A gun.
While firearms are extremely effective, there are situations where you need to get physical without escalating to a point where your opponent or otherwise will also pull out a gun. That and escalating to a federal crime is not always the move to make.
Sorry, but you don’t deescalate a dangerous situation with a martial art. Real life isn’t a movie. You deescalate through conversation.Yet, some people are committed to a violent resolution, and in that case, there are no magic words, or chi, or anything else that will deescalate. You need to be ready to draw your weapon and kill, because they are. If that is not the case, then you don’t need a martial art anyway. Even Marx carried a pistol because he understood that.
I never said anything about de-escalation because this thread isn’t about de-escalation. Also no, most times the average person gets into a fight it is not to the death. That’s just plain incorrect. I’ve been mugged and beaten enough to know that if I pulled out a gun or a knife I would have lost a lot more than money or dignity.
