Originally Posted by Cyclaholic

I have about 10 years of martial arts, mostly korean styles. It has saved me on 3 occasions. One time I was cornered by 2 men one of which was armed with a knife. They appeared to be after my laptop and I would have gladly handed it over except they didn't give me a chance, I only ended up with a superficial gash on one leg.

The best self defence is to be aware of your surroundings, think and plan ahead, avoid conflict - run early and fast. If you're cornered by a mugger and he only wants your stuff like wallet or laptop just hand it over, they're totally replaceable.

If you can't get away and are commited to physical conflict then there are no rules except you hit as soon and as hard as you can, as often as you can, with whatever you have at hand. A pen is a stabbing weapon, in a grapple try to bite into your opponent untill you're tearing flesh, in a grapple go hard for the eyes and genitals. Anything you can lift with one hand you can swing hard with two. If you can, strike the first blow and keep on striking untill you're absolutely positive the threat is neutralised sufficiently to make a run for it. Basically its a matter of wanting it, be as viscious as you can. Its nothing like the movies, its more like dogs fighting in the street, the most viscious one usually comes out on top.