Two stories- first, years ago, I was at the grocery store with my fiancee. A real jerk walked past my fiancée, bumped hard into her, and said, “Move, (expletive).” I immediately said that there was no need for that kind of language or behavior, and the guy got in my face, trying to initiate a fight. I walked away. In the car, my fiancée said she was embarrassed that I didn’t defend her honor. A year later, she left me for someone else. Second story - today, a neighbor down the street flagged me down and accused me of calling the police on him for loud music he was playing in his yard. He was trying to square up with me, went on to insult my job, and my wife, and suggested I wasn’t “being a man.” I listened to his rant, denied his accusations, and departed without engaging. My wife, who witnessed the whole episode, said something like, “He was challenging the wrong man; he’s lucky you have so much restraint.” Moral of the story - don’t get into fights, and find a loving partner who wants to be with a grownup.

Sun Tzu said the most important thing in The Art Of War: Always leave your enemy an escape route, or else they will fight with maximum ferocity once they realize they have nothing to lose.

The best advice is to not allow anyone displaying aggression to enter you personal space. Avoid any emotion and handle your business when they cross the line. Never allow ego or pride to dictate your actions.

Just yesterday I had a conflict with a lady that bumped in to me at the grocery store. She mouthed off to me, I mouthed back. I walked to the bathrooms and her brother blocked the passage out of the hallway, confronting me about what happened. First thing I noticed, he reached his hand in to his pocket. Had it in there the whole time. Guy was much smaller than me, but he seemed way too confident going up against me, a much bigger guy. I walked passed him stating I was on the phone, I’m in a rush, trying to get to a more open area with more witnesses in case things got ugly. Two more people surrounded me as I walked out of the hallway, totaling to 3. I had to swallow my pride, this isn’t worth getting stabbed or shot over. She wronged me, but it didn’t matter. I was the bad guy in their eyes. So I looked the lady in the eyes that I had the initial argument with and apologized for being rude. “Look, I was in a rush, I was really rude. I apologize”. She accepted it and they walked away. Moral of this story, just be the bigger man and say what you need to say to avoid dying over bs. Edit: Alright, I seem to be getting a lot of replies split between “you’re a wimp for backing down” and “you did the right thing”. Look, I’ll say this. I’m so embarrassed by this moment in time. I hate thinking about how I backed down. I was the weaker man in this story, this isn’t like in the movies at all where good prospers over evil. I’m just a normal everyday guy like most of you. I would delete this comment, but I feel like it could help some people that find themselves in unfortunate situations like this. All I can say is, take my embarrassing situation and use it to decide what you’ll do if you ever find yourself in trouble. Ask yourself if it’s worth it.

Bullies aren't looking for a fight, they're looking for victims

Jocko has a bear rug in his bedroom, the bear is still alive .... its just afraid to move

Defend yourself. I was raised to be passive and told to never fight back; thanks mom and dad. Well that got me a ton of screws and rods in my dominant right elbow, a severe TBI and screws plates and pins in my mouth, and a lifelong neurological seizure disorder from that head injury. I'm only 32 years old. I have to be on medication for life. Then there's the PTSD associated with these horrific injuries and surgeries. If I could turn back time i would have rather defended myself at all costs; a prison cell is better than lifelong physical disabilities or better than being dead. You can't simply avoid everything. Please protect your livelihood at all costs. Do not make the same mistakes I did.

Bouncer for a decade, everything here said is legit. Best choice is always to walk away if you can. Fighting, especially in like a bar, is a great way to get yourself crippled, even if you're Billy Badass and I've seen it happen to a lot of people.

“You can’t truly call yourself “peaceful” unless you’re capable of great violence, if you’re not capable of violence you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless”

Jocko looks like a real life Gears of War's character.

Pride goes before a fall and there is a hidden honour in walking away. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the highest level of intelligence. Restraint, calm and patience are not celebrated enough in our society. Let life teach fools their lessons.

I had a random angry guy today try to fight me at walmart after bumping into me. The guy was half my size and in his 50s but I got the strong feeling he had a gun or knife on him, and he was unhinged, so I just ignored him walked away. It was a weird experience and made me think how there's ppl like this in the world.

Jockos so far above being intimidated by average thugs "how do you deal with jerks?" Jocko: you mean Isis?

It's better to be a warrior in the garden, than to be a gardener on the battlefield.

“It’s a good feeling to know you know how to defend yourself.”

Here's my story from 15 years ago where I wish I could go back and change my decision making. Dating a girl who was a bit wild., get a call at 1:00am asking me to pick her up from a bar where she was jumped on by a group of girls. I show up, she's outside crying. My mistake was walking into the bar to find out what went on. I was talking calmy but loud to the most mature of the group. I'm agreeing with her that my GF is a nutbag and probably instigated the whole thing. Guy walks up behind me, starts pulling on my shirt telling me to go. To make it short, I'm the first one out the door followed by a group of guys, one of them being the alpha right behind me. I was in pretty damn good physical shape but not in my right mind. I end up being hit from behind and woke up on the curb, taken away in an ambulance. 7 plates and 28 screws later, jaw wired shut, dislocated right shoulder, I was out of work for almost a year. Still can't throw a baseball after many years, when I used to toss a 90mph fastball. Fortunately I was able to maintain my beauty, lol. My advice that most probably don't need to hear is to just walk away, don't go into the bar, just go home. I was at the age where I felt indestructible, and that night ended that for good.

"The fight you avoid is the fight you win." ~Active Self Protection

massively respect how Jocko doesn't act like he knows everything or thinks he is invincible

The best way to win a fight is the avoid a fight. There is ALWAYS someone meaner than you. They're out there, and you never know who they are until it's too late.

"not gonna look agressive or dangerous" **Looks like a supersoldier born from a tube**

"Stay strapped or get clapped" -Sun Tzu

Was part of a shock trauma code one night during residency that ended in the death of a big body builder. A simple single stab to the chest (entered his heart) with a 4” knife ended this young guys life in a beef at a local club. By the time his buddies brought him in the door of the trauma center it was too late. Another resident and I sewed his chest closed after he was pronounced dead and I remember thinking what a shame, such an incredible specimen of a man in the prime of his life who would probably still be alive if he had just walked away from that conflict. That’s all it takes.

Usually depends, I remember this video where a little girl got grabbed and no one did anything but watched. Sure I’ll ignore a fight and ego, but what if it’s to save somebody who doesn’t have a chance, like an old man getting robbed and dragged across the sidewalk holding onto his wallet and people just watched and recorded. I can’t live with that.

“You never know the true meaning of solving a problem without violence until a mosquito lands on your testicle.”- Sun Tzu

Imagine sitting on a bus and deciding that Jocko looks like your next bullying target.

I think the moral of the story is that while walking away from a just fight might haunt you for life, it’s a small price to pay to know you avoided the potential consequences of ruining your life outright over something you could’ve walked away from.

Years ago in college was at a bar and a guy was cat calling my then gf as we were leaving, kind of just looked at him and kept going, putting gf in front of me as walked out. She was pissed that I didn’t turn around and get in that guys face (she’s from Jersey), I said “why it’s not worth it” and she wouldn’t get it, she thought I wasn’t a man and incapable of protecting her. Apparently some girls really want you to fight for their honor, not knowing anything of what could happen after🤦🏻‍♂️

this guy is not only a beast physically but his mind is sharp af. He's humble, strong and properly intelligent, love listening to him.

I've seen it many, many times, women starting arguments and they then deliberately involve their male partner in the altercation, like a dog-owner unleashing his dog on someone, and most of the times the men involved aren't looking for a fight.

To me, the hardest part is keeping your emotions in check, in particular fear, but also anger. I've been in a situation where I was standing in fear of my bully and froze up until I got hit by him. I don't know why or how it happened, but I snapped and went berserk. I didn't expect to have a chance against him, but in my crazed state, I put him in the defensive and he got pommelled by me. I didn't hear a teacher telling me to stop, nor did I realise it when someone tried to pull me away. It took two to actually drag me off him. Only then I regained control over my body. Before that it was like watching myself. It was scary in more ways than one...

This is a very mature and wise advice. Avoid unnecessary conflict. There are idiots in the streets. Observation of surroundings frees you from most problematic idiots. Don't let idiots enter into your world, don't let them drag you into theirs. Engage only when there's no other option to protect you. Be prepared even if you never need it.

When Jocko said "a mace" I couldn't help but picture him sauntering down the street with a 15 pound steel morningstar

Rather be that warrior in a garden , than a gardener at war - Bruce Lee

100% true. these can MOSTLY be avoided by just looking the other way, not giving the aggressor the time of day. I grew up in Brooklyn, seen plenty of crackheads, crazy people, violent people who will zero in on you just for making eye contact with them. My wife grew up in a sleepy little town, she tends to get invested in other people's drama mostly by just looking at it😂. I have to always tell her to look the other way if there's a scene. Luckily we moved to a quiet town, but I still have those instincts I grew up with. And that's why I started jiu jitsu in the first place. I'm a non confrontational person, but the confidence and security I gained by simply knowing if things ever escalated I would know exactly how to handle it really changed my life.

Thanks for this video---great insights! At 70, my days of taking on a handful of punks are long over. I avoid bars, buses, subways, and parking garages. Oh, and nothing good happens after Midnight. In the event that trouble makes itself unavoidable and inescapable, I am prepared to utilize the rights secured by my concealed carry license. I may be 70 but my handgun is forever 21. I practice situational awareness to the best of my ability and I hit the range every week. With just a smidgen of luck, I should be fine. Again, thanks for the video.

A head nod from Jocko = Stay back if you want to live.

"Situational awareness will solve/should solve 99% of your problems." I think people need to digest that statement and concentrate on learning how to be aware of their environment. Thank you, guys

Speaking as a female who's had lots of weirdos and crazies in various parts of the world I find that when ignoring fails, dead eye contact and extremely confident body posture (even when they are inches away from me and in my face), being extremely calm and not moving back an inch works every single time.

Being aware. Not letting your ego lead you into danger. Avoiding and de-escalating. But failing that, being prepared for conflict and not looking or acting like a victim. Final option, strike first, strike hard and fast, then leave as soon as you can.

Situational awareness is point on. Growing up during 90s chaos and mafia era in Eastern Europe I've learned it without thinking about it. Always scanning what's going on hundreds of meters around, recognizing drunk people or people acting strange. It became second nature. And very important thing - to trust your gut feeling, to trust your first impression. If you feel that something is out of order with the person it's better to avoid.

The thing with “punks and thugs,” is that they have nothing to lose, you/me/we have everything to lose. Excellent point on deflecting and defusing as much as possible.

"He doesn't see that he's surrounded by my friends" Imagine picking a fight with an entire SEAL squad

This can and will be a tremendous help for others to explore their feelings in a new perspective. I was lucky enough to get back at the blackmailer, I found a small helper I liked talking about this man and my feeling of confusion being put into words helped me become confident, of course they have skills to solve but this is truly validating. Thanks dude

I think the huge difference for street fighting and professional is, in a street fight something happened to the point you and another human being are throwing blows. Professional it’s a job, there’s rules and regulations there’s a certain respect between the two. In a street fight USUALLY it’s all emotion. You are a threat. Some men won’t admit it but i at least always get those butterflies before something happens unless it’s one of the few times it was pure emotion. An example would be I take care of my niece; short story my sister is an unfit mother, niece would be taken away: I stepped in for custody. She forgot to sign off Facebook and some 29 year old guy was messaging her to sneak out and sleep over etc. I have never been so upset in my life, I wanted this man to suffer. I wanted blood: so I pretended to be her and turned out he lived about 20 minute ride from me. I’m cutting a lot out of this to spare you all this already long story but I see him on his step’s smoking a cigarette. I think about the messages…. I think about my niece, I start walking up to him, I literally started crying from my anger. I hit him, I hit him and hit him, my arm felt like jello after about half a minute. I remember after my teeth hurt so bad from biting down so hard. I stomped him, I wanted him to die. I’ve never wanted a human being to actually die before. And after someone kinda came up and got between us. It was like reality hit me and I realized what I’ve done…. It wasn’t regret but it was fear cuz I knew now there would be consequences. Anyway I went to prison for 3 years but did 2 and a half with good time off. I kicked him on the floor in the face and they charged me with mayhem (I never even knew that was a charge) down from assault with intent to kill if I pleaded out. I guess because he has some kinda disfigurement on his nose etc the mayhem charge stuck. The messed up part is they had told me IF he had met my niece and something happened he could have been charged but since nothing actually happened he was treated as a victim. I think the judge took this into consideration for my sentencing though cuz my lawyer said mayhem can be a lot of time. I’m not saying this story cuz I think I’m cool, cuz what I did. I don’t regret it but I’m saying this because the fight with him was about 5-6 minutes. It took 6 minutes for my life to completely change and to lose my niece, the thing I wanted to prevent. Just don’t let your emotions get the best of you if you can. Thanks for listening

“Hit hard, hit fast, until the threat is neutralized” Words to live by

“Understand the ramifications of using a firearm” This is a thing a lot of people don’t think about when they buy a firearm.

I'm far from being an expert on dealing with this type of interaction but Jocko is spot on. I'm 5'9" but very physically fit and have trained as a boxer, wrestler, karate and a little bit of jujitsu. Just being trained in one or two disciplines, even at a intermediate level, shows in your appearance and will influence how people size you up. You just carry yourself differently and behave more confidently when you know how to fight. People pick up on this so even if you have very minimal interaction with them. You're not showing any fear and giving off a relaxed vibe while at the same time you look like you can handle yourself in a fight. People looking for someone to bully or to intimidate will usually look to someone else as their next victim. Beyond that if you want to avoid any confrontations don't say anything inflammatory or try to verbally joust with the person. There's been times when I've said things and the bully would try to slight or make fun of whatever I said and I usually just try to go along and make a joke out of it. But the main points are to show that you're not going to be any type of a victim, to avoid the conflict initially if you can and if not, exit the situation as soon as possible because the longer you expose yourself to an individual like this you will exponentially increase the chance of some kind of physical altercation.

Before starting to teach the concealed carry class of 3 dozen my instructor asked, "Why do you want to carry concealed?" One guy behind me told hm, "Because I'm too old to run."

"Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling." - Proverbs 20:3

"A mace" I know he meant "mace" but imagine Jocko coming at you with a medieval mace

This advice just saved me a really bad situation, I was just walking home and someone was screaming throwing his skateboard and walked across the street towards me and I stopped when he came close to me and he said keep going and while I was walking in front of him he was screaming the worst shit and every cus word towards me trying to fight and I honestly feel ashamed that I let my adrenaline take over and I think by not responding to him at all it showed weakness...... and I think I messed up by letting him walk behind me but I also think he would've tried to fight me if I stayed there and tried to let him pass, and I could've all together avoided him by taking a different path through some apartment's but my ego said not to do that because I thought it showed fear on my part but I didn't know either he'd cross the street towards me. It's hard to not beating your self up over avoiding a fight.

When Jocko was late for school the teacher punished all the other kids for being too early

Whats the old saying, "I'd rather be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war"

That said who wants to spend their life training hard for "hopefully" a rare experience of hand to hand combat. I had a lot of fights when I was a kid cos I was skinny but tall and people didn't see me as competition. If couldn't walk away or control my temper then they happened and I was fast so I won them all thankfully. Now I'm middle aged and 210lb and I never get attacked so I never fight. Hopefully it stays that way but I do do my best to keep away from areas that might lead to trouble. My experience leads me to the conclusion; always run if you can. Bullies are often cowards and yeah it feels great to see that look of fear and recognition in their eyes, that they've made a terrible mistake, but, some are psychotic and if you aren't prepared to fight for you life, just run.

Echo with the real talk about fighting your own ego and inner voice pride. Love that guy!

Jocko looked confused like ‘I have no idea what a bully looks like’. Who the F is gonna bully a guy who looks like he was made in a lab

"I'm not gonna look aggressive" His forehead creases have more aggression than most men.

I like the really honest chat they have toward the end about "Don't do what Mike did". Jocko's very experienced but he's also humble enough to admit what's wise and what's not.

Just being in shape and being bigger than everyone is a massive advantage to avoiding confrontation. I’m not a violent person and I’m polite to everyone, but people, even violent people, are respectful for the most part. I have avoided so many fights just by not appearing as an easy target. Situational awareness is also key if someone wants to sucker punch the “big guy”.

There are punks out there who hate self-confidence, and personal success who want to bring any target down to their loser level through threats, intimidation, or violence; then play the victim when someone stands up to them.

Awareness is the most smooth martial art...

The biggest thing is not letting your ego make decisions for you. 99% of confrontations can be avoided by simply walking away. Most people can’t do that though. If you absolutely have to defend yourself great, but don’t let your ego walk you into a bad spot that could have easily been avoided.

I'm 67 years old. My wife and I and our chihuahua where out camping. Around 3:00am I start coming out of a deep sleep. I can hear my dog barking his head off and my wife saying "Who are you? What do you want?" This guy had broken into our camper and was standing over me. He says in a course gravely voice "Never mind. Go back to sleep." I didn't say a word. I quickly sat up and began bashing his head against the camper wall using palm strikes to his jaw. My wife said it was about 10 x. I got up and put him into a guillotine choke and marched him to the camper door. He was struggling so I gave him a bunch of knees and a few hammer fists to the top of his head. I was trying to smell and see if he was drunk but I couldn't smell alcohol so this meant likely drugs, maybe meth??? I don't know. I got him to the door and opened it. There is about a 3 foot drop from the door to the ground. I dropped my arm from the choke and used both hand to give him a huge push out the door. He literally flew about 6 feet and landed on his head. I told him to f off and I closed the door. In the morning he came back around 7 am with a buddy. His buddy took a look at me and said to his friend. "We better leave." I was really pissed off by then. People say "Why didn't you phone the cops after the break in?" My response was that I live in Canada. Criminals generally have more rights than civilians here. I knew that if I had seriously injured him then I would be charged and going to court. So I let it play out. By the way I'm 6'2", 210lbs and a Black Belt Instructor. When I was younger - 15 - 50 I fought nearly every weekend. The average person has no idea what happens in a street fight. Giving people anecdotal advice is just that. Every scenario is unique. I've won and lost. Generally in every fight I've lost something. Sometimes a broken nose, sometimes a dislocated shoulder and on a couple of occasions I've been stabbed. So being a tough guy ain't all it's cracked up to be. The first rule of self defense is "Don't put yourself in harms way." but if it comes then act and act fast and act repetitively. Do not be a victim.

When he said get training in firearms I thought, I can't arm myself in Ireland. Americans are lucky that way.

I would bet that Jocko doesn't get to much random aggression directed his way.

In a scenario of people being disrespectful in a social setting where its a bunch of people you know, if it gets to the point where irs beyond joking & they're actually being outright disrespectful, you just let them know you won't be disrespected & they either apologise or they're done talking to you. Let people know you have a limit. Only physically fight if there's no other way out

I love how he explains his points systematically, deconstructing the concepts step by step, very military like

I never regret the next day, having walked away. I 100% regret the next day, having engaged. Descalating is a real skill and a real power and I couldn't agree with the sentiment of this podcast more.

lol these two guys de-escalate situations just by standing there. I need some advice from some normal looking people.

There’s a famous saying: “walk a mile to avoid a fight, but when in one don’t back down an inch”

a month ago I was taking a bus from a sketchy terminal in South America. A pro theif snatched my phone away, and I put him in a rear naked choke, thinking I'd put him to sleep, get my phone back, and get out of there. Turns out he was not alone, and his 4 hombres were on me immediatly with metal bars and knives. They knocked me out, took everything I had, and left me bleeding out on the street with 5 deep cuts on my head. Thank God I made it out alive. Obviously I should have just run away, but in the moment my fighting instinct took over. Best case scenario, I would have run, lost my phone, and felt like a b*tch. Worst case, I could have died. How it turned out I guess was somewhere in the middle. In any case, I learned alot, came out with some badass facial scars and a good story. Life is good, God is good, be careful out there.

You can always say, "Dude, I really don't want to violate my parole."

Notice how many of these scenarios take place in bars and are initiated by drunk people. One of the best pieces of self-defense advice I ever heard: stay away from bars. Avoiding random drunk people is statistically better than years of martial arts training, and is much simpler.

I was a fighter early in life and I found posturing is very useful in avoiding actual fights. Once you really know how to hurt someone, you become less likely to do so.

I’ve only encountered situations like this when a group of 3+ individuals started running their mouths at me and trying to provoke me. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who has to pick a fight with 1 person while 2 or 3 of their friends are there to back them up is a coward. And cowards are dangerous because they have no respect for themselves or anyone else. I do agree that it is best to be prepared for all types of situations like Jocko described, because there are cowards everywhere and they have no problem sucker punching someone or fighting dirty. Again, no self respect.

"Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on -- it isn't manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn't give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance -- unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength." - Marcus Aurelius

This is all 1000% accurate advice. I'm Asian and I grew up in the projects in the Bronx. Trouble was pretty much unavoidable for me. Best thing to do is to not think running away is "beneath" you. I got jumped at least once a week when I was a teenager. Always be aware. Exactly what Jock said. See a group coming your way? Cross the street. Two guys eyeing you? Walk faster. There was 1 time, I crossed the street and the group crossed too.. and I crossed back and they followed. So I started fucking RUNNING. Ran until I got to a bodega I knew the owner and went inside. They came in but I knew the bodega owner was packing.. told these dudes to leave. Man I had so many of these situations growing up. I've been robbed at gunpoint, been stabbed, gotten the shit kicked out of me, cuz I was Asian. The eye contact thing is 100% true. Never ever ever make eye contact. I accidentally did a couple times and just regretted and thought "here we go...". And it 100% escalates every time. This stuff happened a lot less after I moved out of the hood. I can still spot trouble though and try to remove me and others out of it. One time I was in Vegas with a bunch of friends from college. They're not very street smart. Decided to get liquor and they wanted to go to this place off the strip. We pull up and this place was obviously not the spot man.... U got junkys, dealers, gang bangers in the parking lot. U can tell if you roll up with 3 white dudes and an Asian kid... we were gonna get jumped. Told them to NOT stop and we gotta go. These idiots said I was being racist. Told them I was gonna stay in the car. Guess what, 20 seconds after they got out of the car, they got robbed. I drove over there fast and picked them up and got out of there. Some idiots just gotta learn the lesson on their own. What he said about getting active is true too. I'm not sure if it's because I'm bigger now or if it's something else... but I don't really get hassled as much anymore. I started wrestling in HS and college and I bulked up. I'm 6'1", 235 now and very very very rarely do people even try.

I once had to tell a guy trying to push me into a fight. That I’m not looking for trouble but you’re pushing me into a corner and when I come out it we be all over you. The look on his face was one of belief

WE win every fight we never engage in

In the words of the immortal Chael Sonnen: "I can't let you get close."

“Don’t look at them, don’t make eye contact, stay out of the situation” YES! This is so important and it frustrates me how some of my friends don’t realize this. I remember how one time I was sitting on a late-night train with my friend next to me and a bunch of low-life trash entered the cabin. My friend immediately made eye contact, KEPT LOOKING AT THEM and said to me “hey, would you look at those losers”. I later told him he was just asking for trouble and he totally didn’t understand my point

Looking intimidating is the best selfdefense

I love that he's so honest that he brings up situational awareness which is basically a way of saying hey keep yourself in check as well meaning that if it's a situation that you can avoid avoid it don't go looking for trouble yourself either see a lot of guys will train and do all this conditioning and s*** like that and then they'll go out openly and hoping that someone starts some s*** with them so that they can use it in real world scenarios you don't want to do that I can tell you right now people that can really hurt people don't go around flaunting it or looking to use it .... it's a last resort PERIOD whether it's a physical altercation or you decide to pull your gun you only do those two things if you have exhausted all other options

"Every warrior prays for peace, but if there is a war we want a piece."

Nothing better than learning from somebody who has been there before

"Detach" I did the exact same thing on a bus.. Good advice. Great advice! But the better advice would be to never have gotten on the bus to begin with. Should have had a friend or Uber meet me at the Car repair drop off...

Nobody likes crazy. Act crazy. Have a crazy argument with imaginary foe. Growl... lunge at nothing...claw at the air....shake uncontrollably.... This usually works for me when family asks me for money.

“To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.” - Chinese proverb

This was all very consistent with self defense training I’ve taken. There’s is a lot here about keeping yourself out of bad situations that seems like half the battle.

When he said your doomed I love that

This couldn't have come at a better time for me. Covid is bringing out the worst in retail shoppers

I’ve lived in some rough places, met Lots of rough people. Never been in any sort of fight whatsoever, not even a verbal one. Just have self respect and vicariously you will respect other people. If people talk to you, just be honest, ask them questions about themselves. Like Jocko said, most people like that are insecure. So if you just make them feel good, they like you. It’s like dealing with an animal.

You two articulated this subject matter very well.

Such an important lesson right here everyone should learn, i had to learn this first hand living in NYC, makes me think about the recent tragic Leandro Lo incident and how maybe it could have been avoided.

11:23 A close friend who served in Vietnam as a Marine gave me the exact advice when a confrontation is unavoidable. Hit hard, hit fast and don't stop until the threat is neutralized, then get out.

Jocko looks aggressive when crying, Jocko looks aggressive when laughing, Jocko looks aggressive when sleeping... Jocko: I’m just gonna sit here and not look aggressive.

"Tread lightly and carry a big stick" and also like you said about situational awareness/planning stay out of bad places, away from bad people, at bad times. My police officer brother always says nothing good happens after 11pm. Go home early. Never in my life have I run into aggressive drunk people while the sun is shining. Thanks for the great video

Situational awareness and descalation techniques are key. Combat techniques are surprisingly secondary though always useful. Sometimes you just have bad luck. RIP the great Leandro Lo

"...and then I make it so you don't get to use your arms again, forever."

best part is when Jocko very humbly says "i'm not gonna fight out here, get arrested, get sued by you, and then..... i make it so you can't use your arms anymore, FOREVER"