When I took self-defense, my instructor told me that the best thing to do was to first kick the knees or the groin rather than have some kind of prolonged fight. The “rules” are that in a life or death situation, there are no rules. For the Martial Arts section, the people here are strangely reluctant to give any 4-1-1 on it, but in Krav Maga, the goal is to get out of a bad situation with whatever it takes. If kicking someone in the groin is the speediest solution, Krav Maga says do it. Nothing wrong with punches, or chops, but you don't ever rely on just one thing. If it's called for, Krav Maga would suggest using a stick, an ink pen, a block, or even a brick to the back of the head if it ends a fight with no harm to the man or woman using Krav Maga. KM is not a honorable sport, but a means to quickly and safely deal with a guy with a gun or a knife, a situation with two or more assailants, a hostage situation, and other practical problems of survival. It's taught to the Israeli army and to people who need to know self-defense; it's a very good martial art.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_Maga

What?! Lol your friends are morons, no offense.

Then again they were trying to offend you.

Yeah wow... no.

A street fight is an unexpected mess with your life on the line.

You can use every and any technique you know.

Do what you have to and get the hell out of there.

But i bet in your friends rules running away is lame too.

I have been in real and unnecessary street fights. They are not jokes or something to play around with and one mistake can get you killed or seriously injured.

Stick with your martial art and be proud to practice it. I love TKD and think keeping distance and getting away is a strong winning strategy. Plus if you manage to land a strong kick to someone who doesn't expect it they might just go down.

PS. Your friends sound like stupid *****. They would get torn apart in a street fight.

You are talking about some stupid ego driven fight/brawl. Somebody said something you didn't like or thought you said something. He says she say stupid immature things. Maybe they stepped on your shoes or they bumped into you. Those silly fights should be and can be avoided. In those fights even though there are no rules, some people say hat you should kick, scratch, bite, etc. But as you pointed out there are no rules. But that is not self defense. Anyone involved in those fights can be charge with assault even if they didn't start them.

Self defense there are no rules. You do whatever needed to survive. Your life is in danger or yo are stopping the aggressor from committing a felony. I would pick up a stick, brink, bottle, kick, scratch or whatever is handy at the time to survive and go home to my family.

Really?

Ever have someone attack you for real?

Do you think they care about "rules" or cheap shots?

Punks will attack you if they think you're weak and won't fight back. If they think you will and you might hurt them they'll find a different victim.

We say it over and over but the best fight is the one you avoid. The next best is the one you walk away from. And to me that means doing whatever is necessary to ensure I don't get hurt. So if it means kicking, fingers to eyes or whatever then I really don't care what anyone thinks as I'm not going to fight unless it's necessary and then it's true no holds barred.

Do you think attacking an unsuspecting victim in the street is cheap? I do. So why would you not do the same, use cheap techniques and cheat and do anything to safe your life.

However, if you think that self defense is squaring up and exchanging blows like you do in a sports fight you will be in for the surprise of your life. Real attacks are chaotic. They follow no rule and are never as pretty as you practice them in training. Everything goes.

Sounds like you've already made up your mind and are looking for validation of your point of view.

Well, you'rein luck; I agree with you.

I wouldn't place kicks at a high level of utility, but if you're fighting for your life, anything goes. There are *kind of* rules- they're called laws, and you're only allowed to use the minimum amount of force to end an immediate threat. If someone's talking smack but haven't put their hands on you, for instance, you can't gouge their eyes out. But outside of that, kicks may have their place, depending on the circumstances.

In a real life street fight you do what you feel you have to to come out of it on top. There are no rules, you can kick the guys in the balls and stomp his head into the pavement if you feel that will make him back the f*ck off

Lol.

Since when were fights fair? Since when was kicking an opponent cheap?

Fights are never fair and nothing is too "cheap" to do.

If anyone tells you otherwise they don't know jack about "street fighting" or fighting in general.

I will do whatever I have to do to win and come out on top. Simple as that.

Whatever means, whatever power, whatever utility.

If I have a weapon and you don't... to bad. Kicks, breaks, gouges, chokes, etc.

My goal is too win, period.

If your friends don't want "kicks", they should put on gloves, create a boxing ring with a strict rule set, and actually "fight" fair. But when it comes to ACTUAL fighting, there is no such thing as fair.

No, what ever gets you out of the situation works, even if some people do consider it dirty, as long as your safe and you are not at the hands of the police

Only if you agree on rules against them.

No agreement means anything is fair game.

My friends keep telling me that kicks in a street fight are cheap. I they say that punching is the only thing you can do. As if there is a rule book to a street fight. I've tooken tae kwon do for 3 years and still am today.

Kicks are not cheapo, they are free.