Street fighting is hand-to-hand fighting in public places, between individuals or groups of people.
Unlike sport fighting, a street fight might involve weapons, multiple opponents or revenge and has no rules. The venue is usually a public place (e.g. a street) and the fight often results in a serious injury or even death.
The main difference between street fighting and a self-defense situation is that a street fight is avoidable, whereas a self-defense situation is not. The other characteristic being that the fight is consensual between both parties. A typical situation might involve two men arguing in a bar, then one suggests stepping outside, where the fight commences. Thus, it is often possible to avoid the fight by backing off, while in self-defense, a person is actively trying to escape the situation, using force if necessary to assure his or her own safety.
In some martial arts communities, street fighting and self-defense are often considered synonymous.
Famous quotes containing the words street and/or fighting:
“At any street corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“It was a cruel city, but it was a lovely one, a savage city, yet it had such tenderness, a bitter, harsh, and violent catacomb of stone and steel and tunneled rock, slashed savagely with light, and roaring, fighting a constant ceaseless warfare of men and of machinery; and yet it was so sweetly and so delicately pulsed, as full of warmth, of passion, and of love, as it was full of hate.”
—Thomas Wolfe (1900–1938)