Frankly I don't think there's anything wrong with a culture holding itself first in it's own "mind," the exact same way I don't think it's wrong for a person to hold their own life first and foremost in their mind. But of course, you can't easily force a one world government, with you at the head, if you allow people to think like that.
Training is good to have, but in a dynamic situation in the real world it doesn't make people unbeatable super hero types like movies depict. George St-Pierre, one of the most highly skilled close combat specialists alive, freely admits that he would be afraid to get in a fight with a random stranger at a bar, because even when you have an overwhelming advantage there are still things that can go from bad to worse very quickly.
Nice skulls. Gotta get 'em started on death worship early, before they understand what's happening.
>Also, why'd they bolt? They had the numbers and shields and poles… could it be that they're that desperate not to get de-masked?
My take is that their objective is to present the image of dangerous conservatives ready to fight, not actually doing any fighting. So getting in a fight would actually make it harder to achieve their objective, as they would be dealing with arrests and increased press scrutiny. It also makes them look easy to beat, encouraging any potential Antifa types to believe they could be a hero by fighting them off.