A while back my martial arts teacher gave a similar bit of advice... that (for the average-sized man at least) two drinks before a fight is the sweet spot. It's supposed to strike a good balance between numbing some pain and keeping oneself from tensing up too much, while still keeping (most of) your coordination and speed. Of course, at the same time he did admit that for most people it's not the most useful advice... after all, it's usually rare to be in a position to know a fight is coming ahead of time AND have a couple shots of booze handy. Bouncers (like he was) and barflies being the most likely exceptions. 😉