Violence in the real world
Published: Fri, 03/13/26
Updated: Fri, 03/13/26
There was a group of five or six men and one of them had someone on the floor and seemed to be hitting him. I walked over to see what was going on in case someone was being seriously assaulted. I could not be quite sure if the incident was actually serious of if it was just some mates messing around. Then the group broke apart and the man who was on the floor was left alone. I assumed the matter was more or less over with no serious consequences, so I turned back to see that my daughter was okay. I then heard the sickening crack of a head hitting the pavement. I turned back and saw the large man who had been originally hitting the smaller man looking at his victim who was now motionless on the pavement with blood already seeping from this head. The large man looked a bit confused as to what had just happened and I remember thinking that he looked a bit old for getting into fights with younger men (I later found out the the victim
was 24 and his assailant was in his early 40s.) The larger man then left the scene with a companion and I focussed on seeing what I could do for the casualty. A couple of other people came over including a security guard and a lady who seemed quite confident in her first aid skills. The police and ambulance were summoned and a motorist stopped and lent a couple of blankets with which to make the injured man more comfortable. One of the bars nearby provided a first aid kit, not that there was a great deal we could do before the ambulance arrived. The casualty partly regained consciousness and was moaning in pain, which I took to be a good sign as I know that a blow as he had suffered can be fatal. He as also bleeding from his nose and mouth. (I was later informed that he had fractures to both his skull and his cheekbone, fortunately not life threatening, but still serious.)
Having made sure that my daughter understood what was going on and that she was happy playing in the park (we were able to see each other at all times.) I stayed at the scene until the police arrived. I explained what I had seen and the two woman officers seemed to be confident that they already knew who was responsible for inflicting the injuries. My contact details were taken and I took Iduna home for tea. I am glad to say she wasn’t at all worried about what had taken place earlier, if indeed she really noticed at all.
A couple of days later I received a phone call from the police who asked me if I was willing to make a statement and perhaps give evidence in court at a later date. I agree that I was willing to do both. I was then asked to have a look at the Humberside police Facebook page where mug shots of the persons of interest relating to the assault could be viewed. I looked and indeed recognised the larger man in the incident. Since then I have given, reviewed, and electronically signed a statement to our local CID. I don’t know if I will summonsed as a witness in this case. If there is a guilty plea entered there will be no need for a full trial, and therefore no need for my testimony. Thankfully, I have had very little to do with the the police and courts up until now, so I am not really sure how the system works. I will be willing to help the process of justice if required, and I will be happier still I can forget the whole business.
I have some reflections on this episode which might be worth sharing. One question is why did I notice that an act of violence was taking place and walk towards the incident to see what was happening instead of looking the other way, or immediately calling the police? I found myself remembering what Marc McYoung taught on a course I attended in Bristol many years ago. According to McYoung there are three kinds of violence, social conflict, predation, and process violence. Social violence is when primates fight over status and position in the pecking order. Usually among younger males. Alcohol and females often fuel the situation. Predation is when violence, or just the threat of violence, is used to take something of value from a victim, often called robbery, or a mugging. Process violence is when the violence is the objective and examples are kidnapping and rape.
I was willing to approach the situation described above without any particular concern for my own safety as I appeared to be witnessing a classic example of social violence. Not a pleasant experience for the victim, but unlikely to be life threatening. I could have called the police and reported the incident. However, the fight would have been long over by the time the police arrived and it would have been highly unlikely that anyone would have been willing to press charges for assault. However, I believer that then came what Marc McYoung would call the; ‘and your mother’ moment where the dominant primate is content with the punishment he has inflicted and is ready to end the matter. However, the beaten monkey can’t resist a final act of defiance with an insult or comment which brings a savage reaction. In this case I think that the larger man reacted by kicking his victim in the face before he was fully back on his feet flipping
him over so that he landed on his back, his head striking the floor.
In that instant the situation moved from being a scrap that would have been of little or no interest to the police to a manhunt and (I would expect) charges of GBH or similar. I will be interested to see how it pans out.
Regards
Graham
PS at the Salisbury Course on the 21st of March I will devote some of the day to practical self-defence. I will cover some of what I learned from Marc McYoung and Geoff Thompson and relate the teachings to real life experiences I have witnessed or actually been involved in. Self-defence is far more about keeping ourselves out of trouble than it is about beating up the ‘bad guys’. On the 21st I will demonstrate how an understanding of violence and the application of the Five Principles of Stav can enable us to realistically defend ourselves, both from injury and from criminal charges.
Graham Butcher
21 Beaver Road
Beverley East Yorkshire HU17 0QN
UNITED KINGDOM
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