Defensive Mindset II

Van Canna

Date: 18 Oct 1997

Much has been written about fear and how immobilizing it can be in the extreme even if you are not a combatant but only an accidental witness.[picture the horror of observing someone being knifed to death as i did at age 16].why is it so? Here is something of interest i read a long time ago:the child is thought to roll over and be submissive usually bullied by his parents not because they were right but because they are in a stronger position[the implied threat is something bad will happen if the child stands up for himself]. This awe of retribution carries into adult life and is rationalized into many other forms of insidious fears of getting hurt,punishment,and deprivation if we dare stand up for ourselves. Equally interesting i read that we are preconditioned to grow up with that critical little voice inside your head that controls your independence and engenders self doubt. The upshot of all this being that a person is not truly capable of self defense until he/she adopts the mindset that right or wrong his/her spirit will not be transgressed upon and projects determination to fight to the death over values held sacred. not too many of us are capable of this range of commitment and so,lacking the ferocious mindset for combat along with total disregard for personal injury and social consequences,victorious potentially lethal struggle is pretty much an open question. The problem is compounded by dojo legal restraints in today's world calling for "polite fighting" sparring practice making this whole business of "martial arts" not very believable at large as very useful for self defense in the eyes of many people i have talked to over the long haul. It has been written that fighting is dirty business and the niceties we observe in the dojo will get the "snot" beaten out of us in a real fight,and that is why so many "black belts" get their ass kicked the first time they cross a determined street fighter.

Any comments?

Van Canna

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