting someone is measurable, and if theres a camera around, its provable. This is a significant milestone that any witness can agree on. Having to take one step/move backwards once can be argued by them as just an accident. Having to move back for a second step means you gave a chance and it didnt work. Steps are countable. Its measurable. And if its measurable, it gives your conscience confidence in what you decide to do. Now the "contact" can be anything. That contact could be their fist touching your chin for the first time. This is obviously bad, hence what I advocate is posting an arm forward. Probably bad in combat sports due to giving away a limb freely, but combat sports is different from self defence. What an arm post does is letting you be less liable for being the aggressor while also limiting the risk of them hitting first. It gives you sensory feedback when your space is evidently being breached. Repost immediately if they push it aside, pull on your wrist, or push on (its a fight, its not pretty). Then on second contact, you smash. Also, its called indexing. If you can use your sensory faculties to know that someones chest is at the palm of your hand, you can figure out where everything else is. The head, the chest, the groin, etc. You can deliver your preemptive attack even with your eyes closed. And if they move, you know the direction of that movement. Thats the power of indexing. Some might say my algorithm is too kind for self defense. Im just making things measurable and to eliminate guesswork. And in the end still have points to defend yourself both in the street, and the potential aftermath, in court.

I'll never not punch first in a street fight. I've been unlucky enough to be involved in a few where the only option was to defend myself. Had I not punched first, it could have turned out very different. I have practiced my punch my whole life, and I'm very glad I did because they were effective when I needed them most. 👊

I like the different aspects your implementing in this video. Keep up the good work!!

Excellent we We’re just talking about that at a training session that I had in up in Alaska couple months ago. This fits really well into that. Thank u for sharing.

I appreciate all your positivity,honesty and your experienced, educated knowledge of fight science! Blessings & respect. ✌🏻peace✌🏻🇮🇪

I think I saw Nick's soul leave his body when you hit him Sifu 😮 Loved the video and great advice as always 👌🏽👊🏽 Thank you for sharing 🙏🏽

Great video and informative as always!! Thanks!!

This guy always gives good solid information..Very practical stuff ..

awesome video. Buy that guy a beer for taking all those shots lol.

After countless videos you are without a doubt a professional. Thank you for all these videos and breaking it down simple for all to understand or who don't want to go learn to fight at a gym or in public. Great advice It is less lethal than the alternative knuckle/knife variant to the trachea to collapse it. Avoiding a criminal charge of manslaughter causing the diaphragm to seize preventing inhalation/exhalation long enough for you to get away(which is the goal).

Awesome video Awesome I really enjoy it! Thank you

Your video makes so much common sense. I think it's something we can all learn with practice like you say always always when somebody's on the ground in a fist fight, do not pursue it walk away that way you are not the aggressor all you did was put the threat to the ground

2:26 Lmao poor nick. What a champ putting himself out there for the greater good.

My mate's technique: When the confrontation begins he steps back into a punching/kickibg stance, with both hands up and open. He yells for everyone to hear "I don't want to fight." And then he'll whisper to his opponent "I'mma f🤬ck you up!" It throws off some people, and lets everyone know WHO THE BAD GUY IS 🤓

That was great. Thanks for the Tip !!

Love their approach to street fighting. Pragmatic, measured, and violent threat responses. No bullshida advice for no bullshida situations. Whatever it takes to get the job done efficiently.

I'm a pretty serious dude. I've had seven fights in the last 18 months. I won every one of them because I always struck first. The girls I attacked just mustn't have expected my preemption. And I always approach from behind. Works every time.

I've been punched by Mark Philips before (in training). It is no joke, the guys fists are like fast pieces of iron, but the pain is worth it for the value of the lesson. Mark Philips is the best communicator of any martial arts teacher I've trained under and he makes you feel that he actually cares about your progress.

great video, great advice ;)

I absolutely love your channel 👏👍

When I was 19 years old I came home to 3 men surrounding my father accusing him of stealing one of their wallets. One of them had a baseball bat. Now I'm 5 foot 7, not the biggest guy in the world. And I probably weighed about 135 pounds. Now, I tried reasoning with these people asking them why they think my father stole their wallet, but I was unable to get anything out, due to their yelling and threatening to beat his ass. It became clear quite quickly that my attempts at de-escalation was only empowering them to get worse, and there wasn't going to be a way out of that without a physical confrontation. So I chose the biggest guy, who happen to be the one doing the most yelling, in the middle of the other two. My thinking was if I can take him out, I may have a chance. Now what they didn't know is I was a black belt, (though not in the best self defense martial art, Tae Kwon Do) but I still had learned a few moves that could help me in the streets. That and had just begun some ground game training as well. (This was way before MMA got popular). I didn't want to, but I had no choice, ...obviously. It was strike first and hope the other two thought about their next moves, seeing the big guy go down, or both my dad and me get beat. So I struck the biggest dude right in the throat. No warning. Got him mid sentence when his brain was more worried about screaming at me, then any defense. It worked. He collapsed holding his throat and couldn't breathe. That bought me some time, so I instantly went after the guy with the bat, funny thing looking back, but he actually dropped the bat and ran, and his friend just stood there trying to take in all this. It wasn't over though, the big guy eventually caught his breath and went in with a wrestling move to take out my feet, so I used his forward momentum be and shoved his head and teeth into a gas meter, that was when his friend started yelling for me to please stop. Even my dad got concerned because dudes mouth was about as bloody as it gets. Didn't know it at the time but he lost some teeth in that gas meter. So amazingly enough they both wanted to hear what I had to say now. With the big dude in a head lock saying he lost a tooth, and more worried about that now, and me calmy telling both of them I'll let him go if you back up and go home, and if I have to do this again I won't be as nice next time. In the most calm voice I could. I figured maybe now they would be willing to talk, and sure enough, they were. We agreed, I let him go, stayed in a defensive position, and they both walked off, still mouthing off that my dad stole their wallet. My father never had a history of doing that, but I found it off he would keep saying it after it was over. And here's the kicker....later that day I found out that my dad did take their wallet after all. I was so pissed off at him I told him he lost his "me protecting him privileges", even though he thought the wallet was lost and abandon on the side walk, that would have been a good thing to tell me so I didn't have to go through all that....lol. In the end I remember cleaning off my shirt, and walking into my house since I was newly married and we lived next door to my parents at the time. My wife asked me where the blood came from on my work shirt, I just told her I had rough day. She said I can see that, bad day at work, I said nope, bad day coming home...lol. At least I got a nice ballbat out of it. I Still have it in my garage to this day. Lots of lessons were learned that day. Probably for the other guys too I would imagine.

Well done to nick there took a good couple of strikes lol his face at the end of the video 🤣 classic 👍 love fight science

Thank you for the ideas. Hate to fight but being mentally prepared is key to walking away in one piece.

Such good info! Great questions! Thank you 🙏🏻 ❤️

Thank you for teaching this Study, Dr. Phillips, and Nick, (and interview man). I have a question: can we neutralise by hacking down with the elbow with the intention of shattering/ dislocating the collar bone, or Fa the collar bone with an open handed strike. Is any of this realistic?

The principle of Karate "karate ni sente nashi" - there is no first attack in karate, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't punch until you get punched. It means you shouldn't initiate aggression, physical or verbal. But once the situation has escalated, and aggression against you is imminent, you can and you must take the initiative! In almost all karate katas first moves, you move towards your opponent and not away from him! The interpretation of the katas as you reacting to an attack are nonsense, and come from a total misunderstanding the techniques and of the principle of "karate ni sente nashi"

I love your expertise and experience. This has helped me enormously.. Thank you 🙏

Great video, for guys like me that are not used to fight ever, and always picked as the target for the " bad guys". Thanks a lot

I think you should reach out to your subscribers, and see how many people your vlogs have saved from getting robbed or beaten that would be interesting to know 🙏✌️👍

Great stuff sir!

Awesome, I can see how the hip adds more power to the punch, and thanks for pointing out the advantage of the solar plex target!

Fantastic video… thank you

Very informative video,and technical breakdown 👍

Firstttttt also great video Btw it touch me some interesting stuff

Good video. Nick has our sympathy once again 👏

Very accurate advise.

Master , easy with yours students!! Thanks for your advice !!

Thank you, this has been an issue for me. Personally I do what I can to alter and avoid, sometimes you just have to accept that moment in time and respond to it.

Always better to go first, hard and just keep going. Don't assume the fight is won until you're absolutely sure.

Thank you for all of your honest insight on self defense. GOD bless you

Much props for the guy taking the hits

very useful love your vids

Cracking up on all the tough RU-vid warriors. You can be all of that on line.

Thanks for this video. I like the intro. An aggressor invades your space while you back up... and you are alone... or he's got friends on the side (maybe in a blind spot off-camera.) You're testing. He's answering. I've never had instructors nor seen anybody talk about escalation (and de-escalation.) Can you make more videos about "reading" situations or people's intent? For example: What are some places or objects in a room, stairwell, elevator, street, sidewalk, etc., that are advantageous or should be avoided? What are some things to look out for, e.g., do they have friends? If so, where/how should you move/position yourself? What are some things that you can do to test, gauge, or defuse a person before going 0 to 100? Please make more videos like this, please. It's an important part of the fight spectrum, i.e., the pre-physical part, that doesn't get explored enough, e.g., the environment, the interaction, and the signs that people ignore or don't know how to manage. There are no martial arts or systems that bridge this gap. And it's how people get sucker-punched or worse. Once again, thank you for this video.

Absolutely, love this💯 we say if they hit first fight starts or if you can no longer maintain a arm length space in front of you then hit first

sorry sorry *hits harder*

I've done it several times without thinking about it..and it's instant effect.

Good to know info.

ALWAYS throw first. ALWAYS! If someone makes a threat, the second they act on that threat (step toward you), you are being attacked. Stop pushing and punch!

Fight your fight ..Nice video..

Depends on where you live. I had a party and was attacked in my own home by 2 people. The first one swung at me twice, I put him down twice with the same leg sweep. Then comes the big guy. I'm 145 5'8". This guy was 6'2" and weighed about 240. He charged me. So when he got to me, I just stepped to the side and threw a straight right into his left eye. It exploded. He fell to the ground. I stepped back, got in my fighting stance and ask him if he wanted more. He declined and they both ran off. 30 minutes later, the police show up to my house and arrest me. BTW...I've been a registered black belt since I was 15. I've trained in Modukwon TKD, not this soft TKD of today, Hapkido, Kumdo, Jujitsu, and Muay Thai. In the state of VA, they charged me with assault with a deadly weapon (me) and able to mame disfigure or kill, for drawing blood.. 2 Felonies from one punch. The other wuss never showed up for court, and my case against the big guy was thrown out. Judge actually reemed the guy for picking on little people. When the judge first walked in he asked, "You boys on the right side of the court room?" I replied Yes sir. He said, "Oh! I wanna hear this one". As I was walking out of the court room, he made big guy stay. All I heard was, "Well sir...have you learned your lesson about picking on little people?" LOL! Judge was little people too.

Good advice! Kinda takes the wind out of a boxing match for sure. The poor guy here taking these punches will be sore for a week but hey all in the name of education!

Right, I now get this channel, I saw you first a few years ago at random doing drills like this and thought you was trying to come across as a street fighter and thought yeah F off, but after watching a few more today realizing that you are a doctor and know probably more than I do on the physics and the phycology! (well a little bit, 🙄 never mug ya self) subscribed thank you 👍

Nice instruction.

I agree with this approach....I think the block-counter approach that many Martial Arts methods teach is almost impossible to make work in a real situation....

Marks technique is always perfect.

Nick is just getting his workout.. haha! Great tips! Thanks for this.

That's great advice apart from the bit where the police and courts ask who stuck first.

Absolutely. I teach Threat to use De-Escalation..It can mean exact that.. Thank you👍🏽♥️

Nick looked like he was gonna cry after those punches 😂😂

Dr Phillips got Nick and George from the Tough Guy Emporium, and now they are making the BIG bucks!💪 But in all seriousness and in my humble opinion, people should learn to put their hands up, preferring a non-threatening manor, for anything they want to do.

hats off to the punching target. geez. that guy really took those punches without complaining one bit.

You are awesome my friend. I love all the thought you put into all of this; the psychology, criminology, and physiological traits that indicate if someone is about to attack & if you should attack them first. It's really, a beautiful thing.

Good stuff

Sir ,, YOU ARE THE BOSS .. I SUPPORT YOU MAN .. GOOD TEACHING .. FROM INDIA, KOLKATA

I always say try to avoid conflict but if they get too close after you have tried to calm them down, then you must do what must be done!

Thank you for this though I won't look for street fights I like to be prepared

Thank you , I want more videos on how to make effective attacks using low power , more of blind attacks.

Thank you.

Like Master Ken mentioned, I’m the nice guy with fighting skills that’s not looking to hurt anyone, but I do believe if and when you feel it’s truly going to be a confrontation, you get yours off 1st. But I am also confident that if they get off 1st , I’m not going to fold. You have to keep your mind strong and be prepared to push on. Remember it’s a fight and you may get hit.

Great video and plan of attack

The first instance of space invasion is key , set it up by taking one step back and when he closes the distance he'll walk in to something .