Brawling

[JLV]

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

I expect the people defending my country to fight just as dirty as they have to, BEFORE the other guy gets there, so no problem on this side. But I don't imagine they were teaching you Brawling - I think it was real UC.

I don't know -- one of the tricks we learned was to put a rock in a boot sock as an improvised cosh. ("Use a clean sock, though, because if the sentry smells you coming, there he is with his AK-47, and there you are with your dirty sock!") Basically, I think they taught us "dirty fighting" -- eye gouges, finger breaks, expedient weapons, garottes, some knife fighting, etc.

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

I think the mismatch of expectations is that I am thinking of Brawling as NOT really a serious combat skill - just a dominance game, in a world which is itself a game. If you really want to hurt somebody, bring a weapon. (Heinlein, paraphrased: "Force is the last refuge of the incompetent. The competent will use force sooner.")

That makes a whole lot of sense, and in that respect, I will (gracefully, I hope) concede you both the point and the talent... ;-)

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

Furniture fighting: Is any of that real? For instance, while you oomph a chair over your head, aren't you begging to get kicked anywhere from the waist down?

I've seen chairs thrown during brawls, but I don't believe I've ever seen anyone try to actually HIT someone with a chair, unless maybe he could sneak up behind the victim in all the confusion. Broken bottles and the like, those I've seen. All those cinematic barroom brawls in the Westerns were just that -- cinematic. Furniture doesn't really work like that (if it broke that easily, you wouldn't be able to sit in it on the first place).