When should a martial artist engage in a street fight? 

As an ex-boxer, my trainer told me you learn how to fight so you don't have to. Many thanks, Ramsey. You're a modern day hero.

A martial artist should always be involved in street fights. Sometimes you can stumble into protecting the world from M. Bison and Shadoloo.

It was all fun and games until someone screamed *HADOKEN* and fired a blast of energy from their hands

When should a martial artist engage in a street fight? 10 pm Thursday evening

The only "street fight" I was ever involved in was a mugging, and I defended myself by hitting one of the 2 guys trying to mug me and ran as fast as I could. I got away because I ran into the light shouting for help while doing so. I did not know if the guys were armed or not, and was in no hurry to find out. There are a whole lot of dead heroes that stood their ground and got stabbed or shot for it.

I did one of those 10 pages long essay before when I was unsure if I should get into martial arts that never got replied. Turns out ramsey gave me the answer in every video, "get out there, and train".

What an intelligent response Ramsey. Keep teaching honor and being a gentleman. Much love brother! A fan from Sierra Leone.

I did Eskrima for 4 years in college. The most important lesson I learned in that street-fighting based, sparring heavy, weapon-based martial art was when they gave me a knife, first day of class. The teacher (an upperclassman) told me to act out the part of a robber as a demonstration for the class of how a well-traveled practitioner would handle the situation. I was giggling a bit, I think, as I looked at the other freshmen and shrugged before saying "Uh, give me your money?". This man who would put me through 4 years of knife sparring, beat my hands in until they were numb in sparring, and could probably beat 5 of us at once on a good day, calmly reached into his back pocket and handed me his wallet. The upperclassmen all told us to never ever ever ever get into a street fight, to never ever feel comfortable in a knife fight, to never think our training will protect us from the hundreds of things that could go wrong and turn us into an obituary. If a guy asks for your wallet you give it to him, you defend your life, not your money, you don't defend anything but your life.

As James Yeager is fond of saying: “Don’t do stupid things in stupid places with stupid people.”

As a recovering alcoholic, Who has been sober since 1986 I can testify I haven’t been in a fight since! I still occasionally go to a club but I leave when they start getting drunk!

Ramsey Dewey, the best life coach ever.

Hi Ramsey, while I understand your comment about being able to go into a room without sizing everyone up, that doesn’t work for some people. Now retired after 30 yrs of law experience, sizing everyone in the room up is the second thing I always do, after checking out where all the entrances and exits are. Then I choose a seat where I can sit and make sure no one can get behind me without me seeing them. This ingrained habit hurts no one, although it does annoy my wife sometimes. No one else really notices. I am very proud of the fact I have never had a streetlight, obviously I have had to use force many times as a police officer. The only fights I have had have all been in the ring or on the mats (Kyokushin and kickboxing for many years). Thanks for the videos mate, excellent work. Osu!

I can already answer this one. As someone who has regrettably had his fair share of street fights. I would be lying to say I regret every single fight, but I regret the majority of them. My right hand is all chewed up now too and doesn't have full range of motion in some fingers. As someone who has played guitar for 15 years it's something I regret massively. The last 5 years it's just been too much of a pain to play because of stupid street fights. Obviously there are times when it's unavoidable too. They're just rarer.

"You're walking into the wrong kinds of room." TRUTH!!

Youre so cool Ramsey Great role model and leader

Thank you for your insights, Mr. Mormon Punchy Man.

Good to hear you talk about staying away from alcohol. I'm always the sober friend in college, and it's rough sometimes, but I'm glad the people that I look up to would be proud of me.

I never assume that I could kick anyone's ass unless I have the fighting spirit in me, vodka.

Train hard. Use your best judgement. Try to follow the law. And understand that in a fight you have the life of someone else in your hands, and that is a huge responsibility. Arguably the greatest responsibility you will ever have.

What if I'm walking down a ally and Hulk Hogan shows up with his belt and screams "HULKAMANIA IS RUNNING WILD BROTHER! YOU WONT EVER GET MY CHAMPIONSHIP BELT! WOOOOOOOO!!!"

Why is he even asking you about tha streetz instead of Master Wong?

NEVER!!! Streets are about SURVIVAL! It is never a goal. Ramsey you are the best! Speak that truth

The moment you concluded “that’s a street fight” around the second minute. Man, you did them dirty right!

fine ramsey i wont get into street fights ill get into aggravated assaults then ill use my women's self defense chi hadouken training

I agree with you Ramsey 95% you don't have to fight PS if a bully comes just say "I'm not impressed by your performance"

Great answer to this guys question sir. Keep up the good work!

This guy gets it. Every video I've seen from this guy has been spot on (in my opinion of course)

Well said. Great integrity!

A great video. With great wise, advice, I wish I knew these things when I was younger.

But if I don't get into drunken street fights how do I become a Drunken Master like Jackie Chan or BJ Penn?

That “size people up in the room” mentality hit home for me. I honestly felt that way for a long time, I thought it meant confidence. Thinking I can beat most people (I’m 6’4” 255 lbs). I started doing boxing for 15 months now and for a long time, I haven’t felt that way walking into a room anymore. I feel comfortable with myself. Training in boxing and getting ready for my first amateur bout gave me real confidence. Honing my craft in boxing really shined a light on my insecurities and since I gained REAL confidence, I don’t size people up anymore. Thanks for the motivation. Stay hungry.

Short answer: Never unless you are certain that someone has full intention to strike, grapple with, stab or shoot you and there is no way to talk them out of it and there are no simple means of escape otherwise.

"When should you assault people?" XD

Damn I often think the same way about the topic at hand, but I have never been able to express it nearly as eloquently and effectively as you 🙏

The best self defense is the ability to avoid a fight.

48 years on this earth and I wish I could have heard this advice 30 years ago. It would have saved me a chipped tooth, 2 broken bones in my hands, 3 fractured ribs, and money more properly invested in my looming retirement. What is the best way to win a potential confrontation? The ability to influence your opponents with your intellect via compelling and convincing arguments will reap more rewards than simply throwing a punch. IE, whenever possible talk your way out. Rhetoric and logic will take you much further in life than your willingness to fight. Now if you are being assaulted and you are within arms reach...I highly recommend gouging the assailants eyes with extreme prejudice. And then promptly extracting yourself from the area. Best advice I could ever give is this...if you feel that you need to fight, or need any sort of weapon, before you go someplace perhaps you shouldn't go in the first place. Minimize your risks, stay safe, and remain vigilant.

That part about staying away from alcohol and night club partying etc I can really feel, since I never consume alcohol or drugs exactly because of the reasons mentioned in the video (which are also the reasons many religions forbid or look down upon those things; as a Muslim I practice one of those religions) . But because I have some good friends who do sometimes go to such places and party etc and take me with them, I had some experiences being there and not being under influence of alcohol it really hits home just how volentile the atmosphere can be at times in the party scene... Not being intoxicated luckily saved me (and them) from danger several times. But after a few times in danger and fortunately coming out of it unscathed :) , I just began refusing to go with them going out at night because of the unnecessery risk involved, simply because I am not their babysitter ^_^ Besides, there are better and more relaxing ways for me to enjoy my time in this world :) Anyways, I love your preaching , keep it up! My favorite Mormon MMA Coach Ramsey Dewey ;) God bless!

Watching this video made me think about my own younger days and why I got into boxing. It also made me thing about how now at this stage in my life I seem to have a much calmer attitude in situations where I probably wouldn't have been so calm if I were much younger.

When you say "you're in a bad environment" at 7:03 I hear some Irish accent.

Ramsey, your response is so good that it should be teached in schools (of course a lot won't listen but it should save some bad days from happening for a few people in the future)

Loved your approach and thought-line as always! Love your content and how you present it my man! All the best to you and yours! Cheers

Any escalation of an informal interaction is my definition. The only goal of a street fight is to defuse the situation. Thus i defuse the escalation with moving away, apologizing, assurance, etc. As a bouncer i never threw a punch.

A lot of people take years to realize that non-consensual fighting doesn't happen much after graduating school. Especially if they are surrounded by emotionally stunted men who actually do continue violent practices later in life; or if they are violent environments where assaults are regular (even though, as you aptly mentioned, these are very different in motivation and execution). So a lot of us get into combat sports looking to solve or prepare for a problem, that is no longer a threat. I did. It wasn't until after maybe a year and a half of Muay Thai and a year of BJJ that I eventually realized I'd likely *NEVER* use these skills On The Streetz. Still practice because it's a fun way to exercise, and really cool. But yeah, I spent at least a year practicing combat sports thinking ''okay, so this is my game plan if I'm ever in a street fight''.

QUESTION- hey Ramsey, what's Ur opinion on backyard MMA /streetfighting type things where the fight is set up? I was offered a planned fight and was offered money if I won. For me it feels like just an mma match but others think it's sketchy as fuck.

Where I'm from they will just run up and hit you for no reason without saying anything then all their scummy mates will surround you like a pack of hyenas. They think it's funny surrounding somebody they knocked down and kicking them in the head repeatedly. No reason, no warning, you have to be ready at all times to smash their heads in and don't hesitate for a second if you don't want to have a headache or worse for two weeks.

I enjoyed this Q&A very much. As a long time karate practitioner I like your way of defining the difference between self defense in a agrivated assault compared to a street fight or basically two guys with something to prove going at it. Most street fights do happen between younger people with too much ego and something to prove to themselves or people who have been drinking too much. there are absolutely a lot of shady and questionable places that anyone can avoid if they choose and this applies to places like clubs (keep in mind, not all clubs fall into that catagory, and some can even provide a very enjoyable social atmosphere). keep up the good info and mindset that you provide for people all over the place. I think you provide your viewers a good perspective on a lot of different subjects and I think this applies to both trained fighters as well as younger viewers trying to figure things out for themselves.

Thank you Ramsey, I needed this today. I try and keep a clear calm mind but life does have this habit of occasionally sneaking up on me when I'm not expecting it. I was angry about a situation in the past. It's been brewing for a week or so, I thought I was on top of it but I wasn't. You helped to remind me of where I need to be and what's what.

The night club scene is dark. Drug dealers, gangsters, preditory hustlers, burly doormen, everyone trying to get a cut. The environment is designed to make u want to be drunk, the serve u as much booze as possible, shots, stuff to get people as smashed as possible. Once the club has all their money and the moment one over does it the bouncer throws them in the street where the cab drivers, cops, and all manner of low life street dwellers gets a free shot while someones motor functions, sensory perception, judgement and brain capacity are compromised.

A fight you avoid is a fight you win

THIS is why i subbed you for Ramsey! 10/10

Thank you, some things here I needed to hear

AS my Sensei told me, as a martial artist, if you enter a "fight" you at that moment failed as a martial artist.

I feel like what he meant by 'provocation' was a scenario in which someone is touching someone you're with or other unacceptable things, because details can get hairy when you're with someone else, even in a 'safe' public place with strangers

There's a cookout near where I live and I love their milkshakes, and some of their food is decent. I often go there with friends and we hangout as it's a hangout joint near a college (it's a fast food place and they do not sell alcohol), but everytime I go there I always have an uncomfortable feeling and one time there was a group of people who did tease me. So, maybe I need to stay away from it.

When I was in secondary school (high school) I never liked people finding out I do self defense, because their ego would get the best of them and they'd try to test you.

No is an excellent answer to this question

"Best way not to get hit in fight? No be there." - Mr. Miyagi

These are the exact words my coach says to me And he is very right You should not be in that position in the first place Wise words!!

Great lesson Coach

Excellent explanation , it's all about company you choose and the environment you hang out.However, the times has changed, stabbing or shooting someone on the streets is business as usual today.So the best thing is to avoid unnecessary street conflicts, OSSU!!

I had a "street fight" 10days ago, I was walking with my friend harry then Harry's friend approaches and started talking to harry I was walking in front and Harry's friend about 30 seconds after he first approach us hit me randomly for absolutely no reason form behind so I hit him 6 times then he walked off

Really sorry to hear about your bad experience with bars. In Europe it's common to go to bars and clubs and while there might be venues where aggression happens, the vast majority of those I've been to are filled with docile people who just wanna have fun and clown around. I can count the number of incidents that I've witnessed on one hand and I haven't seen anyone with a weapon in any place of the places I've been at, though I'm so avert to violence I might be instinctively avoiding anything that looks like trouble.

Great video

Great one! Thanks for the inspiration! God bless!

I could of used you in my life 20 years ago. I was in all the wrong places with all the wrong people. However I've been sober for 18 years now and training in a variety of martial arts (I'm counting boxing as a martial art) for 15 years. Over this time I've gained a lot of respect for myself and people in general. Now fighting is never on my mind, those feelings and thoughts will never take space in my mind again. Thank you Mr. Dewey.

I wanted to write my whole life story and ten page street fight résumé here but I can't be bothered so I'll write this.

The most powerful warrior chooses to hold his sword for fear of what he can do. In the end the root of all problems is vanity and pride. Enjoy the beautiful things in life but always stay in shape for your health and self preservation.

I was watching a Muay Thai documentary. The main competitor wanted to go 'out' with some friends and there was this one girl that he liked. The coach said, "The night is for delinquents." AKA Focus on training, and stop going to clubs.

Great, great upload, thank you!

Thank you! Subscribed to your Channel! God Bless! Aloha from Texas, Reverend Dr. Liam Sullivan Stone, D.D., Ph.D., N.D.

point you make at 6:10 is a great piece of advice. I would like to be in such a place, but 13 years working as a bouncer means I can't not, difference is that as a young guy, it was ego... these days it is just ingrained habit I wish I didn't have.

When Ramsey said ''when a maniac jumps on you" i envisioned Jourdan with a knife and his psychotic smile starting to stab me before i can realise it.

"NEVER" --> 🙏🏽 That is it. Period. Thank you!

Dewey lowkey spitting facts about alcohol

Great advices. Simple and most logical. Thanks

Feeling comfortable entering a room without sizing people up is exactly the feeling martial arts give you. This is what most people do not understand about training. You train so you dont have to fight (or worry about fighting). Also because its fun :) Edit: those last words are very quotable.

If you believe that you are likely to get into many fights, you likely will get into many fights. One, that which you send out to the Universe is always sent back to you. Send out a vibe of being ready for conflict, for a fight, and you're probably going to find one. Two, you are probably walking around with a proverbial chip on your shoulder, just ready to cross any imaginary line, commit any imaginary affront. You probably talk about fights, act a certain way, frequent certain establishments... I speak from experience. 138 unsanctioned fights (64 of them were arranged bare knuckle fights for wagering, prize money, usually in or behind a warehouse, maybe a barn, or a truckyard with tractor trailers parked around the fight area), all between 16 and 32 years old. I never lost a tooth, never broke my own bones, never had my nose broke, and I absolutely loved the competition. I am so happy my life is so different and I never care to fight anyone, anywhere, at anytime. When my mindset changed, because I hurt someone severely who jumped me in a liquor store parking lot, my whole life changed. I'm happy now. I wasn't then.

I was always taught do tell anyone your in martial arts becuase then everyone would want to challenge you. So far it has rang true. Now with that said I completely agree with Ramsey 100%

amazing Mr Ramsey

I've been in street fights. With the protoss.

Wise words!

Enjoyed your video, thank you Ramsey great content

Good stuff, Ramsey. Liked and shared.

Self defence is the same as when Ramsey's corner man said "there is the rules and then there is the rules " you can defend yourself without it being seen as justified self defence

Where I grew up, people would go out looking for a fight. They would drive around or walk around depending on their age and stare at people until someone stared back at them, which was enough justification in their mind to start a fight. “What are YOU looking at?!” was a common phrase I heard growing up and I just looked away and walked away. But lots of people puffed out their chest and yelled at each other and then punched and tumbled and punched some more. Those “street fights” were completely avoidable. What wasn’t avoidable for some people was what we called “getting jumped” which meant 5 or 6 guys would surround someone and punch and kick them for about 30 seconds then run away before teachers or cops could punish them. I only saw one guy survive this. He was literally twice as big as the 2 teens who attacked him. He looked like an adult male and they looked their age: 13. And he dominated, but that was just enough to survive, not to appear magical or like Bruce Lee. But all the other times, when multiple people your size attack you, you’re going to get hurt. I’m not saying they deserved to get “jumped” but it was usually because their gang jumped a member of the other gang and then his was payback; or else someone was threatening someone else and the threatened guy brought his friends to ensure victory.

intelligent and mature answer Mr Dewey most of self defense happens before the real fight,is more about see who is in the area and what they are doing,do they seem drunk,on drugs or criminal? yes so get out of there,save yourself,if you're really need to fight cause you're being in agression do what you know punch kick sweep throw and get out of there,hit them till they are in the ground or knocked out and run you're aren't macho cause you defeated someone,a true man is strong,smart and kind, take care of his friends and family. hurr durr get drunk and punch people is for boys and man-child,not real man most of violent deaths( in Brazil) are made by man and against man,lets take more care of ourselves

if you are a martial artist you are a walking weapon, do not engage in fights unless there is no choice, just last few days i was in an accident, the guy pushed me back and even though i could have punched him into valhala i didnt, it wasnt worth it.

My boxing coach said he was never afraid of fighting he was afraid of what people would think if he lost or looked bad in some manner.

This advice is best suited..."Fo Da Streetz!!!"

Great advise. Be aware... Best defense, not be there. Use the best weapon you have... Your mind.

I definitely agree with you Ramsey, and I think I saw a similar video that you did with Jessie Enkamp. I grew out my fighting phase early, after earning a first degree black belt in Taekwondo. Partially because I know how easy it is to hurt someone else, and for things to go wrong and get hurt myself. It might be part of personality as well, but I became good at deescalating situations. Still, I was around a lot of people that still got into street fights, and carried guns. I eventually distanced myself from them, and my life is a lot more peaceful now.

The best way to win a fight is don’t get into one.

Summary of Ramsey Dewey's channel someone asks question Ramsey answers question Ramsey gets all philosophical Ramsey goes back to question

5:40 is the realist shit ever. At least when talking about being in public, most of us can't help it. We're not even looking for fights, necessarily, it just kind of comes to us as though it were a legitimate worry, despite the fact that it isn't. I'm glad that I can hear someone else talk about this in a more serious, down to earth manner.

I'm sizing up Ramsey now.

Excellent

Gonna help people out legally. Most places have a Duty to Retreat. Unless you were attacked while down a manhole or somewhere with zero exit options, if you get into a protracted fight rather than a foot race, you're in trouble legally.

great stuff 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

+100 for the advice regarding alcohol. alcohol takes the Zen out of people...

Bars are like people man... go the ones where you feel safe. In 20 years in Europe saw once a bouncer having to intervene on a drunk guy who disrespected a waitress.