Did I do the right thing??

[Jimbeaux]

Last night I was walking home from a movie with my fiancee, Fulvia. On the way we saw a guy with his face covered in dry blood leaning against a wall trying to eat a sandwich, barely able to stand on his own two feet. We didn't think much of it and kept walking. (It's amazing the things we can ignore once they become commonplace.)

About halfway down the block, we stopped to let some people pass us as it's a big pet peeve of Fulvia's to have people walking right behind us. When we moved to the side two young girls ran by us because that guy with a bloody face was following them. Not knowing this, Fulvia and I started walking after the two girls had passed, and the bloody-faced guy was now following us. I took Fulvia by the arm and tried to cross the street, but the guy followed us stumbling, but moving quickly. So we went back to the same side of the street and I put Fulvia on my other side to keep myself between her and the guy. I felt a surge of adrenaline, which in the past would've turned into fear, but instead turned into energy and self-confidence. My girlfriend said "It's your time, Jimmy! Now you can be like Caine!" (We've been watching "Kung Fu" with David Carradine.) She also said "I'm not scared, because I know you practice Kung Fu every day.", which made me feel good.

Anyway, we kept walking and put some distance between us and the guy. He started shouting and I could see the two girls he was originally following scream and start to run. We were now on the main pedestrian area of Frankfurt (Zeil), so I knew that if anything were to happen, the cops would've been there soon. I saw a group of about 10 big guys who I would normally avoid. I walked with my girlfriend through this group of guys, and the bloody guy was distracted and started talking to them as I had hoped.
My girlfriend wanted to stop and see what was going to happen, but I said we should walk home while he was distracted, so he wouldn't follow us all the way home.

My questions are:
1. Was it right at the beginning to keep walking? He could have attacked us from behind. I do (and did) have the feeling that this was right, because I was following my instincts and felt that I would've known if an attack was coming. Should I have maybe stopped and stood my ground? I think this would've led to a confrontation that I successfully avoided.

2. Was it right to distract him with that group of guys? I felt that the bloody guy would not be crazy enough to bother such a large group too much, but he would be distracted away from us. I thought those guys could take care of themselves. If it had been a group of girls, I would have stayed to make sure everyone was safe. I'm sure of that.

I'm pretty sure I acted okay, because I wasn't afraid to fight him, but I was afraid to get his blood on me (that would be gross!).
Maybe the only thing I didn't do, but should have, was to call the police. I just had faith that police would be there soon anyways, as it was the main shopping district. In hindsight, I should have taken that responsibility into my own hands. But I think it was a good experience, because I've now programmed the police's number into my cell phone, so I will do it in a similar situation in the future.

Thank you to anyone who had the patience to read through this long post, and to anyone else who would be kind enough to post a response.

With a Shaolin salute,
Jim

[Ray]

Hello brother,

I think that taking advantage of that large group of men was a good strategy, as for continuing to walk the most important thing was that you were aware of his intentions and presence, a positive reflection of your training.

Shaolin Salute,

Ray

[Jimbeaux]

Thanks Ray,

That helps.

In hindsight, it looks like I've answered my own questions in writing it out!

Keep up your good training (and your journal)!

Jim

[drunken boxer]

Sounds to me like you did pretty well. I would be interested to know what the seniors/instructors would do in the same situation? Personally I would also have tried to avoid it. Unless I thought I or my girlfriend were under actual or imminent attack, or if he said really humiliating things to goad me into it. Though if I was more confident in my fighting skills, ie if I knew that I could fight him and definitely ensure that I could keep both myself and my girlfriend safe... I don't know. I still think avoiding it is best. Even if there is a 95% chance of fighting him and being safe, then trying to avoid it increases that to 97 or 98% even for a better fighter than me I think.

I think there were a quite a few good things. You were ready to fight, but you avoided it. You were ready to protect your girlfriend, and even the girls that you didn't know. It sounds like you did well before the event, what I mean is you have trained well because you trained enough that you felt confident enough to handle the situation if necessary and also your girlfriend felt safe because of this.

[Jimbeaux]

Thank you Drunken Boxer!

Just a note on my comment:

It's amazing the things we can ignore once they become commonplace.)

I did't want to give the impression that Frankfurt is bad place to live. In fact, I love it here and I always feel safe in the city. It also frequently ranks in the top 10 cities of the world for quality of living. Of course if you compare it to a village, it's more dangerous, but compared to the other big cities of the world Frankfurt is a safe little village itself.

Just to set the record straight about this city!

Jim