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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: fighting in China
So I was having lunch yesterday and some dude starts being an a-hole. I ask him what his problem is and he just says sum racist bull to me. I threaten to knock him out and he walks outside. Now I have been here long enough to know what he is up to. So I follow him outside and listen to him. He is on the phone calling some of his friends. I just smashed his phone, slapped him in the face and he ran away. My question is, Why are most of the men here unable to fight by themselves? It really is quite pathetic.
8 years 28 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
The funny thing is thay the friends wouldnt have shown up anyways. Maybe late in a bar they might. But people have called for backup before. No one comes. There are no real true friends. So some Chinese guy getting a call at dinner time to leave his family, drive over and get knocked out by a foreigner just isnt happening.
expatlife26:
hahaha yeah I was thinking the same thing. This isn't a bunch of rowdy high school kids back home.
"hey you wanna come down and help me beat up a foreigner? Theres no guarantee he's going to stick around patiently waiting for my back-up so he can get jumped but think of the honor & glory we'd win for our nation if he waits an hour or so for 5-6 of us to show up!"
"Sorry, that sounds great but I have to get back to my job handing out papers on the street...good luck!"
There is an obvious answer and a not so obvious answer - but both maybe equally true.
The obvious answer is cowardice and insecurity.
The not so obvious answer is he wants you to hurt him but he wants witnesses present when it happens. He would report to the police that a foreigner attacked him in an unprovoked manner and then get his mates to corroborate it. I'll leave you to guess what comes next.
Shining_brow:
I'm confused.... what do the polar bears have to do with anything? They're not actually co-operating on anything.....
Why so many downvotes? Would it have been better to wait and let the guy attack me? Preemptive self defense is needed sometimes.
The funny thing is thay the friends wouldnt have shown up anyways. Maybe late in a bar they might. But people have called for backup before. No one comes. There are no real true friends. So some Chinese guy getting a call at dinner time to leave his family, drive over and get knocked out by a foreigner just isnt happening.
expatlife26:
hahaha yeah I was thinking the same thing. This isn't a bunch of rowdy high school kids back home.
"hey you wanna come down and help me beat up a foreigner? Theres no guarantee he's going to stick around patiently waiting for my back-up so he can get jumped but think of the honor & glory we'd win for our nation if he waits an hour or so for 5-6 of us to show up!"
"Sorry, that sounds great but I have to get back to my job handing out papers on the street...good luck!"
As a serious answer I don't think a fair fight means what it does to us. All that matters is that you won. It doesn't matter if you had to get 6 guys to take on one dude and put him in the hospital.
A lot of us in the west might've heard from our dads or other role models that even if you lose a fight there is value just in standing up to somebody trying to bully you.
Like theres nothing wrong with walking away with a black eye from standing up to somebody bigger than you, can hold your head high about that. But there is something wrong with getting pushed around and not defending yourself.
I just dont think parents raise their kids here to think like that at all for better or worse. Bully must be bigger/more powerful than you so dont make problems for them just deal with it.
Western parents teach their children to stand up in the face of evil, there is no honor in running away or hiding.
Chinese parents teach their kids to run away and hide whenever they see danger, to lose a fight is to lose face.
And yes, most definitely yes, Chinese men are cowards. I have seen the same guy aggressively HALUOing me with his friends but crossing the street when alone after he saw me. Men raised in the big cities especially are weak as f*ck both physically and mentally, can't stand for themselves. The Nongs at least have big mouths and are outspoken.
ScotsAlan:
That's no longer the case in the UK. Not if they follow their Governments example
this is a failure of Chinese (grand)parenting. Because of the way grandparents constantly tell little kids to not do this, not do that, they never get to do this and that. A fact of life is, sometimes we get into a fight. Trying to avoid this creates pathetic weak people.
Teaching kids that fighting, although not a thing to be encouraged, is OK, as long as it is one on one and as long as it stops when the other guy starts crying.
The upbringing means poor social skills and a lot of people desperately seeking acceptance so they try anything. After all, they are just humans, and the weak looser wearing a tshirt saying "Sweat is weakness leaving the body" despite being a bit of a blob of fat, is not to be blamed, but the society he grew up in is.
If a Chinese guy took up shadow boxing, he would end up so badly beaten it would take six months in hospital for him to recover!
ScotsAlan:
Aye. He would be punching the wall and be confused as to why it does not split asunder like it does in the movies about the battle against Japanese imperialism
I've only been in one fight during my time in China, although one is enough. I was walking home late one night with some friends, three lads were calling out some nasty things at us from across the road, to get our attention I assumed. We ignored them and they followed. Insults got worse and worse until I shouted something back, though I won't say what is was.
That was it, it was on! They crossed the road and came up to us. I remember going straight for the closest guy and giving him an uppercut straight to the gut. I must have winded him because he fell right on his ass. At that point we all ran like hell. No one gave chase so we presumed his mates were helping him to his feet.
Yup that's it, my grand story. But there is something to be learned from all of this....
Never unplug the microwave.
Chewbacca:
You say there were 3 of them. You also use the word "we". This means there were at least 2 of you. You should have stayed and finished them.
RRoy:
Ahh... Yes, you're right. There was four of us actually. Myself, a British work colleague and two fine lovely laddies we met during the night's festivities. I'm not a fighter but I do agree with a good preemptive strike. These days you never know who is hiding a knife.
Chewy, just be careful with actions like that. Dont let that one instance embolden you in the future. Im NOT saying "be a coward", but rather you could find yourself in a situation where 5-10 random chinese men come to help out their "comrade", even though they dont know him (or you), and he was the one who started it. You could end up severely beaten,or even possibly get beat to death. Asians/Asian culture is like that, its different. Im not saying this in a negative context, but rather in a realistic one. "Check yourself before you wreck yourself". cheers.
JohnathonSteel:
Not different, just COMPLETELY INFERIOR IN EVERY WAY PROVEN FACT
I've seen a couple of 'fights' in China... actually quite amusing! It looks like both parties are actively trying NOT to hit the other person... all the while, goading the other. And, of course, the flying kicks... which are quite hilarious! Not only are they incredibly off-balance, but they're so far off target... I think watching all those martial arts movies as kids has put really stupid ideas into their heads!
So, for the most part - if you got involved in something like that, you'd probably be safer just standing your ground, and letting them injure themselves pretending to hit you!
Just to be clear. you ask him what his problem is (In Mandarin) and he just says sum racist bull to you.(In Mandarin) and then you threaten to knock him out (In Mandarin) and he walks outside. You followed him outside and listen to him (probably speaking in Mandarin or his local dialect) He is on the phone calling (in Mandarin) his friends.
You have a great Chinese teacher, in such a short period of time, you are able to fluently engage with the locals.
Shining_brow:
Actually, most of the language skills to do that are pretty simple, and easily learned! I put it at less than 20 words... 30 for fluency :p
Im not a big fan of violence and tend to try and avoid it
But there are those that take the walk away as a green light to get physical
And that is when it comes down to fight or flight
Put in a corner will not end well for anybody