Westwood Beatdown - Rules about Fighting

Circa 1988

Los Angeles

… after seeing a movie in Westwood with friends, I was on the losing end of a racially motivated street fight. We were three, they were eight, and they started it.

I don’t want to glorify fighting by telling the complete story so instead I’m sharing a poem about it and what I was taught at home about fighting.

My dad taught me the following fight rules:

1. Never start a fight

2. Aggressively defend myself if a fight is forced on me

3. Defend those who can’t defend themselves (permission to be aggressive with bullies)

4. Never give a sucker an even break

I understood rule 4 to mean that the gentlemen’s rules of fighting do not apply when a human being is putting other human beings in harms way with complete malice and disregard for life. I’m sharing this story now to honor my father, and pass the wisdom along to my sons and friends. My dad is a good man and I’ve always admired him. He is kind, giving, gentle, thoughtful and he believes in mercy and justice for all.

This was my ‘Westwood Beatdown’ experience in haiku form:

Picked up, dropped, concussed

Kicked in the neck, ribs, bung hole

Ready to fight now