Here's an unfortunate video that underscores two of the cornerstones of TFT:

1) Understanding the difference between antisocial posturing (monkey politics) and asocial violence (killing), and

2) Making sure that if you're going to lay hands on someone you know how to put them down so they can't get back up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV3dLrukBM0

Of course, it also illustrates the fact that firearms come pre-packaged with all the requirements for striking -- a good whallop of kinetic energy and complete follow-through, just add vital target.

It's just another horrible, preventable example of what can happen when one person reads the situation as antisocial, a contest for pecking order, while the other is willing to cross all those lines and go straight for the kill.

This is why we spend so much time on those two topics -- how to effect that kill with your bare hands and understanding when it's appropriate vs. the 99.9% of the times it flat-out isn't.

In either case -- walking away or putting the other man down -- the life you save just might be your own.

Labels: competition, criminal violence, gun, lethal force self defense