Since my last post in this thread (haven't been in a fight since I was 15...) some drunken idiot attacked me in Central London on NYE.
We bumped into each other and I promptly said sorry yet the guy started throwing punches at me. I kept insisting (more like pleading) that I didn't want to fight while dodging/blocking his punches. Not sure how, but the next thing I know he was on the ground with my knee on his neck, then I let some other guys drag me off while still insisting that I didn't want to fight. I didn't throw a punch.
In slight contrast to my previous post, I regret not using my taekwondo in a more effective manner, because people like this deserve to be taught a fucking lesson. However just my (somewhat limited) martial arts training allowed me to stay calm and deal with the lunatic effectively. Being 100% sober helped too. However I was probably lucky that I wasn't hurt while trying to reason, no more mr nice guy in 2006.
I recommend everybody should try martial arts because is a very fun way of keeping fit and learning a very useful life skill.
After this incident I was split up in the crowd from the rest of my friends... who also somehow managed to lose each other. It took 2 hours to locate each other. This is the first and last time I spend NYE in Central London. And to think, I could have gone to a house party.
Happy new year!