Funny, you state that you wouldn't draw on someone while engaged in a fist fight, then continue on to state that your head being bounced off the concrete is potentially life threatening--talk about deciding to draw on someone after your in the thick of things.
People, you can die from one strike, if your State Law permits it, or your Principles demand it, you draw before even one hair on your body has been harmed.
Some people are so funny with abstract self-defense situations. Pontificating about when they would actually draw, and who is, and who is not a legitimate threat.
I tell you what, you get into a fist-fight with your attacker, and hope that you don't get beaten to the point where they take your sidearm from you, then kill you with it; and I will draw on my attacker before they get within striking distance--I will warn them to not come any closer (multiple times, if I have the opportunity), and I will pull the trigger if they do not comply.
BTW, if your training is referring to military, you are full of crap. In the military, you are trained to shoot first, and ask questions later; hell, the police are trained to do that as well.
Absolutely ^^^.
Lot of macho-man wannabes out there, who may or may not have come out ok after a hand-to-hand scrap with someone in the past. But they should not take that outcome, and project it onto any potential future out-comes.
One may well be confident in their physical condition, and their own skills/training (if any) in hand-to-hand actions. But, one should not assume that those elements (condition/training/experiences of the past) are going to apply to all situations.
One thing is, you have no idea what skills or training the opponent has or doesnt have. You also do not know if that opponent has a knife or sidearm or other weapon concealed on thier person.
A person trained in knife-fighting isnt going to clear leather until they are in close, and ready to strike, for example. You arent going to see that knife until it is plowing into you- if you ever see it at all.
Bottom-line is, you cannot look at an opponent, and size-up whether you can or cannot "handle" them in a hand-to-hand fight, with any degree of certainty, at all. I've seen little Ranger Rgt. and even Detachment Delta fellows, who- out of uniform, may look like some kind of clerical nerd ,whomp the living crap out of guys 4x their size and weight bare-handed.
Their opponents had certianly made the mistake of sizing them up, and deciding "oh ya, I can TAKE this little chump".
So, while it may well feel-and look to others around you- like the "manly" thing to do, taking your chances in a hand-to-hand engagement on the street, with a stranger, may not be the wisest course of action, if you are armed, and have that option available to you, instead.