I'm definitely not "naturally a badass." I've simply learned enough to overcome the natural tendency to either freeze or run in these circumstances.

Since I was a child I have tended to move forward, too. Always. I simply did as much when I saw him put his hand in his pocket. Frankly, I thought it was a gun and assumed I had no other choice. The experience deeply haunted me for years. I'm sure I had some sort of traumatic disorder.

Standing still has always bothered me, whether it be about some dumbass gunning for me or some 'tough guy' harassing someone less capable. Strangely enough I had to break up a domestic violence fight just the other night. I did so in a very dramatic fashion - putting on my jacket while walking directly towards him - barking at his buddies - and pointing at him the whole way. Ultimately I grabbed his neck and choked him. Like I said, very dramatic and entirely done for the benefit of the two dudes standing around him, though the jacket was an added precaution in the unlikely event he had a knife. It was pretty clear that neither he nor they were likely to move, but I wanted to increase my odds. Lots of booze, yelling, and deer-in-the-headlights looks involved.

However, my son did witness it and told me I had acted "just like a super hero."

I got him to a point of safety first, of course. Understand that the woman was screaming everything from "rape" to "call 911" to "he's hitting me" and no one else was moving; it's not like I jumped into chaos with my son in tow just for the hell of it.

Ultimately she turned out to be a royal cunt - likely the real source of the problem - and started yelling at me. Fucking bitch.

Please don't think that this is a usual event in my life. Clearly the timing is ironic.

I studied Korean and Chinese martial arts. Enough to do okay when needed, I suppose. One of the Korean experiences was immersive and I was witness to some amazing things. I came to understand what a real badass looks like - and like I said - he doesn't look like me. Well, actually, let me rephrase because I kind of do look like a badass, however, I am certainly not actually a badass, at least by my definition.

The most intriguing outcome of the other night was our discussion afterwards. My son went buddy-by-buddy pointing out whose dads would have fought versus whose dads would have run. The outcome exactly parallels what everyone in MRP is saying:

• The fighters? To a 't' they have muscles, athleticism, sometimes military backgrounds, and poise.
• The runners? Fat, bald, boring, scrawny, or just plain pathetic.

By the way - I suppose to better relate this to MRP - I told my wife none of what happened. Last thing you need is to brag to your wife if you get lucky like I did.

My son, however, as you can imagine... well he told her everything. :-)

p.s. You can't go wrong with jiu jitsu. My son already has a black belt in a Korean form and has been taking BJJ for a while. It's pretty amazing. I'm biased, though, because I would always get my ass whooped by wrestlers since I simply had no fucking idea what they were doing. You are at a tremendous disadvantage without wrestling or grappling skills, so you might as well include them.