10 Facts About Fighting That Action Movies Always Get Wrong

8. Large Groups Don't Attack One At A Time

This is perhaps the most classic of all martial arts tropes, dating back to the Hong Kong kung-fu flicks Bruce Lee was famous for. The situation looks dire, with our good guy completely surrounded by a swarm of baddies: henchmen, gang members, etc. But luckily for the good guy, everyone spent a few minutes before the fight playing rock-paper-scissors to decide the order in which they will attack. And they will do so one at a time. In recent years, fight choreographers have attempted to justify this trope with loose reasoning, such as "they wouldn't attack all at once because they might end up hitting each other instead of their opponent." And while there might be a kernel of truth to that, in that eight dudes probably wouldn't all start flailing into the melee at the same time, it's common sense that five-on-one plays out with better odds than one-on-one-on-one-on-one...on-one. So if you're unlucky enough to be in a situation where you're outnumbered by a bunch of guys looking to smash your face into little tiny bits o' flesh, know that the there's probably going to be a few fists up in your face area all at once, possibly with someone else grabbing at your arms and another at your neck and/or hair. Sorry to spoil the secret, but that scene from Fists of Fury where Bruce Lee takes on an entire dojo thanks to his attackers lining up in a supermarket queue just isn't going to happen out in the real world.