I once heard a story about a senior black belt in some martial art who was reputed to be so good that he could fight off five other black belts simultaneously.

One day, when he was leaving the dojo, a bunch of six teen hoodlums decided to gang up on him - not a mugging, they were looking for bragging rights.

He looked them straight in the eyes and said, as coolly as he could, "You know, I can only fight 5 men at a time. So - I'm going to have to kill one of you."

After a tense silence, they backed off and let him go on his way.

Not a solution for most of us, but I figure, if a black belt with his reputation felt it was safer to use his mouth than his fists, I'd be committing suicide if I tried to get physical.