If you’re cornered in a street fight, keep in mind that your best option, especially early in the game when you don’t have many combat maneuvers unlocked, is to run. Untarget your opponent, enter high profile mode, and run up the nearest wall to see if there’s a handhold; there almost always will be. If you can reach the rooftops, you’ll have a few seconds before your opponents find a way to reach you, giving you time to draw your blade and strike them as they run up a ladder, or to simply run away and try to find a rooftop garden to hide in.