Exactly man! My parents and bro FEARED me going out because of the shyt people start with me and I always felt compelled to finish it. I DON'T instigate by any means, but it is like the bartender said one night after a guy comes up to me when I was sitting at my bar stool almost the whole night...(ex g/f's new b/f) and started shyt..."I don't know what it is about drunk small guys who always have to pick fights with the biggest guys in the bar...I thought you were going to kick his a$$". I almost got arrested...again...for putting a guy in the hospital. Though he dropped the charges after his g/f said she would leave him...this is after he whaled her face dozen times before I took him out...fact wasn't that he hit her, it was that he smucked my brother who was trying to get him off of her...and you just don't fukc with family!
But to get back on topic, I do feel that knowing some sort of defenseful measures is truly important now-a-days as some of you said...
You can always tell the tough-guy wanna-bes from those who know they are tough...because 99% of the time...the wanna-bes go around acting it while the true tough guy sits back nonchalantly and waits for the wanna-be