Fighting skills and street fighting versus the use of a gun. What the officer runs into when he or she needs a gun is considered a possible street fight. What is a street fight? It is a fight where the attacker generally has unfair odds over the victim being that the attacker outnumbers the victim and/or he or she has a weapon. The logic that I am seeing here is that a police officer must be prepared for fighting. I agree you must be prepared for fighting if you are in a martial art fight in a ring with referees to stop the fight, EMT's, it is one on one, there are no weapons, there are the same weapons, and there is a one on one fight. Unfortunately for the police officer this isn't a Martial Art dual. His position is he is against an unknown assailant who could be armed and may have hidden accomplishes.

I have hear from reputable sources cases of Martial Artists in a street fight and the unfortunate thing that the advantage is to the attacker because of the unfairness of the situation. I know of specific cases where the Martial Artist is taken out from behind and wind up in the hospital or are stabbed in the scuffle. The unfortunate part is that a Martial Artist may see a fight as only against one person that is unarmed but people can move very quickly. People that are trained for self defense will try to avoid a street fight, escape for briefly punch and/or kick to escape. I have heard of Martial Artists coming out on top but a street fight isn't a ring fight. Nobody is going to help you if you are injured or wounded and are in a isolated spot. You either walk out alive or are killed or badly wounded. A street fight isn't about winning it is about surviving. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is to walk away or escape.

The invincible Martial Artist doesn't exist. Everybody can be killed if shot, stabbed, beaten, strangled, etc. if the time and the location of injury are sufficient. I haven't into the legal ramifications of being arrested for assault or murder, having to hire an attorney, being sentenced to prison. The most complicated thing you can decide is to get into a battle with an assailant. Fighting skills are helpful but they aren't the only answer here. The best course of action with an unknown threat is to equalize. With an unknown threat the officers best option is the gun. Having to get to close to a suspect is risky especially if you are by yourself.

Martial Artists can be trained to defend against weapons and multiple opponents and these skills are valuable. However if he or she wants to survive you don't want to stay in this situation long unless you are defending someone else.