How Much Force Is "Too Much?"

With today's society and rampant lawsuits, sometimes it's a bit "iffy" when you consider the legal ramifications of what can happen after a physical encounter. If your attacker takes you to court, how will you defend yourself? What's your case? What seems like a no-brainer to you will be picked apart in a court room, trust me. And sometimes, the tables are turned so much that they make YOU out to be the attacker.

Let's break this down a bit and see what can happen.

For this example, you're not an instructor; rather, you're a student (and if you're an instructor, it gets even worse). You attend a school vs. only training at home. One night you find yourself in a situation where you have to use your skills to defend yourself, and you're successful. Your opponent, however, has a broken nose, a broken jaw, and a dislocated knee (not to mention the regular odd and end injuries that usually result from a scuffle). And in the end, he sues you.

In court, your skills will be weighed as to what "justifiable force" you employed. Did you really "have" to fight? Were you in a true self-defense situation to begin with, or did you just "think" you were? Was there a time when you could have stopped fighting but didn't? Could you have escaped but instead chose to continue? Were the actions you employed proper to the given situation (in other words, did you spear his eyes vs. just punching, and were those actions justifiable)? Is this excessive force in the eyes of the court? And what made you feel that you could so much damage to someone that had no fighting skills (if it's found that your attacker didn't have formal training)? And what constitutes "formal" vs. something else? Does this even matter?

The courts will pick everything apart piece by piece, sometimes to the point that it boggles the mind for common sense.

Also, what about your teachers? Your school, instructors and classmates might be interviewed and scrutinized to see what kind of a student you are, what your mental attitude is, what skills you possess, and what you're being taught. It won't be just you in court; instead, it will be everyone you represent.

You see, what WE think about when training isn't always in line with the justice system. As I see it, if someone attacks me, they better pray they can fight because I know I CAN. And if they do, then they're going for the ride of their life because that's how I've been trained. But... that "can" have an impact in the court room, and that impact be either negative or positive, depending on the situation and the outcome.

To you and I, we're simply defending ourselves and removing the threat. It's what we're trained to do, and we do it without thinking about it. To the court, however, it's not that simple. There are degrees of force, and those degrees will be heavily weighed.

I recommend that everyone investigate their state or country laws that outline what's acceptable and what's not where self-defense comes into play. In the end, it's a personal decision as to what you do, of course. Some will feel that it's not worth taking the chance, and others will feel that they'd rather do what's necessary and possibly face their legal system later. At least they're alive and well vs. severely injured (or worse).

But it would serve everyone well to at least check into their local laws and find out what "can" happen. Becoming educated in your justice system, especially where self-defense is concerned, is rather eye-opening to say the least.