All Violent Acts are NOT Equal.
How many slaps = 1 Punch?
This was originally 3 episodes looking at the research associated with Acts of Violence. It has been updated and edited to provide you an evergreen resource to the perceptions and ramifications of violent acts.
Originally stimulated by an article from Iain Abernethy, regarding the violent act of headbutting.
I will share research on 8 Acts of Violence and how they are ranked from 3 Perspectives, across 4 countries:
- Directly
- Trade-Off
- Restitution
You can also test your knowledge with the Q&A and as well, download the my original notes and the original research.

In Parts 2 & 3 :
- Internation Research and 3 Hypothesis of Ranking Violence
- How Researchers create a 3d look at violence
- The Problems with current tools that rank violence
- How does a layman, you and i, interpret violence, as compared to how law makers, or law enforcement interpret violence.?
- Is the general public able to reliably interpret severity of violence?
Results
#1. Understanding various acts of violence is ….
#2. Hypothetically, a Direct Ranking of violent acts from low to high severity follow the order:
Best response is #1. In four countries, this is how the majority of the public perceive and rank violent acts.
#3. In many legal systems, a head-butt is the equivalent of …
#4. In Compensation Rankings of Acts of Violence
#5. Practicing Head-butts as a Martial Artist is…
head-butts are dangerous to practice and should be regarded differently than a punch or kick. The 3D ranking of violence supports this as well. Not practicing head-butts can put the practitioner in the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ trap. A no-touch rule is safe, and practicing on a focus mit is recommended, whether you ever intend to use it.. or not..
#6. In the Trade-Off Ranking, ‘Slap to Spit’ was about equal..
#2 – threatening with a knife is about the same as a headbutt. Plus many people would prefer to take many slaps before taking one head-butt.