Current US Military

[DBTrek]

it is existentially dangerous to let your enemy know that you are not really resolved to fight, thus is the stuff Cuban Missile Crises are made of

Or schoolyard bullying.
As a kid who moved around a lot and was not predisposed to violence ... once forced to fight back I was amazed at how much violence is averted by simply being unafraid to throw down wherever, whenever.

[Smitty-48]

it is existentially dangerous to let your enemy know that you are not really resolved to fight, thus is the stuff Cuban Missile Crises are made of

Or schoolyard bullying.
As a kid who moved around a lot and was not predisposed to violence ... once forced to fight back I was amazed at how much violence is averted by simply being unafraid to throw down wherever, whenever.

I relied on extroversion, I simply converted my enemies to my side, by the force of my personality alone

when I threw down in fights, it was to test myself, I was the one who picked the fights, to incite a crucible for myself

I wanted to be a soldier, so I felt the need to pick fights, to condition myself for contact

then I became addicted to fighting, just for the thrill of it

defeat the other boy in close combat, then take the girl home ftw

[DBTrek]

I relied on extroversion, I simply converted my enemies to my side, by the force of my personality alone

when I threw down in fights, it was to test myself, I was the one who picked the fights, to incite a crucible for myself

Well, that's a hard route to take when you're the "new kid" in scrappy neighborhoods every couple of years.
I just got tired of being jumped.
Turns out, bloody a few noses, chuck a few fist-sized rocks at people's faces, and kick some people into fences - and suddenly no one really wants to pick on you anymore.

Well ... no one without guns or knives at least.
Still wound up with a knife scar, even after learning to fight.

[Smitty-48]

I relied on extroversion, I simply converted my enemies to my side, by the force of my personality alone

when I threw down in fights, it was to test myself, I was the one who picked the fights, to incite a crucible for myself

Well, that's a hard route to take when you're the "new kid" in scrappy neighborhoods every couple of years.
I just got tired of being jumped.
Turns out, bloody a few noses, chuck a few fist-sized rocks at people's faces, and kick some people into fences - and suddenly no one really wants to pick on you anymore.

Well ... no one without guns or knives at least.
Still wound up with a knife scar, even after learning to fight.

I hung out in Regent Park with the West Indian gangsters

I only got shot at once, but there were a couple times where I had to back down, because the black kid drew down on me with a handgun

[Smitty-48]

I did actually get shot at a second time in Regent Park, but it wasn't gang related

it was some old white guy living in the projects who went postal and started shooting up the streetcar with a rifle

I was sitting in the back listening to my walkman, when the windows of the streetcar started to explode

life in the fast lane, bright lights, big city

[DBTrek]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.
Fuck that.

Have had guns pulled on me.
Even fought a guy who pulled a gun point blank on me (he was drunk so I was feeling pretty confident about my chances).

No shots fired.

And at this point of the game, I aim to keep my record of being shot at to zero.

[Smitty-48]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.
Fuck that.

Have had guns pulled on me.
Even fought a guy who pulled a gun point blank on me (he was drunk so I was feeling pretty confident about my chances).

No shots fired.

And at this point of the game, I aim to keep my record of being shot at to zero.

the most harrowing incident I faced was actually three chevato types armed with knives

I had brought my girlfriend, Shanda, from Petawawa, to stay with my mom down in the city

Shanda was a knockout, she was kind of a Katy Perry type, she was my trophy girlfriend

but we walked through the school yard, and there were these three hispanic types there, wearing colours

so they started wolf whistling on my girl, and I turned and told them where to go with that

then they started following us, eventually they were right up on us, so I had to turn and face them

I told Shanda to run, but she wouldn't run, she backed off a few paces, but she wouldn't leave me

so then I am squared up with three guys brandishing knives, with my 19 year old girlfriend in the breach refusing to flee

that one was touch and go, but I managed to stare them down

the fact that Shanda was so stalwart helped, they were a little unsure of themselves when the girl was in the mix

I just said, "you're threatening my girl, so this is to the death, no way out"

they decided to back down rather than escalate from there

[Montegriffo]

Someone threw a snowball at me once.
That's the price of freedom I guess.

[Smitty-48]

the worst beating I ever took was not even in the hood

it was at a club downtown

I was with two of my army mates, John Owoh & Jim McIver

I picked a fight with three Polish guys, but there turned out to be seven of them

so I ended up back against the wall doing the rope-a-dope with three Polish guys

I had a grip on one of them, I was beating the piss out of him, but while I was, his two buddies were beating the piss out of me

luckily my mate John Owoh was an expert martial artist who grew up in Zambia in Africa

John Owoh saved my ass in that one, he busted out some Bruce Lee shit as he came to my rescue

[DBTrek]

The beatings are slavic.