Has anyone else here ever beat up the idiot who tried to mug you? Or took the hand of the person with his hand in your pocket and break it? I want to hear stories!

(and all of this was *before* I started training Krav Maga hahahaha)

Are you trolling or just having a slow day?

Not me, but a 70-something female relative got the best of one in Vegas a few years ago.

She was sitting in a casino playing her nickel slot machine, her big handbag hanging from her left arm, when she became aware of a very close - too close - presence.

A young guy had unzipped the purse and had his hand inside it. He was just closing his hand on Hazel's wallet when she realized what was happening.

Hazel immediately reached across with her right hand, gouged her long, fake, red-painted nails right into the pick-pocketer's throat, and said in a loud, attention-getting voice, "Get your hand off my wallet and out of my purse - NOW!!"

She did not release the pick-pocketer's Adam's apple until he had followed her precise orders. Hazel claims she drew blood, and knowing her, I don't doubt it a bit!

No, this is a serious question.

GreenEyedCatWoman: that is way cool! It really warms my heart when elderly ladies fight back, as they're always picked to be the victim...

"they're always picked to be the victim."

And the source of that statement is...?

It's quite untrue. I know plenty of senior ladies who have never been pickpocketed, and plenty of young travelers who have been.

Princess:
Yes, as foolhardy as it sounds, I did retaliate. In May of 2004 My wife and I were returning to our hotel after hearing an organ concert in the Notre= Dame Cathedral in Paris. My wife wanted to take taxi, but I like to use the Metro and there is a station very near the Cathedral. "Come on I said. We already have the tickets and I am sure its safe." We have visited Paris many times and have had no problems of this sort. I always wear a money belt and keep my wallet with that days money supply in my front pocket when entering the metro or bus. As we were walking down the ramp to the turn=style I had my right hand on my wallet inside the front pocket and just as I sensed a person approaching from the rear,I felt a hand slip between my hand and the wallet! So very quick and smooth. Thankfully my reactions are still pretty good because I was able to jerk my body away from the hand. As I swung around, I came face to face with this person who had a shocked look on his face and had his hands up as if to say "Im sorry, whats the problem." He was still within arms reach and I was filled with rage. "You ****ing thief" I yelled and I hauled off and punched him in the heart area of the chest. He then staggered back, shouted obscenities and spit at me as he ran away. That further enraged me and my first reaction was to run after him and kick his butt.
Thankfully I had not totally lost my mind and remembered that I could not leave my wife alone. She was somewhat traumatized and wanted just to get back to the hotel.
Upon reflection, my problems started I believe, when approaching the Metro entrance, I removed my wallet from my rear pocket to take out our tickets. I believe the thief had posted himself outside the station so that he could see where one placed his or her wallet. Lesson learned.
I believe I was most fortunate in that the thief seemed to be by himself and did not pull out a weapon. It was foolish on my part to lose my temper and strike him but it sure felt great. We still use the Metro at night but I now place my wallet inside my jacket in a zippered pocket.
I also keep my Metro tickets in my pocket away from my wallet.

Well, the guy I "beat up" approached me, demanded my money, and when I told him to f* off claimed he had a gun, and I quickly punched him in the face so hard he fell down and didn't get up... and of course he didn't see that coming. I'm a girl...girls don't fight back. Right?

The person who had his hand in my pocket...not sure why he even bothered but I grabbed him by the wrist and squeezed until he slid his hand out again, and then, still holding his wrist, I quickly pushed his hand back until I heard a snap.

I tried to attack the guy who stole my wallet in the lobby of a hotel in Palermo last May. He was trying to leave the hotel and I jumped on his back and started clawing him and screaming at him. He got a ripped shirt and I got a broken pinky. He also got my wallet with all my cash and cards, as well as the money in the hotel cask drawer. Looking back I was quite silly but I lost my head when it happened. He had a knife but it was kind of a kitchen knife so I was not all that afraid at the time.

I's simple really: if the pickpocket is any kind of accomplished, you won;t have any opportunity whatsoever to "fight back" because by the time you realize your loss the perpetrator will be long gone.

With a name like yours I somehow doubt any stories told here would satisfy your true desires for thrills.

Princess:
Good for you. Didn't it feel good to fight back? I still can't recommend retaliation because the thief could be armed or have an accomplice. That might really ruin a trip.

rambleral: it felt very good. Perhaps too good. I'm not too concerned about the weapons or accomplice thing (unless there's a whole gang of them) as I'm trained to deal with that. And for the most part travel with someone who is equally (if not better) trained.

My concern is the potential legal mess, but it's only a minor concern.

I hope I am not tempting fate by saying this, but I've never been the victim of an attempted pickpocketing.

However, good friends of mine (a couple) did have this experience in Barcelona. A couple of guys approached them on the street, everyone had been drinking and was in good spirits, the guys started getting very friendly, showing them a dance step, etc. Next thing they know, J's wallet is in one of these guy's hands.

J is a big, muscular guy with a teensy bit of an anger problem, so when he has a legitimate reason to fly off the handle, there is no hesitation. He punched out 2 of the guys while the 3rd ran away, and J did get his wallet back.

I've been told by big thug-like type guys that they'd never pick a fight with me based on how I carry myself. That being said, the guys I had to deal with were both intoxicated in some way or other.

You have to be careful when fighting people who are on something or other though. It messes up their perception of pain. You could break things and they don't feel it and they still go after you.

If you're not trained to fight in situations like that, then sometimes it's best to let it go.

Most assailants will freak out when their victims fight back though...

As reported previously in this forum, I tried the mouse-trap-in-the-pocket routine during a few Amsterdam tram rides with no luck. It's a polite, albeit somewhat passive-agressive, way of saying "no thank you" to a pick pocket. The downside is you can't do it on a routine basis because sooner or later you'll forget and put your hand in the pocket of your jacket. Plus, every now and then, the damn thing goes off for no reason and scares the crap out of you.

My new plan is to carry a pair of needlenose pliers in my hand and, if I feel someone poking around, intercept one of the offending digits and squeeze lightly. Depending upon who I catch, I'll either apologize or squeeze harder. If that works, I may experiment with wire cutters.

In my fantasies, I always beat the perpetrator up - in reality, I'd probably start crying!! I was once mugged in a train in Madrid - our whole coach was, by two men who had knives...and I was terrified. Never even dawned on me to beat them up.

The exception would be if someone tried to hurt my son. It happened once, and the strength I had -- no idea where that came from! I felt no pain or fear, only pure rage. Frightening, really but quite thrilling in a weird sort of way.

What training do you do that gives you this sort of confidence? Sounds tempting...

I train Krav Maga now (mostly for the exercise - it's tough but a lot of fun); I've trained other things in the past, among other things Kyokoshin and Muay Thai. I do a lot of other stuff on the side (weights, etc.) I also grew up with brothers and a lot of boys in the neighborhood, so I know how to fight and not take crap from anyone ;-)

It's interesting you mentioned what happened with your son. I've read similar stories about how the maternal/paternal/parental instinct kicks in and nothing else matters. I've found that in myself, even though I don't have kids, I have been very protective of the kids I have babysat for, when strange people came too close. It's very odd, yet very fascinating...

As "modern" as we may be, we still have a lot of old primal instincts within us ;-)

smueller, I do hope you'll keep us all apprised of your experiments and the results. (Why am I reminded of Wallace and Grommit?)

smueller: heh, now that would be interesting. You have to practice your evil laugh though. You can't do that to someone without an evil laugh...

Speaking of which, I'm trained to make strange grunting and growling noises when doing martial arts defenses. I think THAT's enough to scare the bejeezus out of any attacker! Ack!

Dream on. A skilled pickpocket will strike and you will not know it until much, much later.

The favorite ploy is to pick your pocket on a subway, and slip out the doors just as they are closing. Even if you wake up to the theft in less than 30 seconds, the thief is long gone.

I suppose if you are accosted by a bungler, or a strong arm mugger, you might have a chance to growl and punch.

But good pickpockets use a diversion, a skillful grab, and a quick escape.
If they are so clumsy as to get punched, they will not be in the business long.