The Japanese have a very good expression 'Walk like a goat' If you walk like a big Lion then you will be attacked by fools who want to score points and knock you down! If you walk like a frightened lamb then everyone will have a pop at you! If you walk like a goat then the big tough guys won't have a go cos there's not much to gain but a lot to lose and the people who might attack the weakest people (the lamb) will think twice cos a goat looks like it might hurt! So there you have it people, 'walk like a goat'!
I was in Tokyo a few years back and I used to see a lot of them walking around on their hands and knees with their arses stuck up in the air! Now I know why.
Between the ages of 13 and 21 I felt pretty unsafe most times I went out. Like others have said that is certainly down to age. A silly falling out at school between my Year and the Year below quickly esculated into people carrying weapons etc. One of my friends was stabbed (he was okay tho).
I lived about a mile from most of my mates, me and this other lad (still my best mate) used to call for each other, as we had to walk through the estate where most of these lads out to get us lived. Those Friday & Saturday night strolls used to be quite unnerving.
The unease of having to 'watch our backs' stayed right up until we were in our early 20s - as you go out quite a lot then. And every now and then something would happen - two mates have served a couple of stints in prison over it.
Nowadays I feel perfectly safe out and about - again, probably down to age. I'm in my 30s, pretty fit, 6 foot 2, 15 stone and I off the radar of most would be trouble makers, as I guess I'm a bit like the 'goat', not looking for trouble & probably not worth the effort - for now...maybe I wont feel so cocky as I get older.
The only time I feel unsafe now is at football...West Ham in the Cup was pretty scary - we got jumped by a hundred or so west ham fans with bottles, bricks and knives. Leeds was pretty bad to. And Wolves.
Feel much safer walking through New Cross at night than through the Wolverhampton subway as a football fan!
If you act like a victim you'll become a victim. Your mate needs help to build up his confidence and stand taller with his shoulders back. Bully cowards pick on easy targets.
As for me, never really feel unsafe but some situations/areas I'm a lot more aware of who is around and looking for trouble.
martial arts wont stop you getting plunged,the amount of waffle i hear from people who do them who think they can stave off attacks. we are infested with knife merchants sadly
3. "I'd poke him in the eyes". Bad error because the thought of potentially blinding someone is something so abhorrent to most people that they just can't do it in reality and end up freezing, no matter what they said before-hand.
I got attacked one night by some bloke with a pole, swung at me, ended up on the floor etc...I had no qualms about trying to stick my fingers in his eyes. Fortunately the fella legged it after about 5 seconds so my drunken attempts at trying to gouge his eyes & punch his balls didn't come to much. He got up, said sorry and legged it. Weird.
The f****ing badgers around here are a nightmare. last month one of them lay in the road pretending to be dead. when I slowed down to avoid getting him on my wheels his whole family jumped up, surrounded my car and clawed it all down the sides and jumped up and down on the bonnet. Thats why my mark 2 Mondeo got taped-up bumpers, and now I've got a nasty cough.
Never really had any trouble anywhere in London, though bullsh1t about who your mates are/martial arts is nothing. If your up against 3-4 then chances are you'll lose unless you're Sifu. Person I fear for is my gf so we moved in to a better area for her and my peace of mind.
'Walk like a goat' is spot on, seem more trouble than its worth, but don't strut about like the big man.
Although I am mates with Jamie O'Hara and no-one f*cks with me cause I'm Bruce Lee
Having been around for a few years..ahem..I think like most parents with 15-18 year old lads you worry for them, knife crime has increased, and so has the amount of kids carrying. I have to trust that my kids (young men) have enough savvy to keep out of trouble! But echoing some of the posters on this thread with kids the same age, it can keep you awake at night when you know they are out late. That said its their right, as it was mine at their age, to go out and enjoy themselves. We cant wrap them in cotton wool. I would like to see a mandatory sentence for carrying a concealed weapon of 10-15 years. It wont happen though! Too many do gooders would oppose it!
Having been around for a few years..ahem..I think like most parents with 15-18 year old lads you worry for them, knife crime has increased, and so has the amount of kids carrying. I have to trust that my kids (young men) have enough savvy to keep out of trouble! But echoing some of the posters on this thread with kids the same age, it can keep you awake at night when you know they are out late. That said its their right, as it was mine at their age, to go out and enjoy themselves. We cant wrap them in cotton wool. I would like to see a mandatory sentence for carrying a concealed weapon of 10-15 years. It wont happen though! Too many do gooders would oppose it!
Agreed. & increase targeted stop & search as well. It will cause uproar, but certain areas are rife with knife & gun crime & it needs to be clamped down on hard.
If the police could target & treat gangs in Hackney or Peckham like they can treat football fans, then gang crime would fall so quickly, but the calls for harrassment would cease it.
The f****ing badgers around here are a nightmare. last month one of them lay in the road pretending to be dead. when I slowed down to avoid getting him on my wheels his whole family jumped up, surrounded my car and clawed it all down the sides and jumped up and down on the bonnet. Thats why my mark 2 Mondeo got taped-up bumpers, and now I've got a nasty cough.
TB honest, I cant quite believe this. Attack beavers yes. Foxes an amphetamines, for sure. Hedgehogs on steroids, probably. But badgers? Really?
The latest figures suggest 17 knife related crimes per 10,000 Londoners, more or less consistent for almost a decade. Statistically, OP, your friend could be reassured.
No wheres really safe, but it all depends how you take some incidents/attacks in your stride. Me and my mates seem to have loads of little incidents in and around London over the past two years, and it always seems as though its because we are quite young and vulnerable.
Put it this way, by the time i'd turned 16 i had been mugged in Upminster and my best mate had been mugged at knife point in Hornchurch. Both of us were on our own on those occasions and we'd been both been done by two kids who were older than us. They're two normal towns, both proving that anything can happen anywhere. Another group of the chav breed then threatened us in trafalgar square last year for being on 'their manor', to which we politely told them to do one and learn to speak like their born in London, not Kingston.
In the past year though in Romford we seem to have found ourselves in trouble more than ever. Another close mate was attacked with his cousin there by 10 black youths. They never took anything or justified why they did it, was just an unprovoked attack. He had his face completely ruined, was away from school for about 3 weeks, had to have countless operations and now has a plate permanently in his jaw. Another time this March on results day we were out again. And another group of us were attacked after being randomly challenged outside a nightclub. Mate of mine was hit round the head with a crow bar, and another had to have his face sorted out with countless operations in the coming weeks.
These are just a few of the things i've known to have happen in the areas where i live. All much safer places than some of the inner city places and where i used to live in Ilford, but in a way it makes you much more blind to the fact that there is always potential for something bad to go wrong.
People will say why do you bother going these areas, but simply we're not the type to ever go looking for trouble, just average boys living a normal life. I'd hate to ever be in a position where i'm scared to go out, and to be honest none of those incident has ever affected us because we're just not the type to let ourselves be overly concerned by past experiences, just looking to have a good time on nights out.
I think that being around 18/19/20 and male, is always going to mean we're in for more trouble than most other groups of society.
I don't want to play the racial card, but i think its only fair that i point out that in all those incidents i've mentioned and can think off, that theres only ever been one white person carrying out the attack, and that was my mate who was threatened with a knife outside Mcdonalds in Hornchurch. I do think that London has become a victim of its increasing diversity in terms of crime rates, and that theres still definitely racial tension between young people of different cultures.
Most of us can get along perfectly in normal life, but i've always felt more vulnerable in areas where people of different cultures mix heavily, and i don't know why but especially at night in/around London theres more friction and we've had to learn to become more aware of who is around us.
Yeah, I got mugged at knife point twenty odd years ago. I'm generally quite good at keeping it in its context as an isolated incident and not allowing fear to continue to affect me - but I have to say I do have a heightened sense of impending danger at times and having a 'flight not fight' mindset means I do sometimes look for escape routes when there's no genuine threat. It does usually mean though that I'm quite good at avoiding trouble all round.
Don't and never have felt unsafe in London or anywhere really for that matter although when i started riding my bike into work, i did so with 2 mates from work. They only do it in the summer but i carried on through the winter on my own and as it was getting darker as well i decided to change the route - rather than going through all the back doubles through Bermondsey to New Cross i decided to go straight up the old kent road as there is no point making yourself a target. All the estates we were cutting through all had little groups hanging around and a single rider, with a bike worth nicking, in a dark estate? - just common sense really - a bit like going to football - if you have common sense and don't look like a victim or like you are 'giving it', you will be fine.
The f****ing badgers around here are a nightmare. last month one of them lay in the road pretending to be dead. when I slowed down to avoid getting him on my wheels his whole family jumped up, surrounded my car and clawed it all down the sides and jumped up and down on the bonnet. Thats why my mark 2 Mondeo got taped-up bumpers, and now I've got a nasty cough.
TB honest, I cant quite believe this. Attack beavers yes. Foxes an amphetamines, for sure. Hedgehogs on steroids, probably. But badgers? Really?
The latest figures suggest 17 knife related crimes per 10,000 Londoners, more or less consistent for almost a decade. Statistically, OP, your friend could be reassured.
(Not sure if this should be on the badgers thread or the sickness excuses thread rather than the feeling safe thead). Back in the day I did work with someone who was off sick for a week because he had been bitten on the bum by a badger.
Two idiots on bikes were deliberately blocking traffic in High Road Tottenham yesterday. When I told them to move, one aimed a kick at my car and as I got out to confront him, luckily, I saw about a dozen of his predator mates nearby waiting to join in, so I opted to clear off double quick. Clearly a pre-planned thing, but this was in a busy high street full of shoppers and they had no issue about wanting to steal a car in broad daylight.
As has been said, all cities have there bad/dangerous spots. A reason you feel safer in other cities is probably that you aren't as aware of the threat in those cities, due to language or cultural differences for example. You see and hear your threats in london because you understand the context they are in. Hate the expression but 'pound for pound' London will not be anywhere near the most dangerous cities in the world.
tell you what reading this thread we all can take care of ourselves thats for sure..
Not as simple of that though nowadays Nols though, is it ? The day of having a disagreement, a straightener, and that's the end of the matter are long gone. The liklihood now is it will always lead to wider repurcussions.
As a teen, i was robbed at knifepoint, had a baseball bat swung at my head, and threatened with a baseball bat. 36 now, and been very lucky since, a few minor incidents but that's it. Whether it comes with age, maturity, fear, i don't know, but i will do anything i can to now to avoid getting in bother. Even if something happened where i really wanted to punish someone, no one wins. I broke my wrist and my hand in quick succession, and 5-6 years on still get grief from it. If i was wronged by some idiot, i'd rather walk away safe in the knowledge than i'm not that idiot, than risk what could turn out. Seen the scars of mates who have been bottled, glassed, stabbed, lost sight, lost an ear to know i'd do anything now to avoid that being me.
Generally feel London is as safe / dangerous as anywhere else, and would never purposely avoid anywhere. But my radar is always on, even when drunk, and i do tend to spot potential incidents before they happen while others around are sometimes oblivious. Worry ten times more about the wife walking home from the station or bus stop if she has been out.
If something has happened to you in the past you never feel safe.
It's a life sentence of anxiety even if you fight to suppress it and put yourself in situations you consider potentially dangerous because your sheer bloody mindedness tells you don't want to let the bastards win by stopping you do things.
I got away from my four assailants because, once upon a time, I had a half decent left hook and could run fast so the others couldn't catch me. A week later in exactly the same place I was attacked (on the embankment near the Festival Hall close to Waterloo station) a man died of stab wounds and bruising from being repeatedly kicked in the head by four assailants.
I'll never know whether it was the same group but my blood still runs cold when i think back to it and it was a good few years ago now.
People say you are safer as you are older but as my physical powers diminish with age and infirmity I feel more vulnerable.
Two idiots on bikes were deliberately blocking traffic in High Road Tottenham yesterday. When I told them to move, one aimed a kick at my car and as I got out to confront him, luckily, I saw about a dozen of his predator mates nearby waiting to join in, so I opted to clear off double quick. Clearly a pre-planned thing, but this was in a busy high street full of shoppers and they had no issue about wanting to steal a car in broad daylight.
Things like this make my blood boil....who the f*** do they think they are?
This time last year they were probably rioting.....but its not their fault of course.....
No wheres really safe, but it all depends how you take some incidents/attacks in your stride. Me and my mates seem to have loads of little incidents in and around London over the past two years, and it always seems as though its because we are quite young and vulnerable.
Put it this way, by the time i'd turned 16 i had been mugged in Upminster and my best mate had been mugged at knife point in Hornchurch. Both of us were on our own on those occasions and we'd been both been done by two kids who were older than us. They're two normal towns, both proving that anything can happen anywhere. Another group of the chav breed then threatened us in trafalgar square last year for being on 'their manor', to which we politely told them to do one and learn to speak like their born in London, not Kingston.
In the past year though in Romford we seem to have found ourselves in trouble more than ever. Another close mate was attacked with his cousin there by 10 black youths. They never took anything or justified why they did it, was just an unprovoked attack. He had his face completely ruined, was away from school for about 3 weeks, had to have countless operations and now has a plate permanently in his jaw. Another time this March on results day we were out again. And another group of us were attacked after being randomly challenged outside a nightclub. Mate of mine was hit round the head with a crow bar, and another had to have his face sorted out with countless operations in the coming weeks.
These are just a few of the things i've known to have happen in the areas where i live. All much safer places than some of the inner city places and where i used to live in Ilford, but in a way it makes you much more blind to the fact that there is always potential for something bad to go wrong.
People will say why do you bother going these areas, but simply we're not the type to ever go looking for trouble, just average boys living a normal life. I'd hate to ever be in a position where i'm scared to go out, and to be honest none of those incident has ever affected us because we're just not the type to let ourselves be overly concerned by past experiences, just looking to have a good time on nights out.
I think that being around 18/19/20 and male, is always going to mean we're in for more trouble than most other groups of society.
I don't want to play the racial card, but i think its only fair that i point out that in all those incidents i've mentioned and can think off, that theres only ever been one white person carrying out the attack, and that was my mate who was threatened with a knife outside Mcdonalds in Hornchurch. I do think that London has become a victim of its increasing diversity in terms of crime rates, and that theres still definitely racial tension between young people of different cultures.
Most of us can get along perfectly in normal life, but i've always felt more vulnerable in areas where people of different cultures mix heavily, and i don't know why but especially at night in/around London theres more friction and we've had to learn to become more aware of who is around us.
Yeah, I got mugged at knife point twenty odd years ago. I'm generally quite good at keeping it in its context as an isolated incident and not allowing fear to continue to affect me - but I have to say I do have a heightened sense of impending danger at times and having a 'flight not fight' mindset means I do sometimes look for escape routes when there's no genuine threat. It does usually mean though that I'm quite good at avoiding trouble all round.
Bloody hell Folev you and your mates have had it rough.....OOOh 'not' to be a young un.
Have lived in London for 39 years; Brockley, Lewisham, Catford and Forest Hill. Trouble has found me on a few occasions but I have ignored it or got out of it. I feel safe walking and travelling in London as it is always busy. I also know where to avoid. My mum and dad lived in Epping for a bit. Could more or less guarantee some issues in the high street every Saturday night; muggings, fights, cars being stolen etc. was basically full of the same type of person or groups of people all trying to be top dogs. However my boys are not far off wanting their independence, nearly at the age where they see the opportunity and excitement London offers, and none of the worries. Perhaps then I'll change my tune.
I got my face smashed in for my wallet and phone by a group of asian lads in Watford back in March. Needed false teeth and an op to straighten my nose. Still not scared to go out though. If you get scared, then the nobs win!!!
only time ive ever bricked it was about 8 years ago coming out of The Fridge in Brixton and i was absolutely rushing off my tits. Crossed the road towards the tube station and some muslim preacher bloke come up to me with about 5 of his mates and hissed at me like a wild cat. Absolutely shit my pants.
Pretty sure that happened and they werent just really good E's
Comments
Now I know why.
I lived about a mile from most of my mates, me and this other lad (still my best mate) used to call for each other, as we had to walk through the estate where most of these lads out to get us lived. Those Friday & Saturday night strolls used to be quite unnerving.
The unease of having to 'watch our backs' stayed right up until we were in our early 20s - as you go out quite a lot then. And every now and then something would happen - two mates have served a couple of stints in prison over it.
Nowadays I feel perfectly safe out and about - again, probably down to age. I'm in my 30s, pretty fit, 6 foot 2, 15 stone and I off the radar of most would be trouble makers, as I guess I'm a bit like the 'goat', not looking for trouble & probably not worth the effort - for now...maybe I wont feel so cocky as I get older.
The only time I feel unsafe now is at football...West Ham in the Cup was pretty scary - we got jumped by a hundred or so west ham fans with bottles, bricks and knives. Leeds was pretty bad to. And Wolves.
Feel much safer walking through New Cross at night than through the Wolverhampton subway as a football fan!
As for me, never really feel unsafe but some situations/areas I'm a lot more aware of who is around and looking for trouble.
'Walk like a goat' is spot on, seem more trouble than its worth, but don't strut about like the big man.
Although I am mates with Jamie O'Hara and no-one f*cks with me cause I'm Bruce Lee
If the police could target & treat gangs in Hackney or Peckham like they can treat football fans, then gang crime would fall so quickly, but the calls for harrassment would cease it.
The latest figures suggest 17 knife related crimes per 10,000 Londoners, more or less consistent for almost a decade.
Statistically, OP, your friend could be reassured.
As did the bloke you worked with, I imagine!
As a teen, i was robbed at knifepoint, had a baseball bat swung at my head, and threatened with a baseball bat. 36 now, and been very lucky since, a few minor incidents but that's it. Whether it comes with age, maturity, fear, i don't know, but i will do anything i can to now to avoid getting in bother. Even if something happened where i really wanted to punish someone, no one wins. I broke my wrist and my hand in quick succession, and 5-6 years on still get grief from it. If i was wronged by some idiot, i'd rather walk away safe in the knowledge than i'm not that idiot, than risk what could turn out. Seen the scars of mates who have been bottled, glassed, stabbed, lost sight, lost an ear to know i'd do anything now to avoid that being me.
Generally feel London is as safe / dangerous as anywhere else, and would never purposely avoid anywhere. But my radar is always on, even when drunk, and i do tend to spot potential incidents before they happen while others around are sometimes oblivious. Worry ten times more about the wife walking home from the station or bus stop if she has been out.
It's a life sentence of anxiety even if you fight to suppress it and put yourself in situations you consider potentially dangerous because your sheer bloody mindedness tells you don't want to let the bastards win by stopping you do things.
I got away from my four assailants because, once upon a time, I had a half decent left hook and could run fast so the others couldn't catch me. A week later in exactly the same place I was attacked (on the embankment near the Festival Hall close to Waterloo station) a man died of stab wounds and bruising from being repeatedly kicked in the head by four assailants.
I'll never know whether it was the same group but my blood still runs cold when i think back to it and it was a good few years ago now.
People say you are safer as you are older but as my physical powers diminish with age and infirmity I feel more vulnerable.
This time last year they were probably rioting.....but its not their fault of course.....
My mum and dad lived in Epping for a bit. Could more or less guarantee some issues in the high street every Saturday night; muggings, fights, cars being stolen etc. was basically full of the same type of person or groups of people all trying to be top dogs.
However my boys are not far off wanting their independence, nearly at the age where they see the opportunity and excitement London offers, and none of the worries. Perhaps then I'll change my tune.
Pretty sure that happened and they werent just really good E's