Physically attacked with no cameras - what to do?

Thank you for your speedy help. I feel like some pragmatism has been injected to my situation.

I think you are right that it is unrealistic to get the police involved when there is no evidence and a witness against me. I threatened to call the police at the time and he was verbally fine with it though he could have been trying to “call my bluff”. But also maybe he knows what he is doing and knew he could get away with it and for whatever reason I rub him the wrong way.

My head has been spinning with all these kinds of things. That is a problem of how he has affected me, he seems mentally unhinged and who knows with that kind of person, what they are dealing with internally and when it will spill out…

I picked this gym because it was the closest decent one around where I live, and want to stay for that convenience.

I still do not feel good here and especially that there is this big loophole of the locker room which is basically fair game for assault unfortunately. I think I will give it a bit longer and see whether things remain heated.

Do I stand to gain anything by making a police report but not pressing charges so in case this happens again there is documented history, or is there some risk that will turn against me?

My real concern with that approach since there is an established lack of moral compass with anyone who does this kind of thing in the first place, is what if he gets called in then fabricates a story about me? With his friend witness who knows what they could say.

I cannot edit my previous message but also would it be too late to contact the police a few days later? I have been emotionally trying to process this and in the heat of the moment was convinced not to by them and my own aforementioned fear.

If I did, should I go into the police station or call? Underneath this thread there are related posts one of which is foreign affairs police. Is that relevant?

do you have any Taiwanese friend who speaks English who can be your translator if you go into police?

Could I ask what the scope of the attack was? What actually happened?

I’d say file an official report. You don’t lose anything by filing it.

What you do gain is - if something similar happens in the future, you have the report to point to and maybe someone higher up will understand that maybe there’s something in it.

Take a Chinese friend along and goto the station.

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If you want to keep going there, wear a small body cam.

Little off topic, but I might suggest training some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) – Taiwan has some pretty good gyms in most of the major cities.

I’m about as non-confrontational as they come, and running away like you did is always the best option if you have the opportunity, but being confident that you can defend yourself if needed against an average Joe is extremely valuable.

(I also think you’re a little crazy to keep going to that gym if management isn’t willing to do even a little investigation)

What would you do back home?

  1. Probably call the police immediately.
  2. File a complaint against the individual after the fact.
  3. Take matters into your own hands.
  4. Do nothing. Avoid crazy people.

So similar in Taiwan.

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Go to a Doctor and get a injury medical certificate (傷害(驗傷)診斷證明). That thing is good for 6 months, but you would definitely need one if you do wish to do something about it.

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But is it possible that they will investigate even if I ask them not to because I am afraid? Thus prompting a potential further cycle of violence if that person finds out and gets angrier.

As for what happened I hope this doesn’t seem one sided but I would prefer not to describe it partly for the sake of not reliving it and partly because I am not in a calm state of mind and don’t know if I will unwittingly say something here that can be found and misconstrued.

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You’re probably best off demanding a refund from the gym and joining another gym. Your posts don’t read like you can handle this incident well.

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You are definitely right about the second part. I am not in a good position.

I had the gym staff translate what he said and he is literally accusing me now of what I said he did. Not sure if he wants to go to the police.

It’s highly unlikely he plans on going to the police, as it’s his word (and his friend’s, so basically the same thing) against yours. He’s just trying to intimidate you. It may help a little if you can tell us how this altercation started. Please tell me you didn’t flip him off.

And it occurred to me that is why he was so comfortable with me calling them. Because he was literally going to say I did to him what he did to me and have his friend back him up.

This is the thing I am afraid of. So in Taiwan having a witness is not enough evidence?

Then again in that case me going to the police first could help in case he does do something later whether it’s physical or chooses to Go to them himself?

I did not provoke the guy in any way known to me. He seemed to have a big ego when the gym staff was mediating, so perhaps this lack of acknowledgement was the issue. I didn’t say anything to him, or gesture, and I wasn’t even looking at him. I was near him so mayne a fly landed on him and he mistook it for a poke so he got me. I really don’t know, as hard as that might be to believe. That is why I am so worried, the guy has some issues and is violent at a moment’s notice. He was pressing forward for more and I immediately left.

To be more specific he is saying I attacked him unprovoked and that’s it. That he did literally nothing. Which is what he did.

Except that I am the one to go report the incident immediately. It’s not like we raced each other, he left with his friend a bit later nonchalantly. I presume after getting their story straight.

But my worry with the police is exactly that if it is 2 against 1 that will carry some weight and he and his friend are free to lie and therefore get me in trouble instead.

I am starting to get frantic in my posts so I am going to try and cool off. I am quite confused as to whether to go to the police without evidence and now with this new consideration as to whether him and his friend deciding to go on the offense as a defence has any merit.

what city did this happen in?

I’m halfway to adding a poll in here with two options, walk away and walk away.

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This is also an option.

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I honestly wouldn’t worry about this. If there’s nothing on tape, the likelihood the police would take their accusation–or yours–seriously is extremely small.

If this is your mental state, the best thing to do would be to never go back to that gym again and try to forget this ever happened.

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