Originally Posted by bluefoxicy

It's kind of hard for me to identify with this for two reasons: lack of fear in general (I'm only nyctophobic, and that's largely been solved) and some weird thing where I don't lose fights (don't ask, I don't know why).

Weapons: hands first. Your body is the only weapon. Take Aikido, take Pentjak Silat, take Judo, take Jiu Jutsu, take Muay Thai, take something. Take both a grappling soft art and a striking hard art. Study in the context of self-defense, not sport fighting.

I can understand weapons. I've recently learned that most people don't see both time and space in movement: I see a moving object as its entire path, and its position related to time along a limited segment of that path in space. In other words: I can intersect the path of anything I can see moving with anything else I have sufficient physical control over. Weapons can deal more force and provide more protection than my body, and a simple, short, wooden stick can protect me from knives and pipe wrenches. This I understand.

You must understand: if you try to pull out a ***, and I'm 2 feet away from you, I'll grab your wrist when you reach for your holster, and then take your ***. This goes for mace, a knife, a baton hidden up your ass, or anything else. Don't rely on weapons in that way.

By the same token, if you can grapple with me for about 3 seconds before you inevitably lose, you can probably unholster your firearm and shoot me in the face. Probably. Maybe not.

Your body is your only protection. It will take a beating, and it can deal one out pretty hard. If you bring weapons, you will need to shield them when brought into play, or else you will lose them; your body must be ready to use weapons, or they are only dangerous to yourself. The only possible exception is a small, concealable air horn, which does no useful damage, but at least alerts the whole neighborhood and thus can't be used against you.

It also pisses people off, and they rain fury upon your head.

Also, don't look terrified. Don't be terrified. Your body does involuntary things with fear; you can't conceal it. You will be beaten, you will be bruised, you will be battered and you will be broken. These things heal; do not fear them. If someone brings them to you, force them back, and do not stop until you die; when they realize what they have started, terror will fill them. The most horrific thing for an assailant is the realization that you have no fear of them, even when they're winning. They know death is coming the moment they flinch.

People attack you because they're weak, frightened cowards. It is the duty of the strong to protect the weak.