Quote Originally Posted by Trek420 View Post
But I think you could ask anyone in any art and we don't train to be the biggest baddest MF on the block I've "used it in real life" a couple-a times and never ever ever ever wanna do that again.

I want to train all my life till I'm a little bitty old lady in a hakama but I never want to "use it". And I think that's true for all of us in these arts.
I look at it this way: when you study the martial arts, part of that training is that when you spar/fight it is against an opponent with whom you carry mutual respect and honor. It's not just physical training, it's training for your entire person. It may be about having the right attitude or it can be much more philosophical or spiritual, depending on what you are studying and who is teaching you. And it's that benefit of cultivating and balancing the whole person that makes studying martial arts so interesting and worthwhile. That's just my newbie 2 cents.

Confronting someone who is (actually or potentially) committing a crime against you is totally different. The person committing the crime has already made the decision to disrespect your personal space and/or your property, etc. They are not operating by the same rules that you use in a martial arts context. Every situation is different, and sometimes you will have time to consider your response and in other situations you just have to react.

I was so lucky that my home burglary did not develop into a physical confrontation. I cannot know what would have happened. I know that I would have fought like crazy, but just as likely I would have gotten hurt or worse.

Back to the OP's situation -- you have lots of food for thought here and I hope you and your family are able to settle on a course of action that you are comfortable with, both in terms of what you can do now with what you know, as well as being prepared in case things escalate.